Amanda L. Sullivan, PhD, LP
Research Team
Elyse M. Farnsworth
Elyse received her BS in child psychology from the University of Minnesota, and worked in youth development and continuing education prior to returning to graduate school. Her research interests focus on early intervention and prevention, including: investigation of malleable factors that impact the efficacy of early intervention and prevention efforts for children with developmental delays and disabilities; development of home-school partnerships to promote readiness for and engagement in school; integration of early prevention and intervention services across systems to support child and family outcomes; and implications for early childhood and educational policy at the local, state, and federal levels. When she is not working or studying, Elyse enjoys spending time with her two sons and husband.
Alaa Houri
Alaa received her BS in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include exploring the socioemotional and educational needs of immigrant and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in various academic settings and expanding our knowledge on how best to support them through appropriate intervention and supports. She would also like to explore the issue of racial disproportionality that exists in special education in order to provide students with the most optimal and appropriate educational services and supports.
Jordan Thayer
Jordan is in his 3rd of the PhD program in School Psychology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Prior to starting his journey in graduate school, Jordan earned his B.A. from Black Hills State Univeristy in South Dakota, where he majored in psychology with an emphasis actually in Industrial/Organizational and minored in music. He spent the next two years in a combination of working, teaching, and studying education policy before he decided to turn his attention towards helping youth in schools. As a LEEP Fellow (http://news.cehd.umn.edu/project-leep-trains-school-psychology-students-for-faculty-careers/), Jordan is committed to pursuing his research and professional interests which include improving behavior problems, particularly those resulting from a lack of engagement and motivation; understanding this thing we call "motivation"; low-cost intervention development and implementation, particularly for students with comorbid academic and behavior problems; administrators' roles in implementation; policy advocacy; and international school psychology. His work with Dr. Sullivan involves applying rigorous analytic methods to large data sets to ascertain with greater validity the prevalence and effects of disproportionality in mental health services received by students with needs. When not focused on work, Jordanenjoy playing with his old and loveable collie, exploring the Twin Cities, and spending time with close friends.
Mollie Link
Mollie received her BA in Psychology from St. Olaf College and worked for a few years in higher education before returning to pursue a graduate degree. Her research interests revolve around disproportionality in special education identification as well as school discipline, the intersection of educational policy and practice, fostering school-family partnerships, and predictors of diagnostic outcomes. In her spare time, Mollie enjoys knitting, cycling, eating donuts, and relaxing with her husband and cat.
Graduates
Laura Harelstad
Laura completed her undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Her research interests include: children and adolescents with disabilities, transition planning services for adolescents with disabilities, school crisis prevention and intervention, and evidence-based academic, behavioral, and social-emotional interventions within multi-tiered systems of support.
Shanna Sadeh
Shanna attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota; University of Wisconsin Law School. Her research interests are: school psychologists' decision making in special education evaluations for emotional disturbance; evidence-based interventions for students with emotional disturbance; policies and system-level issues that impact identification and treatment of students with social, emotional, and behavioral problems in schools.