Dr. Cheney, is the Director of the University of Washington Behavior Research Center and an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Washington (UW). Dr. Cheney earned his doctorate from the University of Washington and his master's degree from the University of Oregon. Both degrees are in the area of special education with an emphasis in emotional disturbance/behavior disorders.
Along with directing the UWBRC Project, Dr. Cheney directs the BEACONS Project and co-directs the Master's Degree Program at the University of Washington, which prepares teachers in the area of Behavior Disorders.
Dr. Cheney is a Past President of the International Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD), a division of the Council for Exceptional Children, and the co-chairperson of Washington State Task Force on Behavioral Disabilities. He has been a special education teacher and administrator, director of research projects, and a college instructor.
Lori Lynass is the Project Coordinator for the Check, Connect, & Expect project at the University of Washington Behavior Research Center. She received her Doctorate in Education Leadership from Seattle University. Her dissertation worked focused on teacher education and service-learning.
Prior to coming to the University of Washington, Lori was a Special Education teacher for the Edmonds School District. She taught students with special needs for eight years. She also helped to design and direct a program that was a school within a school model with a focus of appreciative inquiry and systems thinking.
Lori is most interested in schools becoming more equitable for all children regardless of socio-economic status, disability, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. She is dedicated to also improving the quality of teacher education and teacher professional development.
Dr. Stage is the Project Evaluator for the BEACONS Project. He is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Washington, the Director of the School Psychology Program, and a licensed psychologist. He has been a teacher of students with emotional disturbance, researched effective methods with these students, directed program development and research at a residential treatment program, and worked as a school psychologist in assessment and counseling with this group of students.
His current research interests are functional behavioral assessment with students with ED, school-wide programs for students at-risk for ED, and cognitive behavioral therapy for students with ED.
Andrea Flower is a Research Assistant with the Check, Connect, & Expect project as well as a doctoral student at the University of Washington in the Department of Special Education. After completing her credentials as well as Master's Degree in San Diego, Andrea taught a range of grade levels in special education from kindergarten through sixth grade. Her teaching experiences include teaching in a variety of self-contained special education classrooms and resource rooms. She also held a district level support position, to provide supports to teachers and administrators concerning behavior, classroom management, academic instruction, and IEP compliance.
Andrea's research interests concern academic instruction especially reading instruction for students with emotional/behavioral disorders and learning disabilities, social skills instruction, and teacher-student relationships in elementary aged children and adolescents.
Tran Templeton is a Research Assistant for the Check, Connect, & Expect project and a doctoral student in Special Education at the University of Washington. She holds a B.S. in Child Development from the University of Texas and an Ed.M. in Learning and Teaching from Harvard University.
Prior to moving to Seattle, Tran taught children ages 6 to 18 with emotional, behavioral, learning, and neurological disabilities for five years in Texas. She will serve as the program director of a non-public school for children with neurological differences in Guatemala City beginning in 2007, while continuing her doctoral studies. Tran's research interests lie in the areas of mathematics, executive functions, peer and teacher relationships, and reflective learning and teaching.
Christine Mielenz is a Research Assistant for the Check, Connect, & Expect project at the University of Washington Behavior Research Center and a graduate student in School Psychology. Currently, Christine also serves as a Research Assistant for Dr. Virginia Berninger and her research in dyslexia and other reading and writing disabilities.
Previously, Christine was a Project Coordinator and Clinician for the University of Washington Autism Center. She administered academic achievement, language, and memory tests to toddlers and children with autism, with developmental delay, and with typical development.
Christine received a B.S. in psychology and a B.A. in English from Santa Clara University in California.
Charles Munat is the Technical Coordinator for the UWBRC CC&E Project. His responsibilities include the project Web site, data collection, database development, data analysis, and human-computer interface development. Prior to joining CC&E, Charles performed similar duties for the University of Washington's BEACONS Project.
In 1995 Charles built his first Web site, and by 1997 he was running his own Web site development company in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Currently, he is the CEO of Munat, Inc., a family-owned company based in Seattle. Munat, Inc. specializes in information architecture, content management, and Web site/database development.
In addition to his work for CC&E, Charles has helped to develop advanced Personal Information Management (PIM) software for the UW Information School's Keeping Found Things Found project.
Charles holds a B.A. Linguistics and a B.S. Informatics from the University of Washington.