CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Delta State University College of Education and Human Sciences will host its annual Kent Wyatt Distinguished Lecture at Delta State University on September 28 at 11:45 a.m. in the Jacob Conference Center in the Ewing Building. This year’s guest lecturer will be Dr. Michael J. Kennedy. Kennedy was an inaugural winner of the early career research and mentoring grant competition from the Institute for Education Sciences in 2013. He is co-editor of the Journal of Special Education Technology and Chair of the University of Virginia’s faculty senate (2023-24). Kennedy was awarded the 2021 TED/Pearson Excellence in Teacher Education Award, and UVA’s Alumni Board of Trustees Award for excellence in university teaching in 2015.
Dr. Merideth Van Namen, Interim Dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences at DSU said, “Dr. Kennedy has a visible dedication to sharing research and guiding current and future educators in implementing best practices for all children.”
Before completing his doctoral studies, Kennedy was a high school special education teacher for six years and an elementary-level teacher for three years. Kennedy has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles and received numerous training grants from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) within the U.S. Department of Education. Kennedy and colleagues have won two grants from OSEP’s Stepping Up Technology Implementation competition, and one from OSEP’s Development of Innovative Technology Tools to Improve Outcomes for Students with Disabilities.
Van Namen said, “The entire CEHS faculty is delighted to welcome Dr. Kennedy to our campus to share his expertise in pedagogy for both K-12 and higher education settings. He will also be expanding his outreach while here on campus as he continues to provide hands-on application of these practices at the CEHS Ed Prep Conference after the lecture.”
Kennedy has received over $15 million in total awards to develop and study processes for supporting teachers and school leaders implement evidence-based multimedia. This includes a $1.4 million grant from the Institute for Education Sciences’ National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) to develop and test a multimedia professional development process to support teacher candidates’ readiness to implement evidence-based multimedia.
Kennedy’s main area of research is the design, implementation, and experimental testing of multimedia-based interventions to support pre- and in-service teachers’ knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practices. He has designed and experimentally tested numerous multimedia products intended to support teacher and student outcomes.
For more information about the DSU College of Education and Human Sciences, visit their website at https://www.deltastate.edu/education-and-human-sciences/.
