ATLAS Staff

Dante Cisterna, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Director of Learning Maps at the Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems center (ATLAS). His work on education intersects the learning sciences, classroom practices, assessment design, and technology.

Cisterna’s research has examined science assessment, learning progressions and models of student learning, teacher professional…

Amy Clark, PhD, has worked to improve outcomes for struggling learners and their teachers since 2005. Her research interests include assessment validation, score reporting, and operationalizing diagnostic assessment systems.

Clark is a Principal Research Scientist at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more…

Alson Cole, MEd, began his career in education as a classroom teacher before moving into work supporting alternate assessment systems. He has contributed to the field through roles with the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky, where he developed training for teachers and scorers and provided instructional content guidance in English language arts,…

Dale Nelson Cope, PhD, has more than 20 years of experience as an education practitioner, serving as a teacher, principal, program coordinator, and school district executive director. She has worked in the business sector as the education director of a technology company where her focus was on training educators to implement curriculum and data management systems.

Cope is a Research…

Kristine David, PhD, is a Test Development Program Lead at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150 staff and more than $20M in annual revenues. She is experienced in the design, development, implementation, and scoring of large-scale accountability assessments for multiple state, and supports the U.S.…

Brian Gane, PhD, has been conducting research and development around assessment since 2010, as an outgrowth of his interest in improving student learning and designing learning environments. His research interests span STEM education, assessment validity, technology-enhanced educational resources, professional learning communities, and cognitive models of learning.

Gane leads and…

Melissa Gholson, EdD, is an educational researcher, project director, and research scientist who specializes in large-scale K–12 academic assessments, accessibility and educational equity. Her work focuses primarily on designing inclusive testing frameworks for special populations, including students with significant cognitive disabilities, multilingual learners, and economically disadvantaged…

Christy Glore, MEd, is experienced in the design, development, implementation, and scoring of large-scale, accountability assessments aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for multiple states. She has contributed to the development of science Essential Elements, which bridge the three-dimensional content described by the Framework and NGSS Performance Expectations to academic…

Jeff Hoover, PhD, specializes in research, evaluation, measurement, and statistics. His research interests include diagnostic classification models, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and process data, with a focus on the responsible integration of cutting-edge technological advancements into educational assessment.

Hoover is a Senior Psychometrician for the Dynamic Learning Maps…

Aletra Johnson, MBA, is a Research Project Manager with expertise in technical writing, training, client experience management, and enterprise software release implementation. 

Before joining the Dynamic Learning Maps team, she supported Assessment & Technology Solutions (ATS) in roles that included service desk leadership, business analysis, quality assurance, and training.…

Eun Mi Kim, PhD, specializes in mathematics knowledge development with a focus on the creation of developmental progressions of student learning and understanding of mathematics. Her work encompasses the development of curriculum and assessment to enhance students’ mathematics achievement as well as the use of educational technology to enrich teaching and learning.

Kim is a Math…

Sarah Koebley, PhD, has extensive experience in STEM-based instructional design, inquiry-focused teaching and learning, assessment development, STEM community engagement, and educator professional development.

Koebley is a Learning Maps Senior Associate at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150…

Lynda Lupp is a Business Development Officer with extensive experience in special education leadership, program administration, and alternate assessment implementation. Before joining the ATLAS, she served as a special education teacher, building assistant principal, district special education director, and state-level special education adviser and chief. Most recently, she supported…

Lindsay Ruhter, PhD, is a research associate at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150 staff and more than $20M in annual revenues.Her research includes PD approaches to build teacher capacity to teach academics to students with extensive support needs (ESN) using universal design in…

Jonathan Schuster, PhD, has research interests in the cognitive processes underlying reading comprehension and writing in students with and without disabilities, as well as psycholinguistics, with a focus on reading and writing development. His past research examined how reading goals, working memory span, and other related cognitive processes influence reading comprehension; how readers…

Nami Shin, PhD, conducts research on how educational policies, programs, and assessments shape educational opportunities and academic outcomes, particularly for students with disabilities and multilingual learners.

Shin is a Senior Research Associate at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150 staff…

Emily Thatcher, M.A.Ed, is a research project manager for Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS) at the University of Kansas. Her responsibilities include leading, designing, and implementing federally funded interventions of teacher professional development and instruction with practice coaching and system support.

She recently led the Shared Writing…

Jake Thompson, PhD, has worked in large-scale operational assessments since 2014, bridging the gap between psychometrics and assessment use. His research focuses on the implementation of diagnostic classification models in applied settings to improve instructional decision-making and student outcomes. He has served as principal investigator on IES-funded grants to develop software to support…

Shawnee Wakeman is a Senior Researcher and the Professional Learning Area Lead at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150 staff and more than $20M in annual revenues.

Wakeman officially joined ATLAS in the summer of 2026, but she has previously collaborated with staff on a variety of projects,…