Research Staff

Deb Adkins, Ph.D., has more than 20 years of experience in education research and assessment with a focus on early childhood education and innovation in assessment including research, design, and management of innovative prototypes of educational assessments.

Adkins is a Research Project Director at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the…

Dale Nelson Cope, Ph.D., 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, Ph.D., is experienced in the design, development, implementation, and scoring of large-scale accountability assessments for multiple states. She supports the United States Education Department (USED) as a peer reviewer of state assessment programs.

David is a Test Development Contract Lead at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research…

Brian Gane, Ph.D., has been conducting research and development around assessment since 2010 as an outgrowth of his interest in improving student learning and designing learning environments.

Gane is a Research Project Director 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…

Melissa Gholson, Ed.D., has more than 14 years of experience in developing large-scale assessments using principles of Evidence Centered Design. She has operational experience and technical expertise in designing and developing general and alternate assessments for academic content and English language proficiency.

Gholson is a Research Project Director at Accessible Teaching, Learning…

Christy Glore, M.Ed., is experienced in the design, development, implementation, and scoring of large-scale, NGSS-aligned accountability assessments for multiple states. She has contributed to the development of the new science Essential Elements, which bridge the three-dimensional content described by the Framework and NGSS Performance Expectations to academic expectations for students with…

Jeff Hoover, Ph.D., specializes in research, evaluation, measurement, and statistics. His research interests include diagnostic classification models and machine learning.

Hoover is a Psychometrician for the Dynamic Learning Maps® (DLM®) Alternate Assessment System at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more…

Eun Mi Kim, Ph.D., 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 the Math…

Jennifer Kobrin, Ed.D., has research interest in teachers’ data-driven decision making for instructional improvement, assessment development based on cognitive learning models, and assessment validity.

Korbin is the Assistant Director of Operational Research at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150…

Sarah Koebley, Ph.D, has more than 20 years 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…

Teanna Moore, M.Ed., has a background in applied behavior analysis, transition, and program evaluation. Moore's prior teaching experience helps inform the research process and interests. Her research interests include the development of effective interpersonal skills through self-regulated learning methods, the connection between transition-based instruction and student goals and services, the…

Jonathan A. Pedroza (JP), Ph.D., is a trained prevention scientist from the University of Oregon and has a specialization in data science for educators. JP has expertise in inferential statistics and predictive modeling techniques, with growing experience in Bayesian statistics for psychometric assessment models. His interests include assessing inequities in various settings and learning new…

Lindsay Ruhter is a doctoral candidate in special education at the University of Kansas. Her research interests include building teacher capacity to use data to inform their teaching in inclusive settings through professional development and exploring how to apply the UDL framework to next-generation assessment and instructional design in inclusive settings, particularly for students with…

Jonathan Schuster, Ph.D., has research interests in early word processing, the cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension, and psycholinguistics, specifically focusing on reading development. In the past, his research projects were concerned with the influence of reading goals and working memory span on reading comprehension, the meaning resolution of lexically ambiguous words, the…

Nami Shin, Ph.D., has a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in research and evaluation and another in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from California State University, Los Angeles.

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 and more…

Vanessa Simmering, Ph.D., leads the learning maps team at ATLAS, which develops and refines learning maps that are the basis of the Dynamic Learning Maps® alternate assessments. The team also contributes to research and development projects that provide map-based resources that increase access to academic content for all learners, support teachers’ use of learning maps to inform…

Emily Thatcher, M.A.Ed, is the research project manager for the Shared Writing Instructional Model (SWIM) program for students with intellectual disabilities. Thatcher develops SWIM components, collects research data, and provides coaching support for the program’s implementation sites. She earned a master…

Jake Thompson, Ph.D., has a research focus on the implementation of diagnostic classification models in applied settings.

Thompson is the Assistant Director of Psychometrics 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.

Thompson leads a team of…