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I am a Professor of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Law and Program Coordinator of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Policy and Law. In this role, I also help coordinate the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Law Certificate, Undergrad ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Policy Minor, , , , and Martha McCarthy ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Law and Policy Institute.

My research centers on 1) special education legal and policy issues and 2) legal literacy of school employees. I’ve published five books:  (with Eckes, 2026);  (with McCarthy & Eckes, 2019);  (with Umpstead, Brady, Schimmel, & Militello, 2015);  (edited with Lewis, Shaver, Blankenship-Knox, & Paige, 2017); and  (edited with Shaver, 2017). My research has also appeared in Journal of Disability Policy Studies, American Journal of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, West’s ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Law Reporter, Peabody Journal of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, Teaching Exceptional Children, and Utah Law Review, among other publication outlets.

As a legal columnist for   and a contributor to  Expert Network, I strive to ensure legal information is accessible by providing public scholarship. I became interested in education law when I was a teacher and behavioral consultant for students with autism. Discovering that systemic inequities often led to problematic litigation motivated me to earn a J.D. from IU's Maurer School of Law and Ph.D. in ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Policy Studies from IU's School of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. I also worked at Maurer's , IU’s Center for Evaluation and ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Policy, and the University of Cincinnati. I was elected to the  Board of Directors (2016-19) and continue to serve on a variety of national editorial boards and committees.

Currently, I teach these school law courses to undergraduate, certificate, master's, doctoral, and law students: A308, A608/B658, and A675/B658. In 2022, I was inducted into IU’s  and have received teaching awards including IU’s Trustees Teaching Award (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021) and Burton W. Gorman Distinguished Teaching Award (2025). I am accepting Ph.D. student advisees with research interests in P-12 education law and policy.