Research & Projects

Research groups

In addition to individual faculty research interests, collaborative research groups have been developed by faculty in order to support each other's shared interests as well as to involve students with ongoing projects. Currently, there are two active research groups that are run by program faculty. These include the Pediatric School Psychology Research Group and the School-Based Mental Health Group. We encourage students to contact faculty members in each respective group if they are interested in becoming involved with research and scholarship.

Improving bilingual school psychologists’ delivery of psychological services to English Language Learners

School psychologists work with a broad range of youth and young adults. Students and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds could benefit from enhanced bilingual school psychology training. What does a bilingual school psychologist’s training experience look like? How does that training tie into cultural competency? Associate Professor Desiree Vega and her research team, including doctoral students Dylan Barton, Lily Hammer, Charlotte Iurino, Michele Stathatos, and Jaclyn Wolf, are investigating the training experiences of bilingual school psychologists. Existing literature in school psychology has only begun to scratch the surface on bilingual school psychology practice. This project serves to inform preparation provided at the pre-service level, as well as in-service training for professions, and is supported by Smith Endowment funds.

Innovative research toward effective diabetes management looks at the role of sleep

We received a $2 million grant for a study to determine if adjustments to daily routines for youths with Type 1 diabetes can improve regulation of their glucose levels and enhance daily management of the disease. The five-year study will track routines such as sleep, diet, physical activity, school activity and diabetes management. It is being funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases."The ultimate goal is to know what aspects of sleep or other parts of their daily routines — and how families work together in those routines — should be incorporated into standard diabetes care," said principal investigator Michelle Perfect, a UA associate professor and associate program director in the School Psychology Program in the College of Education. Read the full story.