INED Faculty & Staff

Faculty in the Inclusive Education Department represent a wide range of teaching, research interests, and professional experiences. The department houses both Special Education and TESOL. Using an asset-based perspective, faculty in each area are committed to preparing educators to be able to meet the needs of diverse learners and ensure student success.

Faculty

• Katie Bennett

  Katie Bennett Assistant Professor of Special Education

  Position:
  Assistant Professor of Special Education

  Phone: (470) 578-2255
  Email: kbenne72@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 431

  
  My teaching, research, and community engagement efforts focus on teacher preparation, literacy, and high incidence disabilities. I teach at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

• Harriet Bessette

  Harriet Bessette Professor of Inclusive Education & Educational Leadership

  Position:
  Professor of Inclusive Education & Educational Leadership

  Phone: (470) 578-6893
  Email: hbessett@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 434

  
  I am a professor of special education and teach masters, specialist and doctoral courses in the Inclusive Education Department. I have over 25 years of teaching and administrative experience in public schools and higher education. My research interests include the use of drawings as research tools in qualitative research, Vygotskian theory, intersubjectivity, and interpersonal/intrapersonal planes of cognition.

• Jayoung Choi

  Jayoung Choi Associate Professor of TESOL

  Position:
  Associate Professor of TESOL

  Phone: (470) 578-2231
  Email: jchoi44@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 437

  
  Associate Professor of TESOL in the Inclusive Education Department

• Yolanda Cobb

  Yolanda Cobb Limited Term Professor of Gifted Education

  Position:
  Limited Term Professor of Gifted Education

  Phone: (470) 578-4255
  Email: ycobb1@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 421

  
  I have over 20 years of experience as an educator with a background in gifted education, school counseling, and elementary education. My teaching, service, and research interests are in addressing the social-emotional needs of gifted and talented learners and designing teacher preparation activities to ensure that the needs of students in this population are appropriately met.

• Corrie Davis

  Corrie Davis Department Chair of Inclusive Education & Professor of Educational Research

  Position:
  Department Chair of Inclusive Education & Professor of Educational Research

  Phone: (470) 578-2610
  Email: cdavi163@kennesaw.edu
  Location: KH 3203

  
  I lead the Department of Inclusive Education and am invested in the growth of the faculty, staff, and students.

• Melissa Driver

  Melissa Driver Assistant Professor of Special Education

  Position:
  Assistant Professor of Special Education

  Phone: (470) 578-2512
  Email: mdriver6@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 428

  
  My teaching, research, and community engagement efforts focus on teacher preparation, culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy, and mathematics interventions for students with or at risk for learning disabilities. I teach classes in both the M.A.T and M.Ed program.

• James Gambrell

  James Gambrell Assistant Professor of TESOL

  Position:
  Assistant Professor of TESOL

  Phone: (470) 578-2658
  Email: jgambre2@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 435

  
  With a background in Spanish teaching and translation, I teach classes in TESOL programs that address how intersections of race, language, and culture impact teaching and learning. From theoretical and practical perspectives, I prepare educators to critically reflect on how systems of power and privilege (including educators') interact with curricula, pedagogy, and educational policy to reify or dismantle societal inequities. My research focuses on bilingual education including language policy and programs, school-community relationships, and classroom practices that engage language minoritized students, families, and communities.

• Tristan Glenn

  Tristan Glenn Assistant Professor of Special Education & UDLab

  Position:
  Assistant Professor of Special Education & UDLab

  Phone: (470) 578-2657
  Email: tglenn20@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 440

  
  My scholarship, teaching, and service focuses on culturally responsive pedagogy and the preparation of teacher candidates to effectively respond to issues of diversity in the classroom. I teach at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

• Joya Hicks

  Joya Hicks Associate Professor of Special Education & UDLab

  Position:
  Associate Professor of Special Education & UDLab

  Phone: (470) 578-6146
  Email: jcarterh@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 432

  
  I have extensive experience in preparing pre-service and in-service teachers and leaders in providing fully-inclusive evidenced-based practices for working with children and their families.

• Nihal Khote

  Nihal Khote Assistant Professor TESOL

  Position:
  Assistant Professor TESOL

  Phone: (470) 578-2121
  Email: nvk4987@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 438

  
  Having lived in India and Venezuela before immigrating to the United States, my life experiences with different cultures and languages have shaped my beliefs and research on bilingual education. I teach both M.A.T. and M.Ed. classes focusing on teaching for social justice and supporting the multilingual meaning making practices of emergent bilingual learners in U.S. classrooms.

• Maria Montalvo

  Maria Montalvo Clinical Assistant Professor of TESOL

  Position:
  Clinical Assistant Professor of TESOL

  Phone: (470) 578-7854
  Email: mmontal1@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 439

  
  I teach in the TESOL department and supervise the TESOL Clinical Candidates.

• Amanda Richey

  Amanda Richey Associate Professor of TESOL

  Position:
  Associate Professor of TESOL

  Phone: (470) 578-2769
  Email: arichey1@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 436

  
  My research interests are focused on issues of culture and representation in curriculum, family and community engagement, and literacy practices.

• Kate Zimmer

  Kate Zimmer Associate Professor of Special Education

  Position:
  Associate Professor of Special Education

  Phone: (470) 578-7853
  Email: kzimme10@kennesaw.edu
  Location: BEB 443

  
  My teaching, research, and community engagement efforts focus on teacher preparation, early intervention, literacy, and autism. I am also the program coordinator for the M.Ed program in Special Education and the KSU Graduate Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Staff

• Colleen Radbill

  Colleen Radbill Administrative Associate

  Position:
  Administrative Associate

  Phone: (470) 578-3072
  Email: cradbill@kennesaw.edu
  Location: WB 111B

  
  I support the Chair and faculty of the Inclusive Education Department.