Assumption College Graduate Program

M.A. in Special Education

Faculty

Dr. Cathleen K. StutzJessica de la Cruz
Assistant Professor of Education
B.A., Union College
M.S., Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2008
Phone: (508) 767-7085
Office: Kennedy Hall, Room 106

Dr. de la Cruz's Ph.D. and specialty is in mathematics education. Her dissertation was titled “Teachers’ Instruction Related to Proportional Reasoning: A Cognitively Guided Perspective”. She is interested in student-centered and cognitively guided mathematics instruction, as well as developing understandings of mathematics concepts not simply procedural knowledge. Dr. de la Cruz teaches the course, Teaching Children and Adolescents with Problems in Mathematics at the graduate level.

Dr. Cathleen K. StutzDiane M. Myers
Assistant Professor of Special Education (2008)
B.A., Connecticut College
M.S., Southern Connecticut State University
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 2008.
Phone: (508) 767-7125
Office: Kennedy Hall, Room 156

Dr. Myers joined the faculty in 2008. Her research and professional interests include positive behavior supports, classroom management, juvenile justice, teacher education, and effective professional development for educators. Her current graduate courses include Behavior Assessment and Interventions and Introduction to Research in Education.

Dr. Cathleen K. StutzCathleen K. Stutz, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Education (1995)
Chairperson of the Education Program

B.A., M.S., University of Pennsylvania; Ed.D., Boston University, 1995.
Phone: (508) 767-7553
Office: Kennedy Hall, Room 167

Dr. Stutz has been a faculty member since 1995 and was named the Chairperson of the Education Department in 2003. She received the Massachusetts Professor of the Year Award in 2006. The courses she teaches at the graduate level include: Teaching and Learning: Concepts and Models and Seminar in Literacy: Processes of Reading and Responding. Dr. Stutz thesis title for her Ph.D. is “The Soul of Life: Literature, Moral Awareness, and Teaching”.

Dr. Nanho S. Vander HartNanho S. Vander Hart, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Special Education (1999)
Director of the Special Education Program

B.A., Ewha Womens University, Seoul, Korea;
M.A., University of Northern Colorado; Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1998.
Phone: (508) 767-7380
Office: Kennedy Hall, Room 168

Dr. Vander Hart has been a member of the education faculty since 1999. She is currently preparing two manuscripts for publication: “Garland Studies on Industrial Productivity and The Type and Frequency of Social Relationships of Supported Employees Practice: Implications for Supported Employment Practice”. Dr. Vander Hart also teaches the course, Inclusion: Theory and Classroom Practice at the graduate level.

Lecturers

Albert V. Bacotti
Lecturer in Special Education (2006)
B.A., University of Notre Dame; M.A., Long Island University, C.W. Post College; Ph.D., University of Maryland, 1975; Postdoctorate, Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology.

Claire J. Bouchard
Lecturer in Special Education (2005)
B.A., Anna Maria College; M.A., Worcester State College, 1971.

Judith Cournoyer
Lecturer in Special Education (2007)
B.S., Westfield State College, M.A., Westfield State College, C.A.G.S., American International College, 1997.

Calvin R. Hill
Lecturer in Special Education (2005)
B.A., Bethany College; M.S., Emporia State University; Ph.D., Howard University, 2004.

Ellen S. Koretz
Lecturer in Special Education (2005)
B.A., Lesley College; M.S., Lesley University; Ed.D., University of Massachusetts Lowell, 2003.

Rosanne Majoy
Lecturer in Special Education (2006)
B.A., Ohio Northern University, M.A., Teachers College, Columbia University, Ed. D., Boston College, 1991

Mary Ann Mariani
Lecturer in Special Education (2000)
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Boston College, 1990.

Amy Maynard
Lecturer in Special Education (2006)
B.A., University of Vermont, M.A., University of Southern Maine, 1995.

Ronald J. Pasternak
Lecturer in Special Education (2006)
B.A., American International College; M.A., Assumption College, 1980; Professional Certificate, Holy Cross College.

Kathleen Russo
Lecturer in Special Education (2008)
B.A., Assumption College; M.A., New York University, 1986.

Joseph M. Vandergrift, Ph.D., ABSNP
Lecturer in Special Education (2003)
B.A., Rockhurst College
M.A., C.A.G.S., Ph.D., Duquesene University, 1999, Board Certification in School Neuropsychology, 2004, Postdoctorate in Clinical Neuropsychology, Fielding University 2007.

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