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College of Education Special Education http://education.illinois.edu/sped/frp/rsantos

Faculty Research Profiles: Rosa Milagros Santos Gilbertz

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Associate Professor

Special Education

284D Education Building

1310 S. 6th St. MC 708

Champaign, IL 61820USA

rsantos@illinois.edu

business217 244-3558

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Research Biography

For several years I worked as a preschool teacher and as a special education teacher . I am an active member of DEC serving in various leadership roles for the Illinois subdivision and national DEC. I serve on the Editorial Board of the Division for Early Childhood's (DEC) Journal on Early Intervention and currently an Associate Editor for the Young Exceptional Children journal .

My research interests include issues that relate to the impact of culture, race and language in the delivery of services to young children with disabilities (birth to five years old) and their families. My current research efforts focus on the examination of parent-child interactions across cultures. In particular, my research is contributing to building the knowledge base on the roles mothers play in their children's development.
I am also collaborating with colleagues in the Departments of Human and Community Development and Psychology on a series of studies examining the effects of father involvement on the well-being of mothers and their children with disabilities. Using the ECLS-B data set, this research will provide valuable insight for the field on the developmental processes of children with disabilities, and the roles played by fathers in these families in enhancing positive maternal and child outcomes.
Additionally, I am part of a research team examining the efficacy of evidence-based strategies to support children's language and literacy development. This research project is making a direct impact on preschoolers at-risk for failure, their families, and the teachers who work with them.
Finally, I have an interest in studying the influence of culture and language on children's social-emotional development such as differentiating between linguistic differences and challenging behaviors, understanding home and school expectations of children’s social behaviors, and the preparation and development of early childhood teachers and providers to support social emotional development of children from a variety of backgrounds.

Degrees

Ph.D., Special Education, Utah State University, 1997
M.S., Special Education, Emporia State University, 1992
B.S., Family Life and Child Development, University of the Philippines, 1986

Key Professional Appointments

Associate Professor, Special Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006--
External Evaluator, Interdisciplinary Field-Based Preparation of Personnel Serving Preschool/Primary Children and Families in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Urban Settings Grant Project (Project DUIT), Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Department of Health Sciences and Department of Exceptional Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2002-2006
Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001-2006
Project Coordinator/Co-Principal Investigator, Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services, Special Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997-2001

Activities & Honors

Executive Board Member, Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, 2008-2012

Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Office of the Provost, 2008-2009

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, Center for Teaching Excellence, 2008

External Evaluator, BK-ISED Grant Project, University of North Carolina - Greensboro, 2008

Editorial Board Member, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2007- present

Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award for Faculty, College of Education, 2007-2008

External Evaluator, United Way Success by 6 Social-emotional Work Group, 2007-2008

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana -Champaign, 2007

Associate Editor, Young Exceptional Children, 2006-2011

External Evaluator, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, 2006-2010

Committee Chair, Sharing A Vision Conference, 2006-2007

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana -Champaign, 2006

Publications Committee, Illinois Division for Early Childhood, 2004-2005

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana -Champaign, 2004

Editorial Board Member, Editorial Review Board, Early Childhood Research & Practice, 2003- present

Editorial Board Member, Exceptional Children, 2003- present

Member-at-Large, DEC Executive Board, Council for Exceptional Children, 2003-2006

Editorial Board Member, Young Children, 2003-2005

Spitze-Mather Award for Excellence, College of Education, 2003-2004

Past President, Illinois Division for Early Childhood, 2003-2004

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana -Champaign, 2003

Member, Birth to 6 Panel, United Way, 2003

Editorial Board Member, Editorial Review Board, Journal of Early Intervention, 2002- present

Chair, Concept Paper, Council for Exceptional Children, 2002-2004

Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002

Editorial Board Member, Editorial Review Board, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 1999-2008

Editorial Board Member, Editorial Review Board, Young Exceptional Children, 1998-2006

Grants

Senior Personnel, DELL-D Developing Early Language and Literacy in Danville, U.S. Department of Education, 2007
Principal Investigator, Preparing Relationship-Based Early Intervention Personnel (PREP), U.S. Department of Education, 2004
Principal Investigator, Perceptions of Immigrant Filipino Mothers' Interactions with Their Infants and Toddlers, Campus Research Board, 2004
Co-Principal Investigator, Enhancing Pre-Service Teachers' Resource Family Experience, The Kay Meginnis Endowment for the Enhancement of Special Education Programs, 2003
Senior Personnel, Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001
Senior Personnel, Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior, U.S. Department of Education, 2001

Selected Publications

Hemmeter, M. L., Santos, R. M., & Ostrosky, M. M. (2008). Preparing early childhood educators to address young children's social-emotional development and challenging behavior: A survey of higher education programs in nine states. Journal of Early Intervention, 30 (4), 321-340.
Cheatham, G., Armstrong, J., & Santos, R. M. (In Press). Y’all listenin’? Accessing children’s dialects in preschool. Young Exceptional Children.
Santos, R. M., Shaffer, L. & Fettig, A. (In Press). Supporting families to facilitate their children’s social emotional development. Young Children.
Dyer, W. J., McBride, B., Santos, R. M., & Jeans, L. (In Press) A longitudinal examination of father involvement with children with disabilities: Does timing of diagnosis matter? Journal of Early Intervention.
Cheatham, G. & Santos, R. M. (In Press). Time and communication orientations in collaborating with families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Young Children.