Rebecca Folkerts
PhD Student, Special Education
Contact
Biography
Advisor: Hedda Meadan-Kaplansky
Rebecca received a Bachelors in Music from James Madison University while serving as a paraprofessional in Delaware and Virginia, and she later received an Ed.M in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on the ACCESS grant. She worked in the field of special education for six years in Chicago Public Schools as a transition services teacher for students with moderate to significant disabilities and as a district-wide Board Certified Behavior Analyst. As a BCBA, she worked in a consultative role with school professionals, administrators, and district attorneys and provided professional development to school-based professionals across the district.
Her interests are in personnel development for student behavior assessment and interventions. While at the University of Illinois, Rebecca was in the inaugural Policy and Research Legislative Fellow cohort and interned with the Office of Special Education Programs, furthering her sub-interests in policy-change and system-wide accountability.