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15
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Introduction
Dr. Robai Werunga is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Her research focus is in early academic and behavioral interventions through multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) for students with or at-risk for Emotional/Behavioral Disorders and/or Learning Disabilities with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Immigrant family empowerment and engagement is a big part Dr. Werunga's scholarship.
Current institution
Publications
Publications (15)
Black students have consistently been overrepresented in the special education category of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and have received more office disciplinary referrals, harsher punishment, and more multiple suspensions then White students (Lo, et al, 2021). While Black students make up 15% of public-school enrollment, they account for 42...
In this article, the author describes a collaborative team approach that aimed to empower a parent of a student with Down syndrome to participate in her daughter’s learning through homework support. Participants included a community partner, school partner, and a family partner. It illustrates how these three networks can work together to improve s...
Knowledge of the special education process has been found to enhance parental involvement with collateral effects of positive school outcomes for students with disabilities. Although research on immigrant families with children with disabilities has increased in recent years, there is limited research specific to Southeast Asian American (SEAA) fam...
Interdisciplinary collaboration is critical to effective service delivery for students with disabilities. However, collaborative models are not the norm in personnel preparation programs. In this presentation, authors discussed an ongoing innovative OSEP-funded project that brings together scholars from a bilingual special education program and an...
Engaging families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds has been found to yield collateral effects that include positive school outcomes for CLD students with disabilities. However, fostering active CLD family engagement, including those of immigrant status has historically posed some challenges. Additionally, when the studen...
Teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often struggle with simultaneously meeting students’ writing and behavioral needs. Building on existing Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) literature, this study investigated the collateral effects of SRSD with social skills prompts on the writing outcomes and problem behavi...
Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support, a framework for remediating and preventing student problem behaviors and supporting schools, has demonstrated a reduction in office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) among student groups. However, African American students are still overrepresented in ODRs. This study extended a prior study that explored parents’ p...
Schools continue to experience difficulty meeting the needs of young children who are formally identified as having an emotional and/or behavioural disorder (EBD). Although schools are mandated to use evidence‐based practices to improve student outcomes, such practices must first be identified before they can be employed. Systematic reviews of inte...
Black and Brown Students with or at-risk of disabilities are among the most vulnerable for poor school outcomes, and the COVID-19 pandemic elevates these vulnerabilities. This article provides insight on the factors contributing to the risk and offers suggestions for stakeholders to mitigate the potential damage that pandemic could inflict on the a...
Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in secondary school settings often have deficient reading skills. Secondary school teachers who serve this population of students may need additional training, support, and resources to maximize the effectiveness of the time they spend teaching reading. This article focuses on two instructional...
This poster presentation targets practitioners and discusses two projects that aimed to solicit and promote involvement of CLD families through collaboration (inviting them at the table) and advocacy (demystifying available information and resources for easy access). Practical implications are discussed.
Research Presentation at the 15th Annual APBS conference , in March 2018, San Diego, CA
As student populations are becoming more diverse in ability and ethnicity across American classrooms, teachers are faced with instructional challenges in meeting their students’ learning needs. Challenges are heightened for general and special education teachers who teach students with learning disabilities (LD) and have a culturally and linguistic...
