Dr. Jenny Root, Associate Professor, Florida State University

​Dr. Jenny Root (Florida State University) is an Associate Professor in the Special Education Program at Florida State University, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and Affiliate Faculty with the Florida Center for Reading Research. She is a former middle school teacher of students with high-intensity needs in rural southeastern North Carolina. She received funding from an OSEP 325D leadership personnel preparation grant (PIs: Browder & Test) to complete her PhD in Special Education at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Her work focuses on teaching meaningful academic skills to students with autism and intellectual disability, particularly in the area of mathematics. She has over 45 publications in peer-reviewed journals and a dozen book chapters on the education and assessment of students with high-intensity needs. Dr. Root has received several awards for her research and leadership, including the Alice Hayden emerging leader award form TASH (2015) and Tom E.C. Smith Early Career award from DADD (2019). Dr. Root’s strength in teaching and mentoring have been recognized through University (2023) and College (2022) Graduate Teaching awards. She has successfully managed federal grants, including an IES Early Career Development and Mentoring Grant (PI), OSEP 325D (PD), OSEP 325K (Co-PD), and IES predoctoral training grant (Co-PD) totaling over $6.8 million in federal funds. Her leadership in national organizations (e.g., HECSE, DADD) and service as associate editor of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities and Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities provides Dr. Root additional venues for mentoring all SPARC scholars and expanding their networks.
 

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