Meet Our Team
Staff
With 36 years of experience, Jon (he/him/his) is a long time Early Childhood Special Educator and public-school administrator for early childhood programs; including special education, child find services, and family literacy programs. Jon and the family moved to Louisville Kentucky in 2000 where he held appointments with the National Center for Family Literacy, Bellarmine University, and the University of Louisville. Jon earned promotion and tenure (May 2018) during his six-year appointment with the University of Cincinnati, and again as an Associate Professor of Education at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. As of 2023, Jon has returned to the University of Louisville as director of the ECRC.
Jon’s research and teaching focuses on issues relating to family impact on very young children’s emergent literacy development; factors pertaining to children’s social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment to schooling; and applications of Motivational Interviewing (MI) in educational contexts. Jon is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and is trained in the use of the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) code. Jon works with a highly successful research consortium, whose current research is funded by Institute of Educational Sciences and includes adaptations of the First Step Next early intervention program for preschool-aged children (R324A150221) and children with tertiary behavior challenges in primary classrooms (R324A090237 and R324A150179), as well as the development of educational interventions utilizing MI in various contexts (R324A190173).
Dr. Jill Jacobi-Vessels (she/her/hers) (PhD, University of Louisville, 2008) has seventeen years of experience in administering children’s programs, including five years working with U.S. Army Child Development Services and two years as the Director of the University’s Early Learning Campus. She helped to conduct a large-scale longitudinal Reading and Math study, a longitudinal Scale Up Mathematics Intervention study, and assessed brain responses to auditory and visual stimuli using event related potentials to measure latency and amplitude. Her research interests include kindergarten readiness through play-based learning and drama, pre-and in- service teacher development, preschool learning trajectories in mathematics, and classroom quality and the effects on children’s achievement.
Michele Hemenway Pullen (she/her/hers) is an educator with a background in Psychology and Counseling, Waldorf Education and Learning and Behavior Disorders in addition to Early Childhood. She has taught and trained teachers in Early Childhood and Elementary/Middle School education for over thirty years. Her background in Waldorf Education has led her to implement courses for teachers in how to embed the Arts for improved learning and development in children. She is a Campaign for Black Male Achievement Beloved Community Fellow which is active in the Louisville community and nationally and has written social justice curriculum for 18 years. She formerly coordinated the Early Childhood Department at Ivy Tech Community College which is where she came to appreciate the Child Development Associate process that she currently works with at the Early Childhood Research Center.
Erica Ranade (she/her/hers) is a doctoral student in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Middle and Secondary Education, and Special Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She completed her MS (Psychology) and SSP (School Psychology) at Illinois State University. Erica is currently a Graduate Research Assistant for The Early Childhood Research Center. She spent the past nine years working as a school psychologist, behavior analyst, and psychological practitioner in schools, clinics, and private practices specializing in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Erica is passionate about working to address systemic barriers to early intervention and medical diagnosis. Erica is a Licensed Psychological Practitioner in Kentucky. In her spare time, Erica enjoys going to concerts, playing guitar, and plant-based cooking.
Jennifer Lee is a unit business manager at the Early Childhood Research Center and Department coordinator of the Special Education, Early Childhood & Prevention Science at the College of Education and Human Development
Katherine Jordan is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville and staff member of the ECRC team.
Practice Associates
Betty Doyle (she/her/hers) grew up in Bardstown, KY and moved to Louisville to attend the University of Louisville for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. She obtained a B.S. in Elementary Education, and Special Education with a concentration in Learning and Behavior Disorders. She received her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education. Since a M.Ed. is her highest level of education, she's plain old "Betty," not Dr. Doyle, and all of her students (and many others) refer to her as “Ms. Betty” in the spirit of early childhood education. Before coming to U of L as an employee, she was a first grade teacher in Meade County. She started at U of L as a research assistant in 1993, working on the grant that eventually lead to the B-5 teacher certification in Kentucky. She worked as a research assistant on various grants for several years, before becoming a full-time faculty member in 2003.
Dianna Zink (she/her/hers) is a trainer and curriculum specialist for Child Development Associate degree trainings through the University of Louisville/Ohio Valley Education Consortium (OVEC) Partnership grant. She has developed 120 hours of curriculum and instructed Child Development Associate candidates in all areas of competency for certification through the National Association of Education of Young Children. Dianna provides support throughout the process, developing the professional portfolio, observing candidates as part of their final assessment and providing support for their final written exam.
Dianna has worked multiple roles within early childhood, including the director of the Early Learning Campus and other early childhood centers, as well doing some consulting work as well.