In advance of the fall 2024 semester, the College of Education welcomed 12 new faculty who bring decades of expertise, cutting-edge research, and innovative teaching to our community.
Randy Lange
Clinical Assistant Professor
Elementary Education
Randy Lange earned a BS (Elementary Education) from the University of Illinois and both his MA and PhD from the University of Iowa. Prior to coming to the College of Education, he worked in public schools for 32 years in the Chicago suburbs. Lange’s areas of expertise and interest are gifted education, curriculum & instruction, educational assessment, and twice-exceptionality.
Jeff Walls
Associate Professor
Educational Leadership
Prior to entering higher education, Jeff Walls worked as a high school math teacher and district central office administrator. His research focuses on care ethics in educational leadership.
Jolene Teske
Clinical Assistant Professor
Elementary Education
With 34 years of teaching experience (K-12, community college, and university-level), Jolene Teske earned a BA in English from University of Iowa and Masters in Gifted Education from the University of Northern Iowa. Teske also has an endorsement in counseling from Buena Vista University and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from UNI.
Derek Rodgers
Assistant Professor
Special Education
Derek Rodgers specializes in working with students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, helping to develop their reading and writing skills. He also specializes in quantitative methods, including meta-analysis and single-case design research.
Theodora (Dora) Kourkoulou
Clinical Assistant Professor
Elementary Education
Dora Kourkoulou holds a PhD in Educational Policy Organization and Leadership and an EdM in Human Resource Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as well as a BA and MA in Classical Literature from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. Her expertise and interests lie in the educational applications of informal and playful technologies, educational technologies, and AI in education.
Amanda Case
Associate Professor
Counseling Psychology
Amanda Case earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her engaged research promotes youth well-being and educational success by working alongside families and community-based organizations to explore how these essential systems support youth trajectories.
Gahyun Callie Sung
Assistant Professor
Learning Sciences and Educational Psychology
Gahyun Callie Sung studies affect and motivation in learning, with a synergetic interest in AI and the purposeful, equitable use of student data. Her mixed methods dissertation used design-based and data analytic methods to study the stress of new computer science students using multimodal (i.e., sensor) data. She holds a PhD in Human Development, Learning and Teaching (HDLT), and an MS in Computational Sciences and Engineering, both from Harvard University.
Ashley Rila
Clinical Assistant Professor
Special Education
Ashley Rila has more than 15 years of experience working with and conducting research about individuals with or at-risk for disabilities. Her research and teaching focus on the equitable treatment of students in schools.
Marina A. Durinova
Visiting Assistant Professor
Multilingual Education
As an English language instructor at the University of Northern Iowa, Marina Durinova supported multilingual students in their language learning journey. Committed to service and community engagement, Durinova has served in various roles and committees aimed at promoting diversity, inclusion, and educational equity. Her research interests focus on idea development, offering new insights into creativity in second language writing. As a scholar and educator, Durinova is committed to promoting linguistic diversity and equitable access to education.
Jillian Thoele
Clinical Assistant Professor
Special Education
Jill Thoele is a board-certified behavior analyst with a doctorate degree from the University of Georgia. She taught special education for 12 years, specializing in intensive interventions for students with academic and behavioral difficulties.
Miranda Zahn
Assistant Professor
School Psychology
Miranda Zahn’s areas of interest are in school-based mental health services, and she has served as a systems-level consultant to national organizations and school districts. Specifically, Zahn focuses on the role of teachers in school-based support for youth mental health, including supportive classroom practices and teacher well-being.
Jessica O’Bleness
Clinical Assistant Professor
School Psychology
Jessica O’Bleness received a PhD in School Psychology from the University of Iowa. Before joining UI, she worked as a school psychologist and licensed psychologist in Texas. In her current role, O’Bleness has been supervising practicum students and interns as well as teaching undergraduate and graduate courses related to school psychology.