Eva Marie Horn
- Emerita
- Coordinator of Early Childhood Unified Program
Contact Info
Joseph R. Pearson Hall, room #502
Personal Links
Biography —
Eva M. Horn is an Emerita in the Department of Special Education and an investigator for the Lifespan Institute for Developmental Disabilities (LSI). She earned her doctoral degree in Human Development with an emphasis in Special Education from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Horn was a classroom teacher of young children with multiple disabilities for over 10 years. Her research interests focus on effective, instructional techniques for infants, toddlers and preschool children with developmental delays and/or at risk for disabilities and their families. She has directed numerous externally funded grants including personnel preparation, doctoral leadership preparation, and research and development grants from IES and NIH. She just completed, as the PI, a multi-site IES project – Children's School Success Plus (CSS+) addressing high expectation early childhood curriculum for all preschool children including those with identified developmental delays and disabilities. She is the coordinator of the KU ECE/ECSE undergraduate and graduate teacher and leadership preparation program. Dr. Horn sits on multiple editorial boards including Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Journal of Early Intervention and Young Exceptional Children. Dr. Horn currently serves on the executive board for the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Professional Organization as its President. Dr. Horn specializes in early education for infants, toddlers, and young children at risk for developmental delays, and those with identified disabilities.
Research —
Research emphasis is on effective, instructional techniques for infants, toddlers and preschool children with developmental delays and/or at risk for disabilities and their families.
Research interests:
- inclusive practices
- evidenced based instruction
- infants/toddlers/young children with developmental delays
- teacher preparation
Teaching —
My teaching and mentoring philosophy has emerged from my own experiences in early intervention/early childhood, my work as a teacher educator, and my research and development work in effective intervention strategies for all infants, toddlers, and young children and their families. These experiences have highlighted the importance of early educators demonstrating critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills. Thus, as a teacher and mentor of pre-service educators at the University of Kansas, I strive to promote these skills, create opportunities to practice the skills in real world contexts, and provide supports that enable my students to become life long learners. To achieve this outcome, I use two primary strategies: (1) using the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) as a framework for designing teaching materials and methods to make the content accessible to learners with diverse abilities and backgrounds; and (2) incorporating specific evidence-based professional development practices for adult learners.
Teaching interests:
- teacher preparation
- early childhood methods
- family/educator partnerships
Awards & Honors —
Education Award
American Association for Intellectual Developmental Disabilities
2015 - 2016
American Association for Intellectual Developmental Disabilities
2015 - 2016
Service —
I believe that service reflects the obligation that faculty have to share their disciplinary expertise, professional experience, time and energy in activities at the community, University/School of Education, and national levels in ways that meet needs and contribute to the University's mission and my role in preparing educators. I invest my time, energy and expertise in community, university, and national efforts that support the goal to be engaged in activities that serve the public good and in particular the good of young children and their families to whom I have ultimately commitment my career. My service contributes to my research and scholarship and I utilize my research and expertise to advance service goals. For me, service is not an "add on." I integrate public engagement with my other activities to enrich my research and mentoring of future educators and researchers.