Valerie Mazzotti
- Roy Roberts Distinguished Professor
- Recruiting doctoral students for the Fall 2025 application cycle
Contact Info
Personal Links
Biography —
Valerie L. Mazzotti, PhD is a Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas. Dr. Mazzotti is affiliated with Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Mazzotti's research focuses on four areas, including interagency collaboration, self-determination interventions and supports, college and career readiness for students with disabilities, and secondary transition evidence-based practices and predictors of postschool success. Dr. Mazzotti has received grant funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS). Dr. Mazzotti has published one book focused on building collaborative partnerships between youth with disabilities and their families and school/community partners, 18 book chapters, and over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She has accumulated over $27 million in external funding as PI or Co-PI. Dr. Mazzotti also serves as Co-Editor for the peer-reviewed journal, Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals and is a Past President of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Career Development and Transition
Research —
Dr. Mazzotti's research focuses on four areas, including interagency collaboration, self-determination interventions and supports, college and career readiness for students with disabilities, and secondary transition evidence-based practices and predictors of postschool success. She currently serves as:
- Principal Investigator (PI) for an Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research (IES-NCSER) Initial Efficacy study (Effects of CIRCLES on the Provision of Transition Services and Resulting Transition Outcomes for Students with Disabilities);
- Co-PI for an Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research (IES-NCSER) Initial Efficacy study (Examining the Initial Efficacy of the Goal Setting Challenge App: Impacts of Technology-Delivered Self-Determination Instruction on Secondary/Transition Outcomes);
- PI for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services’ National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C);
- Co-PI for an IES National Center for Education Evaluation (NCEE) contract (Evaluation of Transition Supports for Youth with Disabilities); and
- Co-PI for an IES-NCSER Measurement project (Secondary Transition Assessment: Development and Validation of a Student College and Career Readiness Measure)
Teaching —
Teaching interests:
- Secondary transition for students with high incidence disabilities
- Self-determination interventions and supports
- Blending academics and transition through multi-tiered systems of support
- College and career readiness for students with high incidence disabilities
- Systems change