MERILEE MCCURDY, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Educational Psychology
234 Teachers College Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0345
(402) 472-5191

Biography

Merilee McCurdy is an Assistant Professor in Educational (School) Psychology, having graduated with a doctorate from Mississippi State University . She has always had an interest in improving students' academic abilities and has conducted research in the schools in this area. Specifically, she is interested in students' writing ability and interventions to increase writing performance in the classroom. Compared to other academic areas, the area of writing has not been investigated thoroughly and she hopes to add to this literature. In past research, she has developed a writing intervention that has been very successful in increasing the writing performance of middle school children with learning disabilities. In addition to intervention programs, Dr. McCurdy and her students are investigating the ongoing assessment of writing skills within an RTI framework.

Dr. McCurdy supervises several outpatient clinics that assist families. The Academic Skills Clinic trains parents to become home-based academic tutors. Students are referred by teachers and the clinic assesses academic performance in reading, math, and/or writing. These assessments identify the most effective intervention for an individual child. Parents are trained to conduct the most effective interventions at home and progress is monitored. Dr. McCurdy also supervises the Clinic-based Practicum, conducted out of the Counseling and School Psychology Clinic. Through this clinic, graduate students consult with families experiencing school or home behavior concerns. The clinic addresses home concerns by teaching parents to alter the child's environment to change the child's behavior. Also, the clinic consults with schools to assist with any additional school related concerns.

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

McCurdy, M., Skinner, C. H., Watson, T. S., & Shriver, M. D. (in press). Examining the effects of group contingencies on the writing performance of middle school students with learning disabilities in writing. School Psychology Quarterly.

Gortmaker, V. J, Daly, E. J., III., McCurdy, M., Persampieri, M. J., & Hergenrader, M. (2007). Improving reading outcomes for children with learning disabilities: Using brief experimental analysis to develop parent tutoring interventions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

McCurdy, M., Daly, E. J., III, Gortmaker, V. J., Bonfiglio, C. M., & Persampieri, M. (2007). Use of brief instructional trials to identify small group reading instructional strategies: A two experiment study. Journal of Behavioral Education.

Persampieri, M., Gortmaker, V., Daly, E. J., III, Sheridan, S. M., & McCurdy, M. (2006). Promoting parent use of empirically supported reading interventions: Two experimental investigations of child outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Interventions, 21, 31-57.

Daly, E. J., III, Persampieri, M., McCurdy, M., & Gortmaker, V. (2005). Examining the effects of group contingencies on the writing performance of middle school students with learning disabilities in writing. School Psychology Review.

Ronning, L. U., McCurdy, M., & Swearer, S. (2004). Using a class lottery system to decrease the disruptive behavior of three middle school students. Proven Practice: Prevention and Remediation Solutions for Schools, 5, 56-57.

Daly, E., & McCurdy, M. (2003). Getting it right so they can get it right. School Psychology Review, 31, 453-458.

Gresham, F. M., Vanderwood, M., McCurdy, M., Watson, T. S., Noell, G. H., & Witt, J. C. (2003). Identification and intervention with learning disabilities: An empirical perspective. NASP Communiqué, 31, 8, 13.

Rhymer, K. N., Evans-Hampton, T. N., McCurdy, M., & Watson, T. S. (2002). Effects of varying levels of treatment integrity on toddler aggressive behavior. Special Services in the Schools, 18, 75-82.

Cates, G. L., Skinner, C. H., Rhymer, K. N., McNeil, S., & McCurdy, M. (2001). Effects of interspersing additional brief math problems on student performance of math assignments: Getting students to prefer to do more work. Journal of Behavioral Education, 9, 177-192.

McCurdy, M., Skinner, C. H., Grantham, K., Watson, T. S., & Hindman, P. (2001). Increasing on-task behavior in an elementary student during mathematics seat-work by interspersing additional brief problems. School Psychology Review, 30, 23-32.

Wildmon, M. E., Skinner, C. H., McCurdy, M., & Sims, S. (1999). Improving secondary students' perception of the "dreaded mathematics word problem assignment" by giving them more word problems. Psychology in the Schools, 36, 319-325.

Book Chapters

McCurdy, M., Kunz, G. M., & Sheridan, S. M. (2006). Temper tantrums. In G. G. Bear & K. M. Minke (Eds.), Children's needs - III: Development, prevention, and intervention (pp. 149-158). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Sheridan , S. M., & McCurdy, M. (2005). Ecological variables in school-based assessment and intervention planning. In R. Brown-Chidsey (Ed.), Assessment for intervention: A problem-solving approach (pp. 43-64). New York: The Guilford Press.

 

Research Projects

 

An Extension of Response to Intervention: Moving Toward Written Language
Society for the Study of School Psychology
Role: PI	2007

 

Development of a Summer Writing Clinic to Improve Student Writing Performance
Woods Charitable Fund
Role: Co-PI	2006

 

State-Wide Response-to-Intervention Consortium for Training and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Education
Role: Co-PI	2006-2011

Response-to-Intervention Phase I Training for Nebraska
Nebraska Department of Education
Role: PI	2006

School Psychology Leadership Specialization in Response-to-Intervention Research and Systems Changes
U.S. Department of Education
Role: Co-PI	2004-2008