Stephen N. Elliott

Professor of Special Education and Dunn Family Chair in Educational and Psychological Assessment; Director, Learning Sciences Institute; Director, Interdisciplinary Program in Educational Psychology

Ph.D., Arizona State University, 1980

Research Areas

Assessment of children’s social skills and academic competence, development and validation of testing accommodations and alternate assessments for evaluating the academic performance of students with disabilities and the design and evaluation of tests and assessments of human performance.

Short Biography

Steve is an educational psychologist with interests in children’s academic and social learning and the measurement of this learning. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt in 2004 as the Dunn Family Professor of Educational and Psychological Assessment, Steve was on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he was the associate director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and a faculty member of UW’s top-ranked School Psychology program.

He currently co-directs three USDE research grants concerning the design and validation of alternate assessments for students with disabilities and a fourth USDE project to validate the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED). Steve teaches courses on educational psychology history and research and an advanced assessment course in Special Education.

Steve has been a productive scholar, authoring more than 130 journal articles, 20 books, 40 book chapters and five widely used behavior-rating scales. His scholarly and professional contributions have been recognized by his colleagues in psychology as evidenced by being the 1984 recipient of the Lightner Witmer Award from Division 16 within the American Psychological Association, by being elected to Fellow status in four APA divisions, being appointed editor of School Psychology Review (1984-1990) for two terms and most recently by being invited to be an AERA Fellow.

Steve frequently consults with educators on the assessment and instruction of K-12 students and served on the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Education Goals 2000 and Students with Disabilities during 1995-1997. He recently completed multi-year appointments on the U.S. Department of Education's technical advisory panels for the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the National Alternate Assessment Study.

In addition to his faculty position in Special Education, Steve serves as Director of the Peabody Interdisciplinary Program in Educational Psychology (IPEP), a relatively new inter-departmental doctoral program focusing on learning and measurement research. And in May 2008, Steve was appointed the Director of the Learning Sciences Institute (LSI), a Vanderbilt trans-institutional center that supports the development and management of the externally funded research projects of more than 50 Vanderbilt faculty.

Learn More about Stephen N. Elliott:

Projects | Courses Taught | Selected Publications
Awards | CV | Media Mentions

Selected Publications

Elliott, S.N., Gresham, F.M., Frank, J.L., & Beddow, P.A. III (in press). Intervention validity of social behavior rating scales: Features of assessments that link results to treatment plans. Assessment for Effective Intervention.

Feldman, E.S., Kim, J.S., & Elliott, S.N. (in press). Attitudes and reactions to large-scale assessments: An experimental investigation of the effects of accommodations on adolescents’ self-efficacy and test performance. School Psychology Review.

Murphy, J., Goldring, E., Cravens, X., Elliott, S.N., & Porter, A.C. (in press). The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education: Measuring learning-centered leadership. East China Normal University Journal.

Roach, A. T., & Elliott, S. N. (in press). Consultation to support inclusive accountability and standards-based reform: Facilitating access, equity,, and empowerment. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation.

Roach, A.T., Elliott, S.N., & Berndt, S.A. (in press). Teacher satisfaction and the consequential validity of an alternate assessment for students with significant disabilities. Journal of Disability Studies.

Elliott, S.N., Huai, N., & Roach, R.T. (2007). Universal and early screening for educational difficulties: Current and future approaches. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 137-161.

Elliott, S.N., Compton, E., & Roach, A.T. (2007). Building validity evidence for scores on a state-wide alternate assessment: A contrasting groups, multi-method approach. Educational Measurement: Issues & Practice, 26(2), 30-43.

Elliott, S.N., & Roach, R.T. (2007). Alternate assessments of students with significant disabilities: Alternative approaches, common technical challenges. Applied Measurement in Education, Vol. 20, No. 3,  301-333.

Elliott, S.N., Huai, N., & Roach, R.T. (2006). Universal and early screening for educational difficulties: Current and future approaches. Journal of School Psychology.

Ray, C., & Elliott, S.N. (2006). Social adjustment and academic achievement: A predictive model for students with diverse academic and behavior competencies. School Psychology Review, 35 (3), 493-501.

Roach, A.T., & Elliott, S.N. (2006). The influence of access to the general education curriculum on the alternate assessment performance of students with significant cognitive disabilities. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 20(2), 181-194.

Elliott, S.N., DiPerna, J.C., Mroch, A., & Lang, S.C. (2004). Prevalence and patterns of academic enabling behaviors: An analysis of teachers' and students' ratings for a national sample of students. School Psychology Review, 33 (2), 297-304.

Elliott, S.N., & Marquart, A.M. (2004). Extended time as a testing accommodation: Its effects and perceived consequences. Exceptional Children. 70 (3), 349-367.

Elliott, S.N., McKevitt, B.C., & Kettler, R. (2002). Testing accommodations research and decision-making: The case of "good" scores being highly valued but difficult to achieve for all students. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. 35, 153-166.

DiPerna, J.C., Volpe, R., & Elliott, S.N. (2002). A model of academic enablers and elementary reading/language arts achievement. School Psychology Review, 31 (3), 298-312.

Elliott, S.N., Malecki, C.K., & Demaray, M.K. (2001). New directions in social skills assessment and intervention for elementary and middle school students. Exceptionality, 9 (1&2), 19-33.

Elliott, S.N., Kratochwill, T.R., & McKevitt, B.C. (2001). Experimental analysis of the effects of testing accommodations on the scores of students with and without disabilities. Journal of School Psychology, 39 (1), 3-24.

Elliott, S. N. (1998). Performance assessment of students' achievement: Research and practice. Learning Disabilities: Research and Practice, 13 (4), 233-241.

Elliott, S. N., & Fuchs, L. S. (1997). The utility of curriculum-based measurement and performance assessment as alternatives to intelligence tests. School Psychology Review, 26 (2), 224-233.

Elliott, S. N., & Gresham, F. M. (1993). Social skills interventions for children. Behavior Modification, 17, 287-313.

Elliott, S. N. (1988). Acceptability of behavioral treatments: A review of variables that influence treatment selection. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 19, 68-80.

Elliott, S. N. (1986). Children's ratings of the acceptability of classroom interventions for misbehavior: Findings and methodological considerations. Journal of School Psychology, 24, 23 35.

Areas of Expertise

Special Education

Assessment

Psychology and Human Development

Related Links

• Interdisciplinary Program in Education Psychology (IPEP)
• Learning Sciences Institute

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