Media mentions: Bhattacharya writes op-ed in AJC; Cooper quoted in NPR; Fiorella quoted in Chronicle of Higher Education

Bhattacharya writes op-ed about segregation of students with disabilities in AJC

Usree Bhattacharya, an associate professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, recently wrote an op-ed in the AJC about the need to stop segregating students with disabilities in schools.

Bhattacharya’s daughter, who has a neurological disorder called Rett Syndrome, is starting kindergarten and will have to go between general and special education classrooms. Bhattacharya discusses the isolation some students with disabilities experience when separated from students in general education classrooms.

“The battle—there is no other way to call it than that—to get one’s child with significant disabilities access to literacy, with rich cognitive, social, and linguistic stimulation in Georgia and broadly in the United States, is one that is heartbreakingly challenging for many parents like me,” she said.

Read the full op-ed on the AJC’s website.

Cooper quoted about reducing heat-related deaths among Georgia high school football players in NPR

Bud Cooper, a clinical professor and clinical education coordinator in the Department of Kinesiology, was recently quoted in an NPR story about reducing heat-related deaths among high school football teams.

UGA research conducted from 1980-2009 showed that Georgia was one of the states with the highest numbers of heat-related deaths among high school football players. The 2010 study prompted the Georgia High School Association to adapt heat rules designed by Cooper and other experts, and a follow-up study demonstrated that the rules worked.

“It’s exciting for my part,” Cooper said. “There is nothing that’s more satisfying than for me to be able to sit here and say, ‘I’ve done some things that have saved lives.’ ”

Read the full story on NPR’s website.

Fiorella quoted on productivity in The Chronicle of Higher Education

Logan Fiorella, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, was recently quoted about boosting productivity in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Fiorella was one of six academics interviewed who received early-career awards from the American Educational Research Association or the American Psychological Association. He discussed his work schedule as one way that he boosts productivity.

“I try to work on the most important task, such as writing a manuscript, for the first two or three hours,” Fiorella said. “If I do that, it’s already a productive day.”

Read the full story on The Chronicle of Higher Education’s website.