Education

• University of Wisconsin-Madison | Ph.D. in Early Intervention
• University of Washington-Seattle | M.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education
• University of Washington-Seattle | B.S. in Psychology

Professional Experience

• Early Childhood Center, Indiana Institute on Disability & Community, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN | Center Director | 1994 to Present
• School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN | Adjunct Faculty | 1995 to Present
• Early Childhood Special Education Programs, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Washington, Olympia | State Supervisor | 1989-1993)
• Early Childhood Special Education Programs, Center for Developmental Disabilities, University of Vermont, Burlington | Coordinator and Visiting Assistant Professor | 1985-1989
• Departments of Early Childhood Education and Special Education, School of Education, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks | Assistant Professor | 1982-1984
• Program PREPARE, Developmental Training Center, Indiana University, Bloomington | Early Interventionist and Early Childhood Special Education Teacher | 1977-1980
• Communication Disorders Program and Down Syndrome Program, Experimental Education Unit, University of Washington, Seattle | Preschool Classroom Teacher | 1975-1977

Presentations & Publications

• PRESENTATIONS
• Early education in a diverse world: Applying universal design principles. Workshop presentation to the Texas Region 10 Education Service Center. Dallas, TX. | September 2010
• Alternative service models in First Steps Early Intervention. Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference. Indianapolis, IN. | April 2010
• Preparing for kindergarten: Teaching children essential skills and routines (with Dixon, Cross, & Traub). Featured workshop at the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference. Indianapolis, IN. | April 2010
• Identifying the skills and routines essential for successful school readiness. Presentation at the Division for Early Childhood's 25th Annual Conference on Children with Special Needs and their Families. Albuquerque, NM. | October 2009
• How to give all children access to school readiness: The universal design of early education. Featured Workshop at the Annual Early Childhood Conference. Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children. Indianapolis, IN. | April 2007
• Universal design in early education: Principles and practices. Featured presentation at the Annual Early Childhood Conference. Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children. Indianapolis, IN. | April 2007
• Research to Practice in Service Coordination. Annual International Early Childhood Conference of the Divison for Early Childhood. Little Rock, AR. | October 2006
• Assessing School Readiness. Keynote. Annual Conference, Fort Wayne Association for the Education of Young Children. Fort Wayne, IN. | October 2006
• National Institute on Service Coordination. Co-Presented with the University of Connecticut's Research and Training Center on Service Coordination. St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. | September 2006
• What do kindergarten teachers really expect? Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children's Annual Early Childhood Conference, Indianapolis, IN, | March 2006
• Strategies for Evaluating Service Coordination at the Family and Systems Levels, Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention, San Diego, | February 2006
• A Logic Model for the Effective Implementation of Service Coordination: Culmination of Five Years of Research, National OSEP Early Childhood Conference, Washington DC, | December 2005
• A Toolkit for the Implementation of Service Coordination, National OSEP Early Childhood Conference, Washington DC, | December 2005
• Development and implementation of an evidence-based model of service coordination, First Annual Training Institute on Service Coordination, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, October 2005 | October 2005
• Designing and implementing a statewide, outcomes-based evaluation system for early intervention, Annual Division for Early Childhood (CEC) Conference, Portland, OR, | 2005
• Research Roundtable on Family Perspectives in Service Coordination, Annual Division for Early Childhood (CEC) Conference, Portland, OR, | 2005
• Service Coordination: Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask, Annual Division for Early Childhood (CEC) Conference, Portland, OR, | 2005
• PUBLICATIONS
• Bruder, M.B., Harbin, G., Whitbread, K., Conn-Powers, M., Roberts, R., Dunst, C., Van Buren, M., Mazzarella, C., and Gabbard, G., (2005). Establishing outcomes for service coordination: A step toward evidence-based practice. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 25, 177-188
• Conn-Powers, M., Piper, A., & Traub, E., (2010). An approach to evaluating the impact of policy changes in early intervention. Infants & Young Children. 23(3). 218-232.
• Conn-Powers, M., Piper, A., and Traub, E., (2008). Evaluation of Indiana's First Steps Early Intervention System Report. http://www.in.gov/fssa/files/First_Steps_Evaluation_and_Audit_2008. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana University.
• Conn-Powers, M., Cross, A.F., Traub, E., & Hutter-Pishgahi, L., (2006). The Universal Design of Early Education: Moving Forward for All Children. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. September 2006, 1-9.
• Conn-Powers, M.C., Ross-Allen, J., & Holburn, S., (1990). Transition of young children into the elementary education mainstream, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 9:4, 91-105.
• Vincent, L., Davis, J., & Conn-Powers, M., (1984).Myths and assumptions about working with families who have handicapped children.In Slaton, M.F. & Mitchell, P. (Eds.), Family support:A parent-professional partnership. Stillwater, Oklahoma:National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials.
• Vincent, L.J., Salisbury, C., Walter, G., Brown, P., Gruenewald, L., & Powers, M., (1980). Program Evaluation and Curriculum Development in Early Childhood Special Education:Criteria of the Next Environment. In W. Sailor, B. Wilcox, & L. Brown (Eds.), Methods of Instruction for Severely Handicapped Students, Baltimore, Md.:Paul H. Brookes.
• Williams, W., Fox, W., Christie, L., Thousand, J., Conn-Powers, M., & Carmichael, L., (1987). Community integration in Vermont: Evolution and revolution, Journal of the Association for the Severely Handicapped, 11(4), 294-299.
• TECHNICAL REPORTS AND PAPERS
• Conn-Powers, M. & Peters, J., (2007). Kindergarten readiness assessment practices in Indiana. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community.
• Conn-Powers, M., Cross, A.F., Traub, E., & Hutter-Pishgahi, L., (2006). The Universal Design of Early Education: Moving Forward for All Children. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. September 2006, 1-9.
• Conn-Powers, M., Cross, A. F., & Zapf, J. S., (2006, Summer). Closing the achievement gap series: Part 1: Is Indiana ready for state-sponsored prekindergarten programs? Education Policy Brief, 4(7). Bloomington: Indiana University-Center for Evaluation & Education Policy and Indiana Institute on Disability and Community.
• Conn-Powers, M., (2006). All children ready for school: Approaches to learning. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community. Early Childhood Briefing Paper Series.
• Cross, A. F., & Conn-Powers, M., (2009, September). What Is the Purpose of Your Prekindergarten Program? Strategies for Administrators. Retrieved from http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/index.php?pageId=126.

Areas of Expertise

• Collaborative Service Delivery Models (consultation, team-based planning)
• Early Childhood Special Education Practices
• Early Intervention Practices
• Program Evaluation in Early Intervention