NCATE - The Standard of Excellence in Teacher Preperation Special Education Teacher with students Mckee Hall at the University of Northern Colorado

Jennifer Urbach, Ph.D.

Jennifer UrbachAssistant Professor of Special Education

School of Special Education
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO 80639
Office: (970)-351-2691

jennifer.urbach@unco.edu

Research Interests and Specializations: 

Best Practices of Quality Special Education Teachers, Beginning Special Education Teachers Knowledge and Practices, Learning Strategies, Culturally Responsive Instruction, Scientifically-Based Reading Instruction

Education: 

  • Ph.D. University of Colorado, 2006, Instruction and Curriculum in the Content Areas- Literacy
  • M.A.University of Indiana,1994, Special Education
  • B.A.Saint Mary’s College, 1991, Elementary Education

Selected Publications and Presentations:

  • Eckhoff, A. & Urbach, J. (2008).  Understanding Imaginative thinking during childhood: Sociocultural conceptions of creativity and imaginative thought. Early Childhood Research Quarterly,36,179-185.
  • Klingner, J. K., & Urbach, J. (2007).  Helping Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Students Learn to Read. In J. Hoover, J.K. Klingner, L. Baca, & J. Patton (Authors), Methods for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
  • Klingner, J. K., Urbach, J. & Prichard, B. (2009, April).  Beliefs of Strong and Weak Special Education Reading Teachers. American Educational Research Association,  San Diego, CO.
  • Westland, C ., Peterson, L. & Urbach, J. &  (2008, September). Supporting our students: Addressing the challenges of working with pre-service teachers with special needs. Colorado Consortium  of Special Education Teacher Educators, Denver, CO.
  • Peterson, L. Y., Brewer, R. Urbach, J., & Lieber, J.  (2008, September). The complete picture: Meaningful outcomes through cross course collaboration. Colorado Consortium on Special Education Teacher Education, Denver, CO.
  • Klingner, J. K., Urbach, J. (2008, March).  How do special education teachers promote reading comprehension? American Educational Research Association,  New York, NY.
  • Urbach, J. (2008, March).  Expanding the definition of literacy: Challenging the Politics of Representation.  American Educational Research Association,  New York, NY.
  • Urbach, J. & Eckhoff, A. (2008, March).  Developing children’s imaginative literacy through storytelling practices in early literacy and the visual arts. American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
  • Urbach, J., Menon, S., & Scornavacco, K. (2007).  It’s more than just content: Preparing special education teachers to teach reading. Teacher Education Division Conference, November 8, 2007, Milwaukee, WI.
  • Menon, S., Urbach, J. & Scornavacco, K (2006, September). Preparing Special Education teachers to teach reading: What do we know, What do we need to know? Colorado Consortium of Special Education Teacher Educators,  Breckenridge, CO.
  • Bishop, A., Klingner, J., Dingle, M. & Urbach, J. (2006, April). How can you be an effective Special Education teacher? Portraits of Literacy Expertise. Council for Exceptional Children, Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Menon, S., Urbach, J., Klingner, J., Brownell, M. & Bishop, A. (2006, April). Examining High Quality Teacher Practices. American Educational Research Association,  San Francisco, CA.

Projects

  • Learning Literacy Cohort Project.  Consultant (2009-2010), University of Colorado.