Distinguished professor to share future of developing tiered systems to meet K-12 students’ multiple needs

LAWRENCE — A top scholar in special education, Kathleen Lynne Lane has co-written 14 books and published 242 journal articles and 56 book chapters on how to prevent and respond to learning, behavioral, and social and emotional well-being challenges. Much of the University of Kansas researcher’s work focuses on systematic screening within school-based tiered systems.

Lane, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education, will present “Wouldn’t It Be Great If … Systematic Screening in Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-tiered (Ci3T) Models of Prevention” at her inaugural distinguished professor lecture at 5:30 p.m. April 3 in the Malott Room of the Kansas Union.

Individuals can register to attend the lecture, and a recording will be posted on the Office of Faculty Affairs website.

Lane will provide a look back at the research on three-tiered models of prevention and share her team’s work in progress aimed at building the capacity of school leaders and educators as they strive to support students’ multiple needs. She will provide an overview of Ci3T, illustrating how systematic screening data are used by educators to shape instructional experiences with the goal of creating positive, productive learning environments.

“It has been such a gift to collaborate with such amazing pre-K-12, school-based educators from coast to coast across the United States to determine how best to meet students’ multiple needs in a way that also prioritizes educators’ well-being,” Lane said. “It continues to be an honor for our Ci3T research team to collaborate with such talented educators, families and students to learn more about ‘what works’ over the course of several research grants funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and managed by the Life Span Institute during my time at the University of Kansas.”

The mission of Lane’s research is to examine how educational leaders design, implement and evaluate Ci3T models of prevention in pre-K-12 schools with the intention of preventing challenges to the development of students’ learning, behavior, and social and emotional well-being and responding to existing instances, with an emphasis on systematic screening.

Lane is principal investigator for several grants funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, which currently include Project Enhance (Network), Project SCREEN (Measurement) and Project Engage (Pandemic Impact). Lane is also a co-editor of Remedial and Special Education, and co-leader of the Productive Scholars Writing Group, designed to support other scholars in establishing their own programmatic lines of inquiry.

Additionally, Lane serves KU as an associate vice chancellor for research. In her administrative role, she provides support to four of KU’s designated research centers and serves as the institutional official for human subjects research.

“I am humbled to be a Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas,” Lane said. “I am deeply thankful to our Ci3T research team, our district partners, the Life Span Institute and the KU community as a whole. I am beyond grateful to work with people I admire and respect so deeply. I am also thankful to my family: Craig, Nathan, Katie and Ben for their support, kindness and grace.”

The first distinguished professorships were established at KU in 1958. A university distinguished professorship is awarded wholly based on merit, following exacting criteria. A complete list is available on the Distinguished Professor website.