- Professor, University of Connecticut, Special Education
- Co-Director, Center for Behavioral Education and Research
- Co-Director, National Technical Assistance Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
Dr. Simonsen is a professor of Special Education with tenure in the Department of Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education and the Co-Director of the Center for Behavioral Education and Research (CBER; www.cber.org) at the University of Connecticut. She is also the Co-Director of the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS; www.pbis.org), Co-Principal Investigator of the National Multi-Tiered System of Supports Research Network (MTSS-RN; www.mtss.org), a Senior Advisor to the National Center on Intensive Interventions (NCII), and an editorial board member for the Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Currently, Dr. Simonsen conducts research, publishes, teaches, and provides training/technical assistance in the areas of (a) school- and class-wide PBIS, (b) positive and proactive professional development supports for teachers, and (c) applications of PBIS in alternative education settings.
Before joining the faculty at University of Connecticut, Dr. Simonsen was the director of a non-public (alternative) school serving students with disabilities who presented with challenging educational and behavioral needs. In addition to serving as an administrator and clinician, Dr. Simonsen has previously been certified as a teacher of elementary general education and middle-secondary special education.