Chunyan Yang and Shane Jimerson of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School – faculty in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology – won two of the seven awards presented by Division 16, School Psychology at the American Psychological Association (APA) 2016 convention. Yang won the Outstanding Dissertation Award and Jimerson won the Tom Oakland Mid-Career Science Award.
The Outstanding Dissertation in School Psychology Award is presented to a school psychology student who has completed a dissertation that merits special recognition and has the potential to contribute to the science and practice of school psychology. The Mid-Career Scholarship Award is presented to professional and academic school psychologists, from 7 to 20 years post-graduation, who have demonstrated scholarship that merits special recognition. Continuing contributions to scholarship is the primary consideration in making the award.
Chunyan Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in Education with Specialization in School Psychology from the University of Delaware in 2015. Prior to her graduate training at the University of Delaware, she received her B.S. in Chemistry with teacher certification from the Central China Normal University in China and her M.S. in Research Methods in Psychology from the University of Bristol in England. Her research interests focus on understanding the functions of school climate, school disciplinary techniques, social-emotional learning, and cultural factors in promoting and prohibiting the development of resilience among children and adolescents, particularly in programs targeting bullying and school engagement. She has been actively involved in research studies in the above areas in schools across U.S., China, Japan and Brazil. She has worked as a nationally certified school psychologist in the Multicultural Assessment and Consultation Team in Poudre School District, Fort Collins, CO. She also served as the evaluator and consultant to the Delaware School Climate Transformation Project at the University of Delaware.
With over 300 publications, Shane Jimerson is also currently the editor of the School Psychology Quarterly (APA) journal, the lead editor of the Handbook of School Violence and School Safety: International Research and Practice 2nd Edition (2012, Routledge), co-editor of Best Practices in School Crisis Prevention and Intervention 2nd Edition (2012, National Association of School Psychologists), lead editor of the Handbook of Bullying in Schools: An International Perspective (2009, Routledge), lead editor of The Handbook of International School Psychology (2007, SAGE Publishing), the lead editor of The Handbook of Response to Intervention: The Science and Practice of Assessment and Intervention (2007, Springer Science), and co-author of Promoting Positive Peer Relationships: Bullying Prevention Program.
Jimerson – a professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at UC Santa Barbara – has received numerous awards for his scholarship, including from the Society for the Study of School Psychology, the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Educational Research Association, and Division 16 (School Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.