Margo Mastropieri
Ph.D., Arizona State University
Professor
George Mason University, Fairfax Campus
West Building 2203
4400 University Dr.
MS 6D2
Fairfax, VA 22030
Profile
Margo A. Mastropieri is a University Professor and Professor of Special Education in the College of Education and Human Development. She received her Ph.D. in Special Education from Arizona State University in 1983, her M.Ed. and B.A. degrees from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Before coming to George Mason, she worked at Utah State University and Purdue University in Indiana. Prior to working in higher education, Mastropieri was a high school teacher in Massachusetts, an elementary teacher in Arizona, and a Diagnostician at the Mt. Holyoke College Learning Disabilities Center.
Professor Mastropieri is interested in how students with disabilities learn in school and much of her research has focused on cognitive strategies designed to promote learning and retention of school-related information. She has also studied what happens during inclusive instruction with students with disabilities and suggested instructional strategies to facilitate inclusive efforts. Her publications include over 165 journal articles, 40 book chapters, and 25 co-authored or co-edited books. Book titles include: A Practical Guide for Teaching to Science to Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Settings (Pro-Ed), Teaching Students Ways to Remember: Strategies for Learning Mnemonically (Brookline), and The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for Effective Teaching (Prentice Hall, 2007).
Mastropieri is the co-editor of Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities (Elsevier Press), a research annual. She served as co-editor of Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, the journal of the Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children from 1991 to 1997. She also serves as Chair of the Division for Learning Disabilities Research Committee and in that role coordinates the editing of the joint Division for Learning Disabilities and Division for Research Alerts that highlight effective practices for students with learning disabilities. She has served on the Editorial Boards of a number of professional journals, including Journal of Educational Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychology Review, Exceptional Children, Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, Learning Disability Quarterly, The Teacher Educator, The Journal of Special Education, Remedial and Special Education, Exceptionality, and Behavioral Disorders.
One of Mastropieri’s co-authored articles (with Tom Scruggs) received the Samuel Kirk Award for Research and Practice in Learning Disabilities, Outstanding Article published in Learning Disabilities Research & Practice from the Division for Learning Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children in April, 2003. In 2006, Mastropieri and Scruggs were the field of special education’s most prestigious research award, the Council for Exceptional Children Outstanding Research Award. In 2007 Mastropieri was awarded the distinguished University Professor title from George Mason University. In the spring 2008 semester, Mastropieri was the recipient of a Teaching Excellence Award at George Mason University.
Research Interests
- Learning and memory of students with disabilities
- Strategies for effective inclusive instruction
- Literacy strategies for students with disabilities
Recent Publications
Mastropieri, M.A., Berkeley, S., Scruggs, T.E., & Marshak, L. (2008). Improving content area instruction using evidenced based practices. Insights on Learning Disabilities, 5(1), 73-88.
Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (2007). The inclusive classroom: Strategies for effective instruction (3rd ed.). Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall/Merrill.
Scruggs, T.E., Mastropieri, M.A., & McDuffie, K.A. (2007). Co-teaching in inclusive classrooms: A meta-synthesis of qualitative research. Exceptional Children, 73, 392-416.
Mastropieri, M.A., Scruggs, T.E., Norland, J.,
Mastropieri, M.A., Scruggs, T.E., Spencer, V., & Fontana, J. (2003). Promoting success in high school world history: Peer tutoring versus guided notes. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 18, 52-65.
Mastropieri, M.A., Scruggs, T.E., & Graetz, J. (2003). Reading comprehension for secondary students. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26, 103-116
Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (2002). On babies and bathwater: Addressing the problems of identification of learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25, 155-168.
Mastropieri, M.A. (2001). Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Challenges for first year special education teachers. Journal of Special Education, 35, 66-74.
Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (2001). Promoting inclusion in secondary classrooms. Learning Disability Quarterly, 24, 265-274.
Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (in press). Science and schooling for students with learning disabilities: A discussion of the symposium. Journal of Learning Disabilities.
Agosta, E., Graetz, J.E., Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (in press). Teacher researcher partnerships to improve social behavior with social stories. Intervention in School and Clinic.
Mastropieri, M.A., Sweda, J., & Scruggs, T.E. (2000). Teacher use of mnemonic strategy instruction. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 15(2), 69-74.
Other Information
Favorite Links (each opens in a new window)
Campus Affiliations
Courses Taught This Semester
No courses taught this semester.