Thomas Scruggs

PhD, Arizona State University
Professor
Director, PhD in Education

Contact Information

Send email to tscruggs@gmu.edu

Phone: (703) 993-2011
Fax: (703)993-2063

George Mason University, Fairfax Campus
West Building 2202
4400 University Dr.
MS 1D5
Fairfax, VA 22030

Profile

Dr. Scruggs is University Professor and Director of the Ph.D. in Education program. He completed his PhD in 1982 from Arizona State University in Tempe. His major areas of study were special education and educational psychology.

Dr. Scruggs previously served on the faculties of Utah State University and Purdue University. From 1992-1997, Dr. Scruggs served as Co-Editor for the journal, Learning Disabilities Research and Practice. Since 1992 he has been Co-Editor of the research annual, Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, published by Emerald (UK). Presently he is on the editorial board of 10 national and international journals in special and general education, including Behavioral Disorders, Journal of Learning Disabilities, and The Teacher Educator. In 2009 he was appointed Co-Editor (with Margo Mastropieri) of the Council for Exceptional Children journal, Exceptional Children.

His publication activity includes over 190 journal articles and 65 equivalent articles, 50 chapters in books, and 29 co-authored or co-edited books. His most recent book is The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for Effective Instruction (4th ed.), co-authored with Margo Mastropieri, and published by Prentice Hall. He has co-directed numerous federal grants in test-taking skills, peer tutoring, mnemonic strategy instruction, science and social studies education, and in undergraduate, masters, and doctoral training.

He is a recipient of the Outstanding Research Award from the Council for Exceptional Children, the Samuel Kirk Award for Research in Learning Disabilities from the Division for Learning Disabilities, the Robert L. Snodgrass Scholar Award from Purdue University, and the Award of Research Excellence and the Joanne Frazier Parachek Research Award from Arizona State University. In 2004, he was invited to address the Secretary of Education’s National Summit on Science in Washington, DC. He was named University Professor at George Mason University in 2007.

Dr. Scruggs received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English  from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Masters of Education degree in Special Education from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has also studied at the University of Illinois, where he was an Edmund J. James Scholar, and at Durham University, England. He has had teaching experiences in a variety of educational settings in Massachusetts and Arizona (including the Gila River Indian Community), particularly with students with special needs on the preschool, elementary, and secondary levels.

Research Interests

  • Learning and memory
  • Cognitive strategies
  • Science education
  • Literacy
  • Quantitative and qualitative research synthesis
  • Inclusive education
  • Learning and behavioral disorders

Recent Publications

  • Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (2009). The inclusive classroom: Strategies for effective instruction (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  • Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (Eds.) (2009). Policy and practice: Advances in learning and behavioral disabilities (vol. 22). Bingley, UK: Emerald.
  • Scruggs, T.E., Mastropieri, Berkeley, S., & Graetz, J. (in press). Do special education interventions improve learning of secondary content? A meta analysis. Remedial and Special Education.
  • Scruggs, T.E. (2008). Insegnamento di scienze e storia in classi con integrazione scolastica: Didattica differenziale e cooperativa. [Teaching science and social studies in inclusive classes: Differentiated instruction and peer mediation.] In R. Vianello, M. Mariotti, & M. Serra (Eds.), Esperience e ricerche sull'integrazione scolastica e sociale: Convegni Nazionale C.N.I.S. [Research and practice in academic and social integration] (pp. 54-64). Bergamo, Italy: Edizioni Junior.
  • Scruggs, T.E., Mastropieri, M.A., & Okolo, C. (2008). Science and social studies for students with disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 41(2), 1 - 24.
  • 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.
  • Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (2007). Science learning in special education: The case for constructed versus instructed learning. Exceptionality, 15, 57-74.
  • Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (Eds.) (2007). International perspectives: Advances in learning and behavioral disabilities (Vol. 20). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
  • Mastropieri, M.A., Scruggs, T. E., et al. (2006). Differentiated curriculum enhancements in inclusive middle school science: Effects on classroom and high-stakes tests. Journal of Special Education, 40, 130-137.
  • Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A., & Regan, K. (2006). Statistical analysis for single subject research designs. In T.E. Scruggs & M.A. Mastropieri (Eds.), Applications of research methodology: Advances in learning and behavioral disabilities (vol. 19, pp. 315-335). Bingley, UK: Emerald.
  • Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (2005). Feasibility and consequences of response to intervention: Examination of the issues and scientific evidence as a model for the identification of individuals with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38, 525-531.
  • Nougaret, A.A., Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (2005). Does teacher education produce better special education teachers? Exceptional Children, 71, 217-229.

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