Organizing Researchers
Wesley A. Sims, Ph.D., NCSP
Kathleen R. King, Ph.D., NCSP
Kathleen R. King, Ph.D., NCSP
Wesley Sims is an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology program at the University of California, Riverside’s Graduate School of Education. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling, Educational, and School Psychology from the University of Missouri in 2016. Dr. Sims’ research interests include improving educator service delivery practices within tiered service delivery systems, implementation science in educational settings, and assessment of educator classroom management behavior. Dr. Sims began his career as a practicing School Psychologist in 2005. As as a practitioner, Dr. Sims has served a variety of schools and populations, and has garnered extensive experience facilitating school-wide, as well as individualized support services within tiered service delivery models such as PBIS, RtI, and MTSS. Dr. Sims is a former School Psychologist of the Year and state association President in Missouri.
Kathleen R. King, Ph.D., NCSP
Kathleen R. King, Ph.D., NCSP
Kathleen R. King, Ph.D., NCSP
Dr. King earned a doctorate in School Psychology from the University of Georgia and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Missouri Prevention Center at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Dr. King is now a practicing school psychologist in Palm Spring Unified School District in Palm Springs, CA. Her work centers on prevention, early detection, and intervention in the area of behavior. As such, her research focuses on the development and validation of behavioral observation and screening measures within a broader problem-solving/MTSS framework. In addition to her work targeting student behavior, Dr. King is involved in efforts to evaluate and improve teacher practices in the applied setting. Specifically, this work centers on implementing and evaluating effective classroom behavior management strategies, as well as training teachers in the use of classroom management to prevent problem student behaviors. Most recently, Dr. King has sought to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-based physical activity interventions as universal (Tier 1) supports.
Affiliated Researchers
Rondy Yu, Ph.D., LP
Jeffrey Brown, Ph.D., LP
Jeffrey Brown, Ph.D., LP
Rondy Yu is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the School Psychology program and oversees the Applied Behavior Analysis program at the University of California, Riverside’s Graduate School of Education. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Yu is a licensed educational/ clinical psychologist, nationally certified school psychologist, and board certified behavior analyst. He has experience in both public schools and non-public agencies functioning as a psychologist, behaviorist, and clinical supervisor. Dr. Yu has presented at various professional conferences at the local, national, and international levels on topics related to behavioral consultation, treatment fidelity, and research related to programming for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. Prior to joining UCR, Dr. Yu served as a mental health specialist with Santa Barbara County SELPA where he assisted in the placement and case management of students in residential/non-public school programs, and oversaw research and data tracking for mental health programs and services.
Jeffrey Brown, Ph.D., LP
Jeffrey Brown, Ph.D., LP
Jeffrey Brown, Ph.D., LP
Jeff has been an Associate Professor of Psychology at San Dieto State University, where he has led both intramural and extramural grant-funded research projects focusing on mental health in Black children and families, culturally competent practices, and discrimination among LGBTQ+ individuals and BIPOC. He is currently on a year-long leave to be the full time Diversity & Inclusion Research Fellow at the Partnership on AI, where he is conducting a mixed methods study on how to foster inclusivity in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Jeff has published several peer-reviewed articles within developmental and school psychology journals. Jeff received a Ph.D. in school psychology from Tulane University and a B.A. in psychology from Yale University. He was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist. Jeff was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica.
June Preast, Ph.D.
June Preast, Ph.D.
June Preast, Ph.D.
June Preast, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of School Psychology at the University of Alabama. Dr. Preast focuses her research primarily on identifying and implementing impactful systemic changes to address student needs. She uses a collaborative, primary prevention, multi-tiered systems of support approach to educational decision-making and programming. As such, she has studied the impact of academic interventions to address behavioral issues, the influence of psycho-social factors (i.e., depression, hostility, and self-esteem) related to mental health needs, the importance of using data to inform academic and behavioral intervention choices, and the attributes of effective teacher teams.
Carol Yap, M.Ed.
June Preast, Ph.D.
June Preast, Ph.D.
Carol Yap is a former Fulbright Visiting Scholar (under the Fulbright Malaysian Professional Exchange Program). She serves as a School Improvement Specialist Coach in the District of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Carol received her B. Sc in Education from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and her Master of Education from Asia e University. Her vast experiences as a school teacher, panel head and chief instructor for new curriculums, have propelled her to be appointed as an Instructional coach upon the roll-out of Malaysia’s National Education Blueprint (2013-2025) in which one of the goals is to eliminate the number of underperforming schools and improving in-service teachers’ professional development. Carol focuses on improving novice teachers and in-service teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and maximizing their Teaching and Learning quality for optimal students’ learning outcome. Her present interests are on classroom management and problem solving in interventions which help to maintain teachers’ enthusiasm in delivery and cater for students’ emotional learning as the practice has been marginalized over the emphasis on instilling Higher Order Thinking Skills in the teaching and learning sessions in Malaysian primary and secondary schools.
Graduate Student Researchers
Melissa Klaib
Randolph Munoz
Melissa Klaib
Melissa is a doctoral candidate in the School Psychology program at the University of California, Riverside’s School of Education. Her research interests include effective interventions and support systems to improve learning outcomes for students with exceptional education needs, especially students with ADHD.
Danielle Zahn
Randolph Munoz
Melissa Klaib
Danielle Zahn is a fifth year doctoral candidate in the School Psychology program at the University of California, Riverside’s School of Education. Her research interests include physical activity-based interventions, particularly those targeting social-emotional competency.
Randolph Munoz
Randolph Munoz
Randolph Munoz
Randolph Munoz is a fifth year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of California, Riverside’s School of Education. His research interests include evaluating and confronting microaggressions in school settings.
Sarah Panameño
Christina Jeffredo
Randolph Munoz
Sarah Panameño is a fourth year doctoral student in the school psychology program at the University of California, Riverside. She joined the lab Winter quarter 2019 as an undergraduate student and has an interest in school-based problem-solving team research.
Mikaela Pulse
Christina Jeffredo
Christina Jeffredo
Mikaela Pulse is a fifth year doctoral candidate in the School Psychology program at the University of California, Riverside’s Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include classroom management and services and supports for students receiving special education services in a low incidence disability category (e.g., Intellectual Disability).
Christina Jeffredo
Christina Jeffredo
Christina Jeffredo
Christina Jeffredo is a second-year doctoral student student in the school psychology program in the School of Education and College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She was a double major studying Education, Society, and Human Development and Political Science at the University of California, Riverside.
Jordan Gallegos
Jordan Gallegos
Jordan Gallegos
Jordan Gallegos is a first year doctoral student in the school psychology program in the School of Education at the University of California, Riverside. She received her BA in Psychology from UCR in 2024.
Undergraduate Student Researchers
Monserreth Moreno
Monserreth Moreno
Monserreth Moreno
Elani Khoe
Monserreth Moreno
Monserreth Moreno
Tina Tang
Abigail Pellitteri
Abigail Pellitteri
Abigail Pellitteri
Abigail Pellitteri
Abigail Pellitteri