Jamie Bezdek

Background

About Jamie Bezdek

I started out young working with individuals with autism in their homes and community and fell in love not only with the individuals, but with their families who were amazing advocates for their children. I learned behavior principles through this position and received related formal undergraduate education in helping all individuals express themselves, focusing specifically on increasing communication to avoid frustration and challenging behavior in individuals of all ages. My master's thesis was on parent professional partnerships. I went on to receive my PhD in Leadership and Systems Change within education; my advisor was a psychologist and my focus was on positive behavior support systems in schools to help support all students. My dissertation uncovered the drawbacks of using office discipline referrals as a measure of behavior (in part because they leave out students who have internalizing behavior). I had a heavy emphasis on law and policy, as well as family and community partnerships, in my programs. My work experience has focused heavily on legal language, contracts, and completing necessary paperwork and protocols around research with human subjects and accessing educational data on students (tied to FERPA-the education version of HIPPA). I have sat on the evaluation team for many grants, and wrote reports for our funders tied to goals written in funded proposals. I excel at detail-oriented work and don't mind it, especially if its part of a mission I can really get behind. I really enjoy connecting with people and supporting them. I have worked with school and districts leadership to help them more efficiently serve all students by utilizing multi-tiered system of support, ensuring their practices are tied to data and their methods are backed up by the latest research. I strongly believe in the inherent dignity of all persons from conception through natural death, and all work I do is consistent with that message.