Terrill F. Saxon, Ph.D.

Dr. Terrill F. Saxon is professor of Educational Psychology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Global Engagement. Dr. Saxon completed his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas (1995), where he studied Educational Psychology and Research and then completed post-doctoral work in KU’s Infant Cognition Center.

Dr. Saxon’s research interests include cross-cultural studies of marginalized and under-resourced children and youth, schooling, teachers and a variety of other education-related factors. He has also published numerous articles in the area of child language development and the role played by parent-child interaction behaviors and other environmental influences.

Dr. Saxon has published in top journals such as Child Development, Educational Psychology Review, Comparative Education Review, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly,and theJournal of School Psychology.

Notable externally funded work most recently (2014-2018: $277K) the EnAbled for College program funded by a grant from the AT&T Foundation. The program objective was to mentor disabled and at-risk high school students to prepare for post-secondary education. The Department of Educational Psychology's Dr. Tamara Hodges joined as co-principal investigator.

Degrees

Ph.D. Educational Psychology
1995 | University of Kansas, Lawrence

Research Interests

• US & Multicultural Studies
  US and multicultural studies of marginalized, under-researched children and families and their educational experiences and outcomes.
• Infancy/Early Childhood and Language
  Early lifespan studies of environmental variables, including parenting, resources and other contextual influences that promote language and literacy.

Select Publications

• Journal of Adolescence, Vol. 67, p. 85-97 | 2022
  “Positive Youth Development: An Experimental Trial with Unattached Adolescents”
  with co-author Dr. Darrell Hull, University of North Texas.
• Educational Policy | 2021
  “Doctoral Degree Attainment from Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program Alumni: An Explanatory Embedded Case Study”
  with co-authors Dr. Rachel Renbarger, Western Michigan Univ., and Dr. Tony Talbert, professor
• Research and Practice in the Schools, Vol. 6, Issue 1, p. 11-26 | 2019
  “Increasing Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Readiness for At-Risk Students and Students with Disabilities”
  with co-authors Dr. Robin Wilson, and Dr. Tamara Hodges, senior lecturer