Jason Chow, who is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, has varied interests. If one walked up to him and struck up a conversation about, say, language development, he’d be able to talk with you not just because he has some book knowledge, but also because he’s actually conducted studies on the topic. If one walked up to him and struck up a conversation about, say, meta-analysis, he’d be able to talk with you not just because he has some book knowledge, but also because he’s actaully written about the appropriate uses of meta-analysis. If one walked up to him and struck up a conversation about, say, problem behavior, he’d be able to talk with you not just because he has some book knowledge but also because he’s actually been researching that very topic.

One might think that a person with such varied areas of expertise—and there are plenty of other topics on which he’s worked—would probably be some stodgy, old professor. The facts would show that to be a mistaken thought. As I mentioned, he’s an assistant professor (but not for long). He completed his doctoral studies in 2016. He’s among the next generation of scholars and scientists who will be helping special education to advance for decades to come.

And he’s just a great guy to know.

Readers can get a pretty solid picture about one aspect of Jason’s academic work by reading an article about a grant award published by the granter, the US National Center for Special Education Research. In “Understanding the Co-Development of Language and Behavior Disorders in the Context of an Early Career Grant,” Katie Taylor (and perhaps other people) of the US Institutes of Education Sciences described some background for a NCSER-funded project Jason leads.

My experiences as a paraprofessional definitely shaped my career path. As a substitute paraprofessional in college, I was surprised that my job was to support students with the most intensive needs even though I had the least amount of classroom training. That made me recognize the need for research-based training and supports for related service providers and got me interested in different factors that contribute to decision making in school systems. Another memorable experience occurred when I was working in the support program for students with EBD. All our students had the accommodation to be able to come to our room at any time of the day as needed for a check in or a break. I was alarmed by how often students needed a break because of things teachers said or did to upset them or make them feel singled out. I was also coaching several sports at the time and saw first-hand how a strong, positive relationships with the players were vital. These experiences got me interested in teacher-student relationships, how important positive interactions and experiences can be, and the need for general education teachers to receive training on working with students with disabilities. Ultimately, my work as a paraprofessional supporting kids with EBD also helped shape my interest in determining how language and communication can facilitate prosocial development, which led to my Early Career grant.

Jason’s path to the work he does now led him from those beginnings he described in the NCSER blog post through formal education that ended with a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He continued his work (furthering his own education, as it were) as an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University before moving to his current position at Maryland.

Readers interested in learning more about Jason’s work can consult Maryland’s College of Education faculty directory page about him or simply download a copy of his curriculum viata (link worked as of June 2020).

So, if you walk up to Jason, ask him what his current projects are. His answer is likely to be educational.