Thomas O. Williams Jr.

Thomas Oliver Williams, Jr
Professor, School of Education
Special Education

Education. After graduating high school, I entered the United States Marine Corps with a primary MOS in logistics. When my commitment was completed, I attended Lord Fairfax Community College and received a degree in Business Administration. I later attended James Madison University where I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Education Degree in Special Education (Emotional Disturbance). I later earned my PhD in Rehabilitation and Special Education from Auburn University in Alabama.

Work Experiences. My professional work experiences are varied. For the past twenty years I have taught in higher education. Before that, I taught in public school as a special education teacher. I also briefly worked in a correctional facility as a special education teacher. Other noteworthy experiences were working as a residential instructor, an autism clinic director, special education liaison for a counseling center, a graduate research assistant, and a job coach for students with disabilities.

Teaching, Research, and Service Connections. Virginia Tech’s special education licensure program was restructured in 2010. From that point forward, my teaching assignment was refocused entirely on the inclusion and education of students with disabilities (SWD) across all licensure content areas. Given this shift, I restructured my research to collaborate across these content areas to facilitate the inclusion of SWD within our teacher preparation programs. My research focus over the past ten years has addressed inclusive education and the characteristics, preparation, and support of the teacher education workforce. This research is extremely important as it addresses access, accessibility, and equity issues both within the classroom and the education workforce.

The majority of my research employs the Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS) and the National Teacher and Principal Surveys (NTPS). Both are large-scale national surveys authorized by the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES) and administered by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). Through an application process and completion of IES training, I was granted authorization to form a research team to use these restricted-access national IES data-bases. Research with the SASS and NTPS is extremely relevant and applicable as the data is weighted to approximate the population of teachers in the United States. My primary research focus addresses questions concerning the teacher education workforce and the inclusion of SWDs and English language learners (ELL) in general, special, and STEM education classrooms.

In addition, I work with researchers investigating vital educational issues in reading, social studies, and special education. I have published articles in psychometrics and psychoeducational assessment on topics such as test development, intelligence, behavior, and cognition. My research is multidisciplinary and collaborative with colleagues across several universities. I try to include doctoral students as collaborative authors whenever possible to provide them with training in research and the publication process.

My service to the university has been focused on college and department level committees. Most recently, I served as the interim Associate Director for three years for the Office of Educational Research and Outreach. I have chaired the promotion and tenure committee for six years (in aggregate) and I have served as the Emergency Action Plan and Continuity of Operations plan coordinator since 2009. I am also an affiliate faculty for the Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research and I am involved in their outreach and research. My local outreach involved assisting community agencies in the areas of psychoeducational assessment and intervention strategies. I was awarded New River Valley Community Services award for this work. I regularly contribute to the profession by reviewing manuscripts for journals related to autism, psychoeducational assessment, and large-scale data sets.