Jessica Hardy

Jessica Hardy is an Assistant Professor in the Special Education department within the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She focuses on evidence-based practices for teaching young children with disabilities, with particular expertise in early math skills, literacy development, and coaching as a professional development approach for preschool teachers.

Dr. Hardy's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Early Childhood Special Education from Vanderbilt University (2014)
• M.Ed. in Unified Early Childhood Education from University of Florida (2004)
• B.A.E in Unified Early Childhood Education from University of Florida (2003)

Her research program centers on developing and testing evidence-based practices for young children with disabilities. Dr. Hardy has conducted significant work on systematic instruction methods for teaching early math skills such as counting, patterning, and classification. She also investigates the use of coaching as a professional development approach to support preschool teachers' implementation of evidence-based practices. Her methodological expertise includes experimental single-case research design, which she uses to examine causal relationships in educational interventions. Dr. Hardy values the dissemination of research to practitioners, having published numerous practitioner-oriented articles, book chapters, and training modules.

Dr. Hardy's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on coaching quality, early mathematics instruction, social-emotional learning, and inclusion practices. Her work spans both theoretical research and practical applications, with an emphasis on developing effective interventions that can be implemented in real-world early childhood settings.

Her notable awards include:

• Marissa Zelinger Research Award (2021-2022)
• Hardie Faculty Fellow, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2020)
• Nystrand-Offutt Scholar, College of Education and Human Development, University of Louisville (2019)

Dr. Hardy actively mentors students and is currently accepting new advisees. She serves in various professional capacities, including as a Guest Reviewer for multiple journals and on Editorial Review Boards. Her work has been supported by research funding that enables her to continue investigating systematic instruction in early math skills for children with disabilities. She maintains the Hardy Lab, which focuses on early intervention, STEM, math instruction, coaching, and the Pyramid Model approach to social-emotional development.

Dr. Hardy teaches several courses including SPED 526: Collaborative Leaders in Special Education, SPED 583: Single Case Experimental Design, and SPED 465: Curriculum and Methods in Early Childhood Special Education, preparing the next generation of special educators with evidence-based practices and leadership skills.