Terri Vandercook, Ph.D.

Terri Vandercook is an Associate Professor, Chair of the Department of Special Education and Gifted Education and coordinator for the program in Developmental Disabilities.  Terri earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of  Minnesota and has worked with and  learned from individuals with significant developmental disabilities, their families, and team members for over 35 years.  Themes throughout her career have been the active belonging, participation, and learning (inclusion!) of each child in her or his community.  Recently, she has also focused upon literacy instruction for those individuals with the most significant developmental disabilities.  Terri grew up in Iowa and has an M.A. in Education  and  a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of  Northern Iowa.  In her free-time, Terri likes to read books for fun, jump around at the Y, and hang out with her family and friends, playing games and eating good food.

Terri is known for two sayings, “Make it a great day”  and “Together We Are Better” and she strives to make that decision for herself as she interacts with others on a daily basis.