Michael J. Kennedy

Michael J. Kennedy is Professor of Special Education and Director of the STORMED Lab in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia (https://education.virginia.edu/research-initiatives/research-centers-labs/research-labs/supporting-teachers-through-coaching-observations-and-multimedia-education-students-disabilities).  Following nine years as a classroom teacher in public schools he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.   Kennedy joined the faculty at U.Va in 2011 as an Assistant Professor and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Associate and then Full Professor.  He was voted Faculty Senate Chair Elect in 2022, served as Chair (2023-24), and is currently the Past Chair and Faculty Representative to the Board of Visitors (2024-25).  Professor Kennedy and his wife Maureen have three children and live in Charlottesville. 

Professor Kennedy’s mission is to improve key academic and behavioral outcomes for individuals with disabilities.  In pursuit of this mission, Kennedy uses multimedia to design and deliver effective interventions for students and professional development and teacher education to educators of students with disabilities.  He is Principal Investigator for ten current or past grants funded by the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation totaling over $16 million.  Numerous free products emerged from this sponsored research, including the COACHED online platform for coaching teachers (and those in training) and delivering evidence-based feedback (www.coached.education.virginia.edu), and a library of customizable instructional materials for elementary and secondary science teachers of students with disabilities (www.vocabsupport.com) and professional development modules for teachers (www.vimeo.com/mjk).  Kennedy and his collaborators have published over 60 peer reviewed articles, two edited books, numerous book chapters, hundreds of conference sessions, and other scholarly disseminations of products and findings.