09/09/09 - Researcher named editor of world’s largest journal for special ed

Date: September 9, 2009
Contact: Seth Seymour
423.648.1709
seth.seymour@siskin.org

Institute researcher named associate editor of world’s largest journal for special education

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., a researcher at Siskin Children’s Institute, has been selected as an associate editor of Exceptional Children, the largest scholarly journal for special education in the world.

Exceptional Children is a quarterly publication of the Council for Exceptional Children, which is the leading international professional organization for people serving children with disabilities. The peer-review journal publishes articles and original research on the education and development of toddlers, infants, children and youth with disabilities.

As associate editor, Dr. McWilliam has two major responsibilities. He will assess manuscripts submitted to the journal so that he can 1) select reviewers from the journal’s board of field reviewers and 2) make decisions about publication, based in part on the field reviews. The acceptance rate of manuscripts for the journal is 20 percent, while the rest are either rejected or rejected with an invitation to revise and resubmit.

Since 1996, Dr. McWilliam has served on Exceptional Children’s editorial board as a field reviewer. In addition to his work with the journal, he has edited several other academic journals, including serving as editor of the Journal of Early Intervention.

At the Institute, Dr. McWilliam leads the Siskin Center for Child and Family Research, which advances the fields of early childhood development and special education through applied research. The center features three doctoral-level researchers who share their discoveries with early childhood professionals worldwide.

For more information about Exceptional Children, visit http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications2/ExceptionalChildren/.

About Siskin Children’s Institute
Siskin Children’s Institute makes life better for children with special needs and their families. Founded in 1950, the non-profit organization achieves its mission locally and nationally through four initiatives: education, outreach, health care and research. The Institute provides early childhood education where children with and without disabilities learn together; family support and professional development programs; developmental behavioral pediatric health care; and innovative research in early childhood development and special education. For more information about Siskin Children’s Institute, visit www.siskin.org.

##