Karen E. Santos is a professor of education and serves as the coordinator of the special education teacher preparation program at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has taught students with disabilities in Virginia, served as an educational diagnostician, curriculum specialist, and a school district coordinator of special education services. Karen received a B.S. degree in Communication Disorders and Deaf Education from Northwestern University, and M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Virginia. She was named the outstanding teacher at James Madison University and received the Carl Harter Distinguished Teaching Award in 1998. She received the JMU Madison Scholar award in 2002 and Provost Award for Excellence in 2003. Karen provides numerous state and national workshops for teachers and administrators in the areas of differentiation of instruction, curriculum access, and inclusionary practices for working with students with special needs. She has presented more than 40 sessions at national conferences in the last five years. She is co-author of a case teaching book and seven journal articles. A federal Student Initiated Research grant was awarded to support doctoral research. Karen resides in Staunton, Virginia with her husband, Victor, and they have two sons, Brandon and Carter.

Affiliation

James Madison University