College of Education

Education

• Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction, Boston College
• M.S.Ed., Special Education/Learning Disabilities, CUNY-Hunter
• A.B., English and Sociology, Amherst College

Dissertation

The Relationship Between Motivation, Self-Perception and Literacy Among Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

Biography

Rebecca A. Louick, Ph.D., is proud to be an Assistant Professor of Special Education at EMU. For eight years, prior to her doctoral studies, she was a middle- and high-school teacher at schools for students with learning disabilities. She teaches courses on learning disabilities, reading methods for students with special needs, and special education more generally. Her research focuses on academic motivation among adolescents with learning disabilities.

Interests and Expertise

• Learning disabilities
• Academic motivation
• Literacy

Publications and Presentations

Selected Publications

• Louick, R., & Emery, A. (accepted). Supporting students' feelings about learning: Attending to negative epistemic emotions. TEACHING Exceptional Children. Available OnlineFirst: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00400599241256586
• Louick, R., & Emery, A. (2024). “He understands how I work and how I function:” Math teacher actions that promote autonomy among students with high-incidence disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 39(2), 70-86. DOI: 10.1177/09388982231225736
• Louick, R., Emery, A., Muenks, K., & O’Grady, M. (2023). Motivational components addressed in vocabulary interventions for students with or at risk for reading disabilities: A review of the literature.Topics in Language Disorders, 43(2), 97-118. DOI: 10.1097/TLD.0000000000000310 
• Emery, A., Louick, R., & Sabrowsky, J. (2022). Moving beyond the ableist roots of educational psychology: Audit of the field and a path forward. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 1517-1540. DOI: 10.1007/s10648-022-09673-6
• Louick, R., & Muenks, K. (2022). Leveraging motivation theory for research and practice with students with learning disabilities. Theory Into Practice, 61(1), 102-112. DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2021.1932154

Selected Presentations

• Louick, R.(March 15, 2024). Participatory Action Research as Professional Development Tool for Special Educators. Poster Presented at Council for Exceptional Children Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX
• Louick, R. (October 12, 2023). Autonomy-Supportive Teacher Practices for Students with Learning Disabilities. Presented at Council for Learning Disabilities Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
• Louick, R., & Emery, A. (April 16, 2023). Asking Students with Disabilities About Their Epistemic Emotions Reveals Implications for Future Research. Presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 
• Louick, R. (March 2, 2023). Attending To Motivation During Vocabulary Interventions For Students With Or At Risk For Learning Disabilities. Presented at Michigan Council for Exceptional Children Annual Meeting, Grand Rapids, MI.
• Louick, R., & Wang, M. (April, 2021). Classroom Discourse and Disability: Interactional Opportunities for Development of Self-Determination Beliefs. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.
• Emery, A., & Louick, R. (April, 2021). Examining How Prominent Educational Psychology Journals Create and Resist Space for Understanding Disability. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.

Grants, Honors and Awards

Faculty Research Creative Activity Fellowship (2024)

Student Impact Award, Eastern Michigan University College of Education (2023)

Summer Research/Creative Activity Award, Eastern Michigan University (2022)

Professional Summary

I currently serve as the Director of the Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research.