Kristin M. Murphy

Dr. Murphy has nearly twenty years of experience in Special Education in varied teaching, research, and policy roles. She is currently an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research primarily focuses on teacher quality and professional development for teachers and administrators working with students with disabilities in both inclusive and exclusionary settings. She has also served as a researcher on two different federal research grants funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. She teaches coursework at the undergraduate and Master's level in Special Education and supervises Master's students in Special Education pursuing initial and professional licensure in Massachusetts. She has published about teacher preparation and professional development in Special Education in journals including Teacher Education and Special Education, Focus on Exceptional Children, Journal of Special Education Leadership, and Preventing School Failure. She has expertise in special education law, inclusive teaching strategies, qualitative research methodologies, and designing, implementing, and researching mixed reality simulations (i.e., Mursion, TeachLivE) as a teaching and learning tool. Prior to her career in higher education, Dr. Murphy worked for the New York City Department of Education for five years, first as a Special Education teacher and then on No Child Left Behind related operations and dissemination that pertained to students with disabilities. Dr. Murphy is an award-winning professor, and has been recognized at both the campus-level and UMass system-wide level for innovative and exemplary teaching and mentorship spanning her work with undergraduates, master's students, and doctoral-level students. She also regularly provides professional learning opportunities for Boston Public School educators about special education law, and has worked with hundreds of inservice educators across Boston.

Publications

Transforming Teacher Preparation Through Identity, Development, and Effective Technologies
Transforming Teacher Preparation Through Identity, Development, and Effective Technologies
Denise LaVoie Sargent, Kristin M. Murphy. © 2024. 330 pages.
In the landscape of global education, there is a dire shortage of teachers, exacerbated by declining enrollment rates and a mass exodus of educators, particularly in urban...
Interdisciplinary Special Educator and School Counselor Preparation: Supporting Equitable Student Outcomes in the COVID-19 Era
Interdisciplinary Special Educator and School Counselor Preparation: Supporting Equitable Student Outcomes in the COVID-19 Era
Kristin M. Murphy, Laura Hayden, Amy L. Cook, Christopher Denning, Angi Stone-MacDonald. © 2023. 15 pages.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide readers with a rationale and blueprint for interdisciplinary programs like Project TLC, which prepare preservice special educators...
Mixed Reality Simulations: A Next Generation Digital Tool to Support Social-Emotional Learning
Mixed Reality Simulations: A Next Generation Digital Tool to Support Social-Emotional Learning
Kristin M. Murphy, Amy L. Cook. © 2020. 15 pages.
Implementing a curriculum that supports students' social-emotional development alongside academics is essential. Social-emotional learning (SEL) promotes positive outcomes...