Melinda Mitchiner


Melinda Mitchiner
  • Associate Director of Partnership Development and Business Operations, SWIFT Education Center

Contact Info

SWIFT Education Center, Suite 208
1315 Wakarusa Drive
Lawrence, KS 66049-3830

Biography

Dr. Melinda Mitchiner is Associate Director of Partnership Development and Business Operations for the Life Span Institute, SWIFT Education Center.  She joined SWIFT in 2013 and is a member of the Center’s Executive Team. She is involved in daily management of the Center business operations and developing partner relationships, including negotiating and monitoring sub-awards, assuring fiscal accountability, and maintaining compliance with sponsored project guidelines. She also oversees project implementation, technical assistance, and training. She co-authored the SWIFT SEA Blueprint for Equity Based Inclusive Reform, an overview of technical assistance practices and collaborative learning structures to support state education agencies in whole system implementation of the MTSS framework. Prior to joining SWIFT, she was a consultant for Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) in Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado; PBIS State Coordinator for Oklahoma; and a special educator who worked with schools and communities to support students with emotional/behavioral challenges. She holds a Bachelor degree in Psychology and Secondary Education from Washburn University, Masters in Special Education: Behavior Disorders (K–12) from Emporia State University, and a PhD from the University of Kansas, Department of Special Education. 

Education

Ph.D. in Special Education, University of Kansas
M.S. in SpeSpecial Education, Behavioral disorders, Emporia State University
B.A. in Psychology and Secondary Education, Washburn University

Selected Publications

Sailor, W. & Mitchiner, M. (2017).Pursuing coherence in pre k–12 systems policy and practice through technical assistance: the changing role of state education agencies. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Beitz, L. M., Mitchiner, M., Sailor, W. & Nelson, L. L. (2016). State education agency blueprint for equity-based inclusive reform: implementing, sustaining, and scaling up SWIFT in states. Lawrence, KS: SWIFT Center.

McCart, A., McSheehan, M., Sailor, W., Mitchiner, M., & Quirk, C. (2016). SWIFT Differentiated Technical Assistance. (White paper). Lawrence, KS: SWIFT Center.

McCart, A., Sailor, W., McSheehan, M., & Mitchiner, M. (2014). SWIFT national technical assistance mapping (White paper). Lawrence, KS: SWIFT Center.

Mitchiner, M., McCart, A., Kozleski, E., Sweeney, H., & Sailor, W. (2014). Emerging trends and future directions in effective, inclusive elementary schools for students with extensive support needs. In J. McLeskey, N. Waldron, F. Spooner, & B. Algozzine (Eds.), Handbook of research and practices for effective inclusive schools (pp. 477–491). New York, NY: Routledge.

Riffel, L., & Mitchiner, M. (2014). Positive behavior support at the targeted group level: yellow zone strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sailor, W., McCart, A., McSheehan, M., Mitchiner, M., & Quirk, C. (2014). SWIFT intensive technical assistance process. (Technical Assistance Brief #1). Lawrence, KS: SWIFT Center.

Ng, J., Morsbach-Sweeney, H., & Mitchiner, M. (2013). Let’s sit together: exploring the potential of human relations education at lunch. Journal of Thought, 48(2), 65.