Lorelei E. Pisha, Ed.D., is a research associate in the Department of Special Education and Disability Studies. She coordinates an Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funded training project which prepares leadership for programs and systems serving young children with disabilities, birth to age 8, and their families. Dr. Pisha earned a doctorate in special education with a concentration in early childhood special education from the George Washington University. She received the American Educational Research Association’s Early Education and Child Development Outstanding Dissertation Award for her phenomenological investigation of teachers’ beliefs related to physical activity play in the preschool setting. Dr. Pisha has extensive experience supervising, instructing, and mentoring graduate students seeking licensure in early childhood special education. She holds significant administrative expertise related to program accreditation and has co-written two ECSE personnel training proposals funded by OSEP. Her research interests include physical activity play for young children with disabilities, cultural and linguistic diversity, personnel preparation, and professional learning.