Staff Profile | College of Education

About
Education
Awards & Honors
Selected Research

Biography

Amanda Quesenberry, Ph.D. is a Professor at Illinois State University. She has over 25 years of experience in the field of early childhood special education. Dr. Quesenberry received her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007. Her research interests include children’s social and emotional development, educators’ professional development, and early childhood policy.

Current Courses

TCH 314.091 Curriculum, Planning And Assessment In Early Childhood Classrooms

TCH 278.001 Practices & Issues In Early Childhood Education

Teaching Interests & Areas

Issues and Practices in Early Childhood Education
Planning and Assessment
Social Studies

Research Interests & Areas

Early Childhood Special Education
Social and Emotional Learning
Preventing and Addressing Challenging Behavior
Early Childhood Program Policy
School-University Partnerships

PhD Early Childhood Special Education

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

MMEd Early Childhood Special Education

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

BS Elementary Education

University of Evansville

Evansville, Indiana

Outstanding Faculty Member

University Panhellenic Council

2014

Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award

College of Education, Illinois State University

2013

Professor Appreciation Award

Student Education Association

2011

Faculty and Staff Appreciation Award

Red Tassel Chapter of the Mortar Board

2009

J. David Sexton Doctoral Student Award

Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children

2005

Grants and Contracts

Illinois Gateways to Opportunity® ECE credential competency project

Alan Bates, Sherry Sanden, Miranda Lin, Sandra Osorio, Christie Angleton, Xiaoying Zhao, Amanda Quesenberry.

Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. 2020

Examining and implementing ECE partnerships

Alan Bates, Sherry Sanden, Amanda Quesenberry.

Illinois State University, College of Education Partnership Grant. 2015 - 2015

Examining the impact of multi-year school-university partnerships

Alan Bates, Amanda Quesenberry.

Illinois State University - College of Education Research Grant. 2015 - 2015

Book, Chapter

Supporting early childhood workforce development and pathways: Developing a competency-based assessment system in Illinois

Sherry Sanden, Kira Hamann, Amanda Quesenberry, Nancy Latham, D. Christianson, A Smyrniotis.

(2016), Voices From the Field: Collaborative innovations in early childhood educator preparation, Illinois Board of Higher Education

Journal Article

Examining the Impact of a Year-Long University-School Partnership

Amanda Quesenberry, Kira Hamann, Sherry Sanden, Alan Bates, Luminita Hartle.

Action in Teacher Education, (2018)

Presentations

Flexible Student Teaching Options Supporting and Advancing the Early Childhood Workforce Through An Alternative Bachelors' Degree Completion Program

Linda Ruhe Marsh, Elizabeth White, Nicole Offutt, Amanda Quesenberry.

2025 Gateways Higher Education Faculty Forum, Bloomington, IL, April 10, 2025

Student Experiences in an Alternative Teacher Preparation Program for Early Childhood Educators

Elizabeth White, Amanda Quesenberry.

SoTL Commons Conference, Savannah, GA, February, 2024

Elevating the ECE workforce: Alternative pathways to degree completion.

Amanda Quesenberry, Elizabeth S. White, Linda Ruhe Marsh.

Sharing a Vision Conference, Peoria, IL, October, 2023

Dr. Amanda Quesenberry