Rebecca Johnson is a doctoral candidate and research assistant in the department of educational psychology at the University of North Texas with a concentration in gifted & talented education. She has an Ed.S. in educational psychology, gifted & creative education from the University of Georgia and an M.Ed. in curriculum & instruction, elementary education and reading from University of West Florida. Her experience as an educator and parent of gifted students has led to her research interests which include the socioemotional well-being and psychosocial development of gifted individuals, parenting in the context of profound giftedness, barriers to sustainable access to traditional and non-traditional academic opportunities for students who are gifted and from diverse backgrounds, and the intersection of giftedness and creativity. She currently serves as the assistant editor for the Journal of Advanced Academics and as co-chair for the NAGC Research and Evaluation Network Graduate Student Committee.
CURRENT ROLES
PhD Candidate, University of North Texas
Assistant Editor, Journal of Advanced Academics (2021 – Present)
Research Assistant, University of North Texas
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Social, emotional, and psychosocial development of gifted individuals
- Equity in STEM and gifted education
- Parenting in the context of profound giftedness
- Intersection of giftedness and creativity via STEAM programs
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Exploring the Relationship Between Continuous Improvement Culture (CQI) and Afterschool STEM Program Quality (2019-present). An NSF funded project to study how the California Department of Education (CDE) efforts to change organizational culture to support CQI have affected the offerings and quality of afterschool STEM in more than 4500 state-run afterschool sites. PI: Dr. Carrie Allen (University of North Texas) & Dr. Patrik Lundh (SRI)
Measuring Original Thinking in Elementary Students: A Text-Mining Approach (2020-present). A U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences grant-funded study to develop an improved, less expensive test to identify original thinking in low-income, minority or untraditional-gifted children. PI: Dr. Selcuk Acar (Univeristy of North Texas)
Parents’ Curriculum Choices for their Homeschooling Gifted Children. A collaborative project using data from a national university-led gifted program to understand parents’ curriculum choice and rationale to improve curriculum options. PI: Dr. Jennifer Jolly & Dr. Michael Matthews (University of North Carolina – Charlotte)
PUBLICATIONS
Journal Articles
Johnson, R., & Mun, R. U. (2021). Asynchronous development and gifted children: Parenting challenges ahead. Parenting for High Potential.
Hodges, J., Mun, R. U., Johnson, R. (2021). Lewis Terman in context: An analysis of citations of genetics studies of genius inside and outside gifted education. Journal for the Education of the Gifted.
Book Chapters
Rinn, A. N., & Johnson, R. (in press). Should gifted students be friends with non-gifted students? In M. H. Jones (Ed.), Peer relationships in classroom management: Evidence and interventions for teaching. Routledge.
Manuscripts Under Review and in Progress
Johnson, R., Mun, R. U., Rinn A. N., & Hodges, J. (under review). Motivation, socioeconomic status and well-being of undergraduate students in honors programs.
Mun, R. U., Mirzaeirafe, M., Yeung, G., Lee, L., Johnson, R., & Rinn, A. N. (in revision). Perceived scholarly identity, expectations, motivation, and well-being on academic and career decision-making for honors college students. Gifted Child Quarterly.
Johnson, R. (in progress). Barriers to program participation for gifted females with low socioeconomic status.
Johnson, R. (under review). The potential impact of asynchronous development on executive function in individuals who are gifted.
Johnson, R., & Hodges, J. (in revision). Determining accessibility and availability of gifted information on Florida district websites to facilitate parent education, advocacy, and involvement to increase gifted identification/program participation for students who are gifted and from underrepresented populations.