Northern Illinois University
Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education
College of Education

Paul M. Wright, Ph.D.
EC Lane and MN Zimmerman Endowed Professor, Pedagogy

Department

Kinesiology and Physical Education

Research Interests

I specialize in the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) instructional model. My scholarship is very applied and relates directly to fields such as positive youth development, social and emotional learning, and sport for development. I also have interests in policy and program evaluation as it relates to youth sport and physical activity.

Education

• Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago, Education (Curriculum & Instruction)
• M.S. University of Illinois at Chicago, Kinesiology
• Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago, Biological Sciences

Recent Scholarly Activities

Peer-Review Articles

• Wright, P. M., Jacobs, J., Ressler, J. & Jung, J. (2016). Using critical pedagogy to foster transformative educational experience in a sport for development program. Sport, Education and Society, 21(4), 531-548.
• Jacobs, J. & Wright, P. M. (2016). An alternative application of imagery in youth sport: Promoting the transfer of life skills to other contexts. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 7(1), 1-10.
• Berg, B. K., Irwin, C. C., Wright, P. M., Irwin, R. L., & Hutchinson, M. (2016). An unacceptable status quo: A sport development case study of swimming and drownings. Sport Management Review. Online first at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2015.11.002
• Escartí, A., Wright, P. M., Pascual, C., & Gutiérrez, M. (2015). Tool for Assessing Responsibility-based Education (TARE) 2.0: Instrument revisions, inter-rater reliability, and correlations between observed teaching strategies and student behaviors. Universal Journal of Psychology, 3(2), 55-63.
• Wright, P. M., & Walsh, D. S. (2015). Subject Matters of Physical Education. In M. F. He, B. D. Schultz, and W. H. Schubert (Eds.). Guide to Curriculum in Education (pp. 70-77). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Funded Projects

• Project Director, Belizean Youth Sport Coalition (BYSC): Promoting youth development and social change through sport, grant funded for $224,956 by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2013-2016.
• Project Director, Youth Fit to Lead Project: Developing leadership through sport, action research grant for $5,000, funded by the C. Charles Jackson Foundation, 2013.
• Principal Investigator on the Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play-Program Evaluation, funded by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance for $164,000 from October 1, 2011 to September 29, 2012.
• Principal Investigator, Promoting Positive Youth Development through Schools in Spain: An Implementation Study, Research Award for $24,000 from U.S. Fulbright Commission, 2010.
• Principal Investigator, Evaluating the development and implementation of Head Start Body Start: The National Center for Physical Development in Outdoor Play, external evaluation contracts for $196,960, funded by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 2009-2011.

Courses Taught

• EPS 799: Doctoral Research and Dissertation
• KNPE 399: Youth Development through Physical Activity
• KNPE 445: Measurement and Evaluation in Physical Education
• KNPE 449: Current Topics in Physical Education and Sport
• KNPE 569: Instructional Skills in Physical Education
• KNPE 671: Directed Research in Kinesiology and Physical Education