Lin Zhu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Special Education
Department
Special and Early Education (SEED)
Education
- Ph.D., Special Education, University of Kentucky, 2020
- M.A., Literacy Education, University of Kentucky, 2015
- B.A., English, Dalian Neosoft University, China, 2013
Background
Lin Zhu, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of early childhood special education in the Department of Special and Early Education at Northern Illinois University. She has extensive experience in early childhood and early childhood special education (ECE/ECSE) teacher preparation, program development and curriculum design, with a teaching portfolio spanning undergraduate and graduate courses on inclusive practices; assessment; curriculum design; blended and field-based methods; and collaboration with families.
During her doctoral studies, Professor Zhu was mentored by Jennifer Grisham, a leading scholar in early childhood special education. Through this mentorship, she developed expertise in blended practices that integrate early childhood and early childhood special education approaches, as well as in validating and adapting the Assessment, Evaluation and Programming System (AEPS) for use in varied linguistic and cultural contexts to guide individualized instruction and support development across domains.
Her work also has a strong international dimension. She has led professional development initiatives in China, Guatemala and Indonesia, designing and delivering culturally responsive and inclusive education training for in-service and pre-service early childhood teachers.
Research Interests
- Experiential learning in ECE/ECSE teacher preparation
- Inclusive education and culturally responsive teaching practices
- Building family-professional relational trust
- Effective coaching models to support and empower parents and teachers
- Internationally adapted professional development for diverse cultural and linguistic contexts
- Applications of artificial intelligence to advance inclusive early childhood education and teacher preparation
Classes Taught
- SESE 426/526: Working with and Supporting Families of Young Children with Disabilities
- Blended practices in early childhood education
- Inclusive practices and collaboration in special education
- Assessment, progress monitoring and data-driven instruction
- Field experience, practicum and experiential learning
- Capstone projects, comprehensive exams and professional portfolios
- Curriculum design, theory and instructional strategies
- Early language, literacy and communication development
Recent Publications
- Zhu, L., Grisham, J., Pretti-Frontczak, K. and Lyons-Picard, A. (2022). Assessing dual language learners. In J. Grisham & K. Pretti-Frontczak (Eds.), Assessing young children in inclusive settings (pp. 227–243). Brookes.
- Zhu, L., Shepley, C., Grisham-Brown, J. and Lane, J. D. (2022). A brief parent-coaching package for tiered language interventions. Education Sciences, 12(9), 1–14.
- Zhu, L. (in press, 2025). Coaching parents to use naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs). The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship.
Selected Presentations
- Zhu, L., Haskins, T. and Van Wig, A. (2024, November). Forging innovations! Global insights, local solutions: Advancing inclusive early childhood education in China through international collaboration. TED-CEC, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Zhu, L., Van Wig, A. and Haskins, T. (2023, November). Seas the day! Students’ and mentor teachers’ perspectives on an innovative ECSE teacher education model. TED-CEC, Long Beach, CA.
- Zhu, L., Grisham-Brown, J., Shepley, C. and Lane, J. D. (2022, October). From in-person to virtual: Transition to online parent coaching. DEC, Chicago, IL.
- Zhu, L., et al. (2024, September). Fostering global cognitive development: A teachers-to-teachers approach. DEC-CEC, New Orleans, LA.
