Jeff Bakken

Biography

Dr. Jeff Bakken holds the rank of professor in Bradley’s Department of Education, Counseling, and Leadership in the College of Education and Health Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in special education from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He taught at Illinois State University for 13 years in the Department of Special Education and was also the Department of Special Education Department Chair for an additional four years and well as the Interim Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Studies and International Education in the College of Education for a year. The last nine years he served as the Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Bradley University. He will begin full time teaching this fall and looks forward to working directly with students and faculty in the department and college.

Teaching

Dr. Bakken has taught undergraduate courses in special education focusing on assessment as well as inclusion.  At the master’s level he has taught courses on the characteristics of learning disabilities, strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities, and assessment.  At the doctoral level he has taught courses related to action research and the dissertation.   At Bradley, he currently teaches courses in the online Ed.D. program in higher education administration and in the online M.A. in counseling program. His teaching style combines traditional instruction, active learning, and reflective practice and tries to involve students in the learning process as much as possible.  He has also earned recognition for teaching at Illinois State University by being awarded the Outstanding University Teacher Award as well as the College of Education Outstanding Teacher Award.

Scholarship

Dr. Bakken has received the College of Education and the University Research Initiative Award, and the College of Education Outstanding College Researcher Award from Illinois State University. His specific areas of interest include: learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, reading comprehension, response to intervention, collaboration, transition, teacher effectiveness, assessment, learning strategies, assistive technology, Smart Classrooms and Smart Universities. He has published over 200 works that include books, chapters, journal articles, proceedings at international conferences, audio tapes, encyclopedia articles, newsletter articles, book reviews, a monograph, a manual, and one publisher website. A notable accomplishment is that he has been the co-editor of the Advances in Special Education series published by Emerald Group Publishing since 2010 publishing 17 different volumes with the 18th volume titled “Traditional and Innovative Assessment Techniques for Students with Disabilities” to be available in August of 2021. He has also made over 250 presentations at International/National and Regional/State conferences. He also serves on many editorial boards. Lastly, he has authored or co-authored numerous grants totaling over $1,000,000.00.

Service

During the last nine years at Bradley Dr. Bakken has served in an administrative position and his service has been focused on university research and graduate education. He has also served on university committees that have addressed promotion and tenure, strategic planning, new faculty mentorship, assessment, and inclusion and diversity. He looks forward to serving in his new department and college as well as at the university levels.