School of Education

Education

• Ph.D. in special education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• M.Ed. in early childhood/special education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• B.A. in English language and literature, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Research interests

Culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment and intervention; social interaction skills and language/literacy skills related to school readiness; peer-mediated instructional strategies; family empowerment; personnel preparation in EI/ECSE

Career highlights

• Principal Investigator, Project REAL, 2024-2029
• VCU First Class of National/International Recognition Award (NIRA) Scholar, 2023
• Dr. Deborah Ziegler Distinguished International Leadership Award, Division of
  International Special Education and Services (DISES) of Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), 2022
• Director, International Educational Studies Center (IESC), VCU School of Education

Recent publications/projects

• Xu, Y., Cage, J., Chen, C., Zhang, F., & Xia, Y. (accepted). Assessing young children’s social-emotional development through the lens of social-cultural ecological systems. Early Childhood Education Journal.

• Thompson, M., Xu., Y., Chen, C., & Rudasill, K. (2024). Empowering and educating parents to implement a home intervention: Effects on preschool children’s engagement in hands-on constructive play. Behavioral Sciences, 2024, 14, 247. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14030247

•  Xie, L., & Xu, Y. (2024). A systematic review on the factors affecting Chinese international students’ mental health. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling. Published Online: 22 February 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-024- 09542-7

• Xu, Y., Szocik, K., Chen, C., Xu, C., Tobe, K., & Spence, C. (2023). One plus one is more than two: Empowering families of minoritized, young twice-exceptional dual language learners. TEACHING Exceptional Children. DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1177/00400599231187143

• Gibson, D., Xu, Y., Pandey, T., Jiang, Y., & Olsoe, B. (2023). The impact of the pandemic and protests on identity and purpose: A narrative inquiry with an international Chinese student. The International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-023-09507-2

• Xu, Y., Chen, C., Spence, C., Washington-Nortey, M., Zhang, F., & Brown, A. (2022). Supporting young Spanish speaking English learners through teacher scaffolding and reciprocal peer tutoring, Early Child Development and Care, 192(8), 1324-1336. DOI:10.1080/03004430.2021.1874944

• Whittenburg, H., Xu, Y., Thoma, C., Schall, C., & Ham, W. (2022). Effects of behavioral skills training with video modeling and in situ training on workplace conversational skills autistic students. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10883576221127971

• Xu, Y., & Kuti, L. (2021). Accommodating students with exceptional needs by aligning classroom assessment with IEP goals, International Journal of Inclusive Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2021.1994662

• Xu, Y., & Liu, L. (2021). Examining sociocultural factors in assessing vocabulary
  knowledge of children from low socio-economic background, Early Child Development and Care, 191(15), 2396-2406, DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2019.1711375

Bio

Dr. Yaoying Xu is a professor and doctoral program coordinator in the Department of
Counseling and Special Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. She teaches master’s and doctoral courses including developmental assessment, single subject research methods, and research internships. Her research interests and expertise focus on empowering culturally and linguistically diverse families, social-emotional development of children and school readiness, as well as relationships between social interaction skills and academic achievements.

Dr. Xu has been a principal investigator or co-principal investigator of numerous nationally or state-funded grant projects generating over $15 million for research, personnel preparation, or program development and evaluation. Dr. Xu is associate editor for the Journal of Child and Family Studies and editor for Early Child Development and Care in Asia and Pacific areas, in addition to serving on the editorial boards of several national/international journals.

Curriculum Vitae