Rate My Professor Michael Arthur-Kelly

Professor Michael Arthur-Kelly is an Honorary Professor in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned his PhD, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and Diploma in Education from Macquarie University. His research centers on enhancing outcomes for individuals with multiple and severe disabilities through communication interventions, behavior support informed by behavior state assessment, and inclusive education practices. As Director of the Faculty's Centre for Special Education and Disability Studies, he has collaborated extensively with educational partners such as the Special Education Centre and the Renwick Centre at the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. Arthur-Kelly's practical research includes an Australian Research Council Discovery Project on mentor modelling to improve communicative engagement in students with severe disabilities across special and mainstream schools, demonstrating consistent gains. He also led a NSW Government-funded Early Childhood Intervention Professional Development Project, training approximately 1000 teachers and aides in functional behavioral assessment for challenging behaviors, particularly in autistic children, culminating in a best-practice DVD resource.

In recognition of his supervision excellence, he received the 2013 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Supervision Excellence at the University of Newcastle. Arthur-Kelly holds editorial positions as Editor of the Australasian Journal of Special Education since 2011 and serves on the editorial boards of Special Education Perspectives since 2009 and the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability since 2000. His scholarly contributions encompass influential books like Inclusion in Action (2014, with Phil Foreman), Classroom Management: Creating Positive Learning Environments (2011, with Gordon Lyons and Michael Ford), and Challenging Behavior & Developmental Disability (2004, with Jan Sigafoos and Mark O'Reilly). Recent publications include chapters such as Calibrating Professional Learning Approaches for Teachers in Inclusive Classrooms in the Context of Implementation Science (2022) and articles like Perceived competencies and concerns of Thai general and special education teachers towards the behaviour problems of their students (2024, International Journal of Inclusive Education). With 1,643 citations across 81 publications, his work significantly impacts teacher professional development and inclusive practices globally.