Rate My Professor Tosha Owens

Tosha Owens is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Literacy Studies and Special Education at East Carolina University’s College of Education. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Bowling Green State University, a Master of Arts in Teaching in Special Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Owens is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral level (BCBA-D) and Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA), holding North Carolina teaching licenses in Elementary Education (K-6) and Exceptional Children: General Curriculum (K-12), as well as National Board Certification in Special Education. During her doctoral studies at UNC Charlotte, she served as a graduate assistant for the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition.

Her research specializations include increasing access to general education settings for students with challenging behavior, culturally responsive behavioral supports, reducing disproportionate discipline for minority students through positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), and integrating school-based mental health supports within PBIS frameworks. Key publications encompass 'The effects of an early numeracy intervention package on acquisition of early numeracy skills for students with moderate to severe developmental disabilities and significant behavior challenges' in Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities (2025), 'Embedding parental input in instruction of SWPBS behavioral expectations for African American students' in Preventing School Failure (2021), 'Function-based self-advocacy training for students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders in general education settings' in The Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (2021), and 'Tiered teacher coaching using bug-in-ear to promote student on-task behaviors in the general education setting' in Journal of Special Education (2018). Owens has received major awards such as the 2024 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research on Digital Impact Award, the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the North Carolina Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health, the 2018 Council for Exceptional Children Division for Research Student Research Award in Single-Subject Design, and the 2016 Association for Positive Behavior Support Ted Carr Outstanding Poster Award. She has held leadership roles including Vice President, President-Elect, and President of the North Carolina Association for Behavior Analysis (2023-2024), and served as principal investigator on grants like Expansion of Study Abroad Experiences for College of Education Students (2024) and co-principal investigator on the EC Collaboratory project (2022-2025).