Judith L. Pokorni, PIRE Senior Research Scientist, has worked in the field of education for several decades. She was the Evaluation Consultant for a CSAP-funded project serving women using drugs and their infants and toddlers. She was the Co-PI with PIRE researcher Marques on a study of the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on school performance of nine-year-old children (Department of Education). She has collaborated with the local school system as evaluator on numerous investigations including an evaluation of phonological awareness interventions on reading skills of children with language disorders (Department of Education), the use of screen readers by students with learning disorders (Department of Education), and the use of online courses for training of paraprofessionals working with students with disabilities (Maryland State Department of Education). She coordinated a district-wide initiative to train more than 400 school administrators on emergency preparedness. She has collaborated with a software developer to design web-based multimedia products for educators in the areas of prenatal substance exposure and autism. She currently serves as chair to one of PIRE’s two Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).
Prior to her work at PIRE, Pokorni directed a number of federally funded projects that produced and evaluated video-based staff development programs directed to health care personnel, educators, and child welfare personnel. Program topics included disabilities, parenting, and preterm infant development. Earlier in her career, Dr. Pokorni’s major emphasis was provision of staff development for Head Start programs and supervision of teachers-in-training at the University of Maryland, College of Education.