Kathy Jo Piechura-Couture

Professor of Education, Nina B. Hollis Institute of Educational Reform

When I was five my father built me a school house in our backyard. I used to charge the neighborhood children a quarter to attend. The money wasn't for myself, but to make sure they all ever had a snack. So in essence I have been a teacher my entire life and have planned for and worried about nourishing the whole child 

  • PhD, curriculum and instruction, University of South Florida
  • MA, emotional disturbance, University of South Florida
  • BS, elementary education; special education: emotionally impaired, Eastern Michigan University

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Kathy Jo Piechura-Couture

Biography

Dr. Kathy Piechura-Couture is a full professor of Education at Stetson University and research faculty with the Nina B Hollis Institute of Educational Reform. In this role, she actively researches effective pedagogical practices with general and special needs populations. Her research includes Trauma and Resiliency, Restorative Practices, student self-advocacy, infusing movement and the arts into the general curriculum, and differentiating instruction. 

Through her work with the Nina B Hollis Institute of Educational Reform, she has been instrumental in many innovative pedagogical strategies in schools throughout the United States. She has been featured on MSNBC and in several documentaries for her expertise in the area of single-gender education. She has worked hand-in-hand with the teachers for the past twenty years researching teaching best practices.

More About Kathy Jo Piechura-Couture

Areas of Expertise

  • Special education
  • Differentiated instruction 
  • Restorative Practices
  • Trauma-informed coaching

Course Sampling

  • Educational psychology
  • Human exceptionalities
  • Differentiating instruction
  • Principal and methods of instruction

  • Trauma and resiliency
  • Self-advocacy 
  • Promoting reading in teacher educators
  • Teaching pedagogy

  • Colwell, C., MacIssac, D., Tichenor, M., Heins, E., & Piechura, K. (accepted for publication in The Professional Educator). "District and university perspectives on sustaining professional development schools? Do the NCATE standards matter?"
  • Piechura-Couture, K., Heins,E., Tichenor, M. (2013). "The Boy Factor: Can Single-Gender Classes Reduce the Over-Representation of Boys in Special Education?" College Student Journal, Volume 47, Number 2 / Summer 2013 (selected reprint).
  • Tichenor, M., Heins, E., and Piechura, K. (2010). "Five steps in creating a summer literacy camp for at-risk students." The Florida Reading Journal, 46(2), 39-43.
  • Rhodes, W.C., Piechura-Couture, K., Doone, E. (2009). Unifying Theory of Emotional Disturbance and the Life Impact Curriculum in Personal Constructivism: Theory and Applications. Edited by Larry M. Leitner and Jill C. Thomas. Pace University Press.
  • Piechura-Couture, K. and Heins, E. (2009). "The Boy Factor." International Association of Special Education.
  • Tichenor, M., Piechura, K. Heins, E., Dershimer, E., and MacIsaac, D. (2008). "Preparing teacher candidates to use gender-specific teaching strategies." Focus on Teacher Education, 8(4), 3-7
  • Tichenor, M., Taylor, G., Piechura, K., and Heins, E. (2006). "The Cats and the Hatters: A Summer Literacy Program for Students At-Risk." The Florida Reading Quarterly, 42(4), 37-39.
  • Piechura, K.P., Heins, E.D., Roberts, D., MacIsaac, D., and Roberts, J. (2006). "The Lunch Bunch: Building Literacy in a Natural Way." Florida Reading Quarterly.