Faculty and Staff

Dr. Fulk, thinks it was at the end of her Kindergarten year that she knew that she wanted to become a teacher and has never for a moment doubted that it was the right choice! During her high school years, she selected special education as her ultimate career goal. She received her bachelors and master"s degrees from Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) in Special Education. Thus, she currently hold Indiana “life” teaching licenses for the special education areas of mental retardation, emotional disturbance, and learning disabilities/neurological impairments (grades k-12). 

She taught for several years in Indiana schools, teaching students from preschool through high school who have had disabilities ranging from mild learning disabilities (LD) to multiple/severe disabilities. She enjoyed each teaching assignment and particularly enjoyed working with and advocating for students with disabilities and their families. Following a 4-year hiatus as a full-time, stay-at-home Mom, she returned to school and earned her doctorate from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in 1990.

She became a member of the Special Education faculty at ISU in August of 1997 and has found ISU to be a great place to further her personal and professional development. The majority of her work is related to LD, methods for adapting instruction, and collaborating with professionals and families.

She maintains active memberships in various professional organizations such as the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) the Teacher Education Division (TED) and the Division for Learning Disabilities. She enjoys presenting at national and regional conferences on topics related to reading, co-teaching, and strategies for students with LD. Her research interests center on cognitive strategies for students with LD, (e.g., mnemonics) effective teaching, and improving the motivation of low-achieving students.

Her study of motivation has led me to certain principles in my teaching that have become integral to my teaching philosophy. She says, “The first principle is that we must hold high expectations for our learners of all ages, challenging them to do their best work. At the same time, we must work to break large tasks down to manageable steps. Second, relevance is important, so it is important to present the rationale for the content we teach. Our students do want to know how new information will make them better teachers and how the new information builds on or relates to their past and future experiences.”

Courses that she has instructed at ISU relate to methods for diverse learners, consultation and collaboration in special education, and assessment. She continues to teach courses in the undergraduate program as well as the masters and doctoral sequences and loves the variety of working with these various student groups.