Malinda Pennington is a Curriculum and Instruction Ph.D. student in NC State’s Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences. Her research interests include development of effective training and support models to prepare teachers to meet the needs of students with autism. As a member of the SMART Collaborative, she brings over 25 years experience teaching in public schools and providing educator professional development to team efforts to work with local school districts. Professionally, she is a National Board Certified Teacher and was recognized as the 2012 NC North Central Region Teacher of the Year.  She is a TEACCH Autism Program Certified Professional Consultant and has provided school trainings and consultations on evidence-based practices for students with autism in many states and internationally.  In 2013, she assisted her district in obtaining a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to start the Wilson Autism Spectrum Disorders Academy, a laboratory school and training program in partnership with Barton College and ECU, to educate pre-service and in-service teachers about strategies for working with students with autism.  Her scholarly research efforts have already received recognition.  She published an article, Defining autism: Variability in state education agency definitions and evaluations for autism spectrum disorders and co-authored a chapter in Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues.  She has also been a presenter and poster session participant at multiple national conferences for the Council for Exceptional Children. When at home, Malinda enjoys spending time with her family, playing board games, crocheting, and digging in the garden.