Joann Starks
Program Associate

Photo of Joann StarksJoann Starks is a Program Associate with SEDL's Disability Research to Practice (DRP) program. She works with SEDL’s Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research and Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research. She also subcontracts with the Center on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer and the Transitions Rehabilitation Training Center. For these groups, she focuses on dissemination activities, such as support for Communities of Practice and developing webcasts and technical briefs. For the NCDDR, she also supports the Disability Subgroup of the Campbell Collaboration Education Coordinating Group, coordinates online training courses in conducting high-quality systematic reviews, and plans workshops on topics related to knowledge translation and disability and rehabilitation research.

Contact Information
You may contact Joann Starks at 512-391-6557

or by using SEDL's contact form.

Areas of Expertise
Ms. Starks’ current interests include evidence-based guidelines and systematic reviews of disability research, copyright issues, and use of the Internet and other electronic dissemination information systems.
  • Knowledge Translation (KT): Since 2004, Ms. Starks has been working with researchers funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to improve the quality of disability research and to make high-quality research information accessible to new audiences that can use it. She also oversees the NCDDR's online information resources and supports a network of disability research professionals who are learning how to conduct systematic reviews.
  • Disability Research: Ms. Starks has carried out numerous surveys for the NCDDR with multiple stakeholders, including NIDRR grantees and other researchers, consumers with disabilities, service providers and professionals, government and policy makers, and the media. The surveys of consumers were the first to ask how people with disabilities get and use research information.
  • Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA): Ms. Starks has carried out many T/TA activities in a variety of areas, including bilingual education, special education, gifted education, and more recently, disability research and knowledge translation.

Experience
Ms. Starks joined SEDL as a member of the NCDDR staff in October 1995. Prior to joining the organization, she completed an internship with the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). She has also provided T/TA in bilingual and multicultural education with the Evaluation Assistance Center–West at the University of New Mexico and the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She served as a liaison and trainer in a community development project for the Centro de Orientación Familiar in San José, Costa Rica, and conducted a local census survey. Ms. Starks has served as a consultant in areas such as bilingual, gifted and talented, and special education. She is fluent in Spanish and conversant in American Sign Language.

Education
Ms. Starks holds a BA in sociology and an MEd in social/multicultural foundations of education (bilingual education) from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She completed doctoral coursework in special education administration, with an emphasis in bilingual special education, at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research at UT focused on state policies for English language learners with disabilities.

SEDL Publications
  • When the Best Is the Enemy of the Good: The Nature of Research Evidence Used in Systematic Reviews and Guidelines (2009)
  • Survey of NIDRR grantees’ familiarity with knowledge translation and communities of practice (2005)
  • Research Exchange Volume 9, Number 1: Highlights of NCDDR 2004 Survey Results (2004)
  • Research Exchange Volume 9, Number 2: How Logic Models Can Help NIDRR Grantees Plan and Demonstrate Progress (2004)
  • Research Exchange Volume 9, Number 3: National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research 2004–2005 (2004)
  • FOCUS Technical Brief Number 4: NCDDR's Electronic Library and Biblioteca Electrónica: Web portals to NIDRR grantees' online resources (2003)
  • FOCUS Technical Brief Number 6: Employment Outcomes (2003)
  • FOCUS Technical Brief Number 7: Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers and Employment Outcomes Research (2003)
  • Research Exchange Volume 8, Number 1: Making Copyright Law Work for You (2003)
  • Research Exchange Volume 8, Number 2: Evidence-Based Research in Education (2003)
  • Research Exchange Volume 8, Number 3: Meeting the Needs of Your Audience (2003)
  • FOCUS Technical Brief Number 1: Taking steps to protect research participants (2002)
  • FOCUS Technical Brief Number 3: Underachieving students (with unidentified brain injury) (2002)

Selected External Publications
  • Dijkers, M. P. J. M., & The Task Force on Systematic Reviews and Guidelines. (2009). The value of "traditional" reviews in the era of systematic reviewing. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 88(5), 423–430. doi:10.1097/PHM.0b013e31819c59c6
Selected Presentations
  • Starks, J. (2010, November). NCDDR’s Web-based instruction on conducting systematic reviews of evidence-based disability and rehabilitation research. Poster session at the Joint Colloquium of the Campbell and Cochrane Collaborations, Keystone, CO.
  • Dijkers, M., Bushnik, T., Heinemann, A. Libin, A., & Starks, J. (2010, May). Assessing the quality & applicability of systematic reviews: A systematic approach. Workshop at 32nd NARRTC Annual Meeting and Conference, Alexandria, VA.
  • Starks, J. (2010, May). NCDDR’s 2009 course on conducting systematic reviews of evidence-based disability & rehabilitation research. Presentation at 32nd NARRTC Annual Meeting and Conference, Alexandria, VA.
  • Starks, J. (2009, November). Establishing a Disability Subgroup within the Campbell Collaboration. Poster session under Topics in Disability and Public Health at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 137th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Linder, M., & Starks, J. (2005, June). What is a logic model? What are the key elements? Dissemination and Outcomes Planning Workshop, National Press Club, Washington, DC.
  • Starks, J. (2005, June). Key elements of a dissemination plan. Dissemination and Outcomes Planning Workshop, National Press Club, Washington, DC.
  • Starks, J., & Linder, M. (2005, June). Developing effective outcomes statements. Dissemination and Outcomes Planning Workshop, National Press Club, Washington, DC.