MTA Instructors

Andrew is Morningside’s Executive Director. He’s been with Morningside for 10 years, first as a trainer with Morningside Teachers’ Academy partner schools in Hawaii and then as Associate Director of Morningside Academy since 2017.

He received his B.A. in Public Affairs Journalism from The Ohio State University in 2007 but after a summer at Morningside’s Summer School Institute, turned towards Generative Instruction. He first started teaching middle school but quickly expanded to working with a wide array of K-12 students. He spent two more summers studying and coaching at Morningside while training dozens of teachers and education professionals in the Implementation of the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Ohio.

Andrew oversaw the implementation of the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction at Haugland Learning Center in Columbus, Ohio, where he served as director from 2010-2014. This was the first successful replication of the Morningside Model of Generative Instructions with students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Andrew completed his Master’s degree in Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas under the mentorship of Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Dr. Traci Cihon. He completed an experimental research thesis on operant variability, a behavioral phenomenon critical to creativity and problem solving. He also conducted instructional design research on undergraduate education and Dr. Israel Goldiamond’s constructional approach to therapy.

In addition to overseeing all aspects of Morningside Academy, Andrew also coordinates Morningside Teachers’ Academy partnerships with schools across North America and Europe. He’s a frequent speaker at behavior analysis, special education, and general education conferences and workshops.

He’s an avid reader, indie rock and americana music fan, and enthusiastic outdoorsman, who enjoys swimming, paddleboarding, surfing, kayaking, trailrunning, and much more. Above everything, he enjoys spending time with his wife Sarah and two children, Bear and Scout.

Dr. Kent Johnson founded Morningside Academy, in Seattle, Washington, in 1980, and currently serves as its Executive Director Emeritus. Morningside Academy operates a scientifically driven “catch-up” program for children and youth with learning and attention problems and a “get-ahead” program for average and above-average middle school youth, as well as provides a laboratory for developing instructional methods and materials. It has also provided training and consulting in instruction to over 140 schools and agencies throughout the USA and Canada since 1991. Morningside’s exemplary science-based approach has had global impact and serves as a beacon of hope for many, transforming lives and demonstrating what high-quality behavior analytic education can offer.

Dr. Johnson has served in all the positions at Morningside, including classroom teacher for 10 years, financial manager, administrator, teacher trainer, school psychologist and school consultant. He has published many seminal papers and books about research-based curriculum and teaching methods, most recently The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction: Building a Bridge Between Skills and Inquiry Teaching with Dr. Elizabeth Street, Andrew Kieta and Dr. Joanne Robbins. The Morningside Model focuses upon foundation skills in reading, writing, mathematics, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, studying core content, and learning through inquiry. Over 50,000 students and over two thousand teachers have learned and taught with the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction. Dr. Johnson is also a co-founder of Headsprout, Inc., a company that develops web-based, interactive, cartoon-driven instructional programs, including Headsprout Early Reading and Headsprout Reading Comprehension. Examine them at www.headsprout.com.

Dr. Johnson’s commitment to and success in developing and disseminating innovative and highly effective behaviorally based educational practices have been recognized by his receiving the 2001 Award for Public Service in Behavior Analysis from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, the 2016 Fred S. Keller Behavioral Education Award from Division 25 of the American Psychological Association, the 2011 Ogden R. Lindsley Lifetime Achievement Award in Precision Teaching from the Standard Celeration Society, the 2010 Edward L. Anderson Award in Recognition for Exemplary Contributions to Behavioral Education from the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, the 2009 Ernie Wing Award for Excellence in Evidence-based Education from the Wing Institute, and the 2006 Allyn and Bacon Exemplary Program Award from the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Learning Disabilities.

Prior to founding Morningside, Dr. Johnson was professor at Central Washington University, director of staff training at the Fernald School in Massachusetts, and instructional designer at Northeastern University in Boston. He received his M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1977) in psychology at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst under the mentorship of Drs. Beth Sulzer-Azaroff, Ellen Reese, and John Donahoe. He received his B.S. in psychology and sociology from Georgetown University (1973), under the mentorship of Dr. J Gilmour Sherman. He also counts Drs. Fred Keller, Charles Ferster, B. F. Skinner, Susan Markle, John Dewey, Siegfried Engelmann, Ogden Lindsey, Israel Goldiamond, Arthur Whimbey, and colleague Joe Layng as major influences on his work.

Dr. Johnson enjoys reading philosophy, mysteries, ancient history, psychology, and books about teaching and children. He also enjoys rock, electronic downbeat and ambient music, and conversations about politics and public policy.

Dr. Andrew Bulla earned his Bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s University in psychology with a minor in autism studies. Upon graduating, he completed his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in behavior analysis from Western Michigan University, and subsequently became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2014. He is currently an assistant professor of psychology and verified course sequence coordinator for the BCaBA coursework at Georgia Southern University – Armstrong Campus.

Drew has worked at a variety of organizations over the course of his career including autism centers, community mental health agencies, and several school districts. During his time in these positions, Dr. Bulla applied behavior analysis to a variety of learners and situations. He has worked in autism early intervention, ancillary programs including social and recreational skills, the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviors, and academic interventions for students with and without disabilities. Drew also attended Morningside Academy’s Summer School Institute in 2016, which led him to implement a small scale replication of Morningside’s math program in a public school setting with an amazing team of professionals.

Drew has taught a variety of college level courses in the areas of Applied Behavior Analysis, Autism, Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Educational Psychology, Behavior Assessment, and Advanced Behavior Change Systems and Techniques. He believes that it is an honor and a privilege to be a part of someone’s education.

In his spare time, Drew can be spotted on the beach and in the ocean either swimming or paddling, reading, traveling, or spending time with his pup, Kobe. He is also enjoys trying new things and volunteering in the community.

Kris Melroe, Assistant Director of Schools & Agencies, earned a BA from Luther College in 1971. After graduating, she worked in the Minneapolis area on numerous health related projects. Kris founded a clinic that specialized in women's health. She also did research for a NGO (non-governmental United Nations organization) health project, examining sterilization and birth control practices on four Indian reservations. Her findings were used in planning the United Nations "Decade of the Woman" and resulted in her receiving the 1983 National Recognition Award from the group Women of All Red. In 1976, Kris left the Midwest and moved to Seattle, where she worked in various capacities with different social service groups, including serving as co-director for the Lesbian Resource Center.

Being drawn to the field of education, Kris received her teaching certificate and later her Special Education endorsement from the University of Washington. Kris joined Morningside in 1980, where she remained for five years as an elementary teacher. Here she honed her skills in instruction and precision teaching. After taking some time off to have two children a family. Kris taught for the Renton School District as a Special Education teacher for seven years. While in Renton, Kris designed and implemented a precision teaching training program for new special education teachers and was a member of the Renton Education Association's negotiating team. Kris was a faculty member at Pacific Oaks College, teaching a graduate class in Special Education as part of their teacher training program.

Kris returned to Morningside to work in the Morningside Teachers' Academy, where she supervises school-wide implementations of the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction. Kris currently travels extensively to coach & train public school teachers. Her primary focus has been working with Native schools from South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, & Hawaii.

Deb earned her MS degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis from CSU Stanislaus. She earned a BS in Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology at UCSB in 1985. She currently works as an Education Specialist for Stanislaus County Office of Education where she consults classrooms and trains regular and special education staff and teachers.

Deb started working with special needs students in 1984 at the UC Santa Barbara Autism Clinic under the supervision of Dr. Robert Koegel. She then worked for several non-public agencies and schools that used Behavior Analysis to serve children and adults with autism, speech disorders, severe behavior problems and other developmental delays. These agencies included Zonta Childrenis Center under the supervision of Dr. Mary Ann Powers; S.T.A.R.S. School in collaboration with Dr. Mark Sunberg and Therapeutic Pathways under the direction of Dr. Jane Howard.

Deb has extensively studied and worked with Curriculum Development, Direct Instruction and Fluency. She worked as a teacher trainer, and later as the coordinator, at the CSU Stanislaus Center for Direct Instruction under the direction of Dr. Cathy Watkins. She directed a summer program for at-risk students for 5 consecutive years. She attended the Morningside Summer Institute in 1995. She has been an active member of the Association for Behavior Analysis and the California Association for Behavior Analysis for over 15 years. She has both attended and presented at professional conferences and has published in The Journal of Verbal Behavior.

Deb is committed to research-based practices in education. Her goal is for every student to be an active learner. She particularly enjoys training teachers and instructional staff to use the tools that are necessary for their students to be successful. Her other interests include teaching her preschool-aged daughter to read!

Kathy joins our Leadership team this summer with over a dozen years of experience in working within as well as managing education programs for students with learning disabilities. She received her BA in Psychology from Ohio State University, as well as her Masters of Arts in Psychology and Post-Master’s BSBA Course Sequence from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Kathy also participated in the Morningside Academy Summer Institute in 2010 and 2014 and has continued to do consulting with teachers and administrators stemming from our MSI program.

Jason is the Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator at Haugland Learning Center in Columbus, Ohio. He started as a teacher in 2010 in Haugland’s Aspire Program and was a part of the first team to replicate the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction with students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. While earning his degree in Electrical Engineering Technology he discovered his love for teaching while tutoring other students.

In July of 2012 he attended Morningside Academy's Summer School Institute. He has returned to Morningside Academy multiple times since his first visit for additional training in the areas of staff coaching and student assessment. In addition to his classroom curriculum and student assessment duties, Jason trains Haugland’s staff in many different instructional techniques, including Precision Teaching, classroom management, direct instruction, and mathetics. Jason has presented on behalf of Haugland at many professional conferences on the exciting techniques used at Haugland and the wonderful progress its students have made over the years. Jason will proudly tell anyone that asks that he has his dream job.

Outside of school, Jason loves spending time with his wife Beth, and their two dogs Dexter and Gracie. He likes getting outside and enjoys mountain biking, kayaking, and hiking.

Laura Grant has dedicated her professional career to disseminating research based treatment methods, primarily within organizations specializing in providing intervention for individuals diagnosed with Autism. Since 2006, she has worked to raise the standards of the application of behavior analysis and against the normalization of diluted treatment occurring in areas of the field that have become increasingly mainstream. She has worked with behavior analysts and clinics striving to adopt higher standards in behavior analytic treatment for individuals diagnosed with autism by providing coaching and consultation, and designing curriculum and objective training tools for behavior technicians. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and adjunct faculty at Ball State University and Capella University.

Laura earned her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas in 2004. After graduation, she was introduced to Precision Teaching through Behavior Research Company, which led her to attend Morningside’s Summer School Institute in the summer of 2006. The Morningside classrooms sparked a fierce interest in the precise measurement of student learning, observable student engagement and high rates of purposeful and meaningful teacher behavior.

Laura received her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology with a Specialization in Behavior Analysis from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology under the mentorship of Charles Merbitz. Inspired by Morningside’s Model of Generative Instruction and producing untaught behavior without training, she completed her thesis on the emergence of stimulus equivalence relations using the Standard Celeration Chart.

Laura enjoys spending her time exploring within her split resident cities, New York City and Chicago, sharing breakfast burritos on Sunday’s in the East Village with her partner, Rachel, winning trivia competitions, traveling internationally, and playing video games with her son Otto (after they have both met their daily goals).

Paul is a doctoral candidate in Special Education at the University of Oregon. He has worked in education for the past 12 years in a variety of roles including researcher, consultant, classroom teacher, paraeducator, behavioral therapist, and behavior specialist. Prior to his doctoral studies at the University of Oregon, Paul studied Psychology and Applied Behavior Analysis at Central Washington University (CWU).

At CWU, Paul began working with children with special needs in an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinic while simultaneously working in a local school district. The contrast between these two settings was stark: rigorous data-based programming in the former, and adhoc intervention in the latter. During this time, Paul learned about Morningside Academy. The temptation was too much to resist.

Paul attended Morningside’s Summer School Institute in the Summer of 2010 and began working as a classroom teacher at Morningside that fall. For the next two years, Paul used Direct Instruction, Precision Teaching and Positive Behavior Supports to teach curricula and topics such as, Corrective Reading, math, writing, Talk Aloud Problem Solving, and Transactional Analysis, using a mix of Direct Instruction, Precision Teaching, and Positive Behavior Supports. During this time, he also conducted placement and post-testing, and precision placement for a portion of the students in reading and math. He also developed two sets of math tests: one for progress monitoring the students’ word problem proficiency and the other for precision placement in the Saxon curriculum. To continue to learn more about scaling-up effective, evidence-based practices, he knew the next step was to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon.

Paul’s scholarly work has emphasized the implementation of research-based practices, racial equity in education, explicit instructional strategies, and application of various frequency-based activities suitable for fluency-building, motivational modification, and assessment of academic skills. He has presented numerous research studies and workshops at conferences and in districts across the country and internationally.

In his free time, Paul enjoys backpacking, kayaking, and spending time with his family and dog. He also likes traveling, playing games of strategy, and exploring the beach.