Patty Kohler-Evans, Ed. D., is a professor at the University of Central Arkansas in the Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education. As a former teacher, she has worked with students with disabilities for over thirty years. She has nineteen years of experience as a special education administrator in the largest district in Arkansas, serving urban students with numerous needs stemming from poverty, disability, and race. While there, she focused on inclusive education and making sure that the needs of all students were met. During her tenure in Little Rock, the district co-hosted the state’s first conference on inclusive education.

Dr. Kohler’s research interests include inclusive education and meeting the needs of all students in various settings. She is a co-author of Civility, Compassion and Courage in Schools Today: Strategies for Implementing in K-12 Schools, Success Favors Well-Prepared Teachers: Developing Routines and Relationships to Improve School Culture, and Meaningful Conversations: The Way to Comprehensive and Transformative School Improvement. She is the Director of the UCA Mashburn Center for Learning, which provides professional development in methodologies designed to help academically struggling learners, and she has been a SIM Professional Developer since 1987.