Derek graduated from the University of Iowa College of Education with a Ph.D. in special education and a master’s degree in educational measurements and statistics.

Derek’s research interests include content-specific and methodological topics. While earning his doctorate, he worked as a graduate research assistant for the Iowa Reading Research Center and completed a confirmatory factor analysis that examined the relationship between different writing measures. He has experience doing research that is related to measuring the academic outcomes of students with disabilities with the goal of better understanding and improving the literacy skills of students with academic challenges.