Kevin J. Grimm, Ph.D., Class of 2000, will be the featured speaker at the Annual Psychology Homecoming Colloquium, Friday, October 1, 2010 at 3:45 p.m. in Bowen Auditorium. His talk entitled, "School Readiness Factors and Subsequent Changes in Reading and Mathematics" will describe his research which focuses on the changes in reading and mathematics that take place from kindergarten through eighth grade.  School readiness factors, measured around kindergarten entry, were evaluated to determine their ability to accurately predict the various aspects of change.  Kevin's findings highlight the need to evaluate interventions in these areas of school readiness.

Kevin received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2006. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis where he teaches basic and advanced statistics courses including Applied Psychometrics, Item Response Theory, and Structural Equation Modeling. Kevin also teaches workshops on longitudinal structural equation modeling sponsored by the American Psychological Association.  His research interests include multivariate methods for the analysis of change, multiple group and latent class models to understand divergent developmental processes, and cognitive/achievement development.