Associate Professor of Psychology
Interim Dean of Academic Services
Casey Dexter, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology and is the interim Dean of Academic Services. His research program broadly focuses on the development of children’s school readiness skills, especially those at-risk for atypical developmental trajectories. He is particularly interested in the parent-child relationship as an important contextual vehicle for this developmental process. Dr. Dexter has published papers examining parent-child literacy practices, racial differences in parenting and attachment, dialect variation and reading in African American children, working memory in preschoolers, language trajectories of maltreated children, intervention effects on reflectivity and positive parenting for military families, predictors of teacher burnout, and the use of life review interview techniques in teaching courses on adulthood and aging. Currently, he is completing writing for a multi-year study investigating effects of a parenting intervention on reflectivity and parenting practices among low-income families.
In addition to his scholarly work in developmental psychology, Dr. Dexter is also very interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) as it applies to faculty teaching in general. Dr. Dexter has taught a variety of Academic Community Engagement (ACE) courses in his time at Berry and has presented this SoTL work on service-learning at various national conferences. In his role as Assistant Provost for Faculty Development, Dr. Dexter has broad interests in scholarship related to the efficacy of faculty learning communities/communities of practice as mechanisms for elevating teaching practices. Additionally, Dr. Dexter is currently investigating the effect of coursework in diversity, equity, and inclusion on inclusive teaching practices while also examining the impact of faculty learning communities on faculty development.
Education
- Ph.D., Wayne State University (2013)
- M.A., Wayne State University (2011)
- B.A., Albion College (2009)
Research Interests
- Parenting and attachment in at-risk families
- Young children's emergent literacy skills
- School readiness
- Child development and reading ability
- Faculty development practices (e.g. faculty learning communities, inclusive teaching)
Selected Publications
- Dexter, C. A., Wall, M. (2021). Reflective functioning and teacher burnout: The mediating role of self-efficacy. Reflective Practice. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1968817
- Dexter, C. A. (2021). Service-learning in an undergraduate adulthood and aging course: Using life stories to connect students, content, and community. Educational Gerontology, 47, 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2021.1894531
- Dexter, C. A., Johnson, A., Bowman, M., & Barnett, D. (2018). Kindergarten language risk and behavioral competency predict reading among African American second graders. Reading Psychology, 39, 763-786. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2018.1538650
- Julian, M.M., Muzik, M., Kees, M., Valenstein, M., Dexter, C. A., & Rosenblum, L. (2018). Intervention effects on reflectivity explain change in positive parenting in military families with young children. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 804-815. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000431
- Swayze, M., & Dexter, C. A. (2017). Working memory and school readiness in preschoolers. Contemporary School Psychology, 22, 313-323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-017-0145-y
- Dexter, C. A., & Stacks, A.M. (2014). A preliminary investigation of the relationship between parenting, parent-child shared reading practices, and child development in low-income families. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 28, 394-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2014.913278
- Dexter, C. , Wong, K., Stacks, A., Beeghly, M., & Barnett, D. (2013). Parenting and attachment among low-income African American and Caucasian preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology, 27, 629-638 https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0033341
- Stacks, A.M., Beeghly, M., Partridge, T., & Dexter, C. A.. (2011). Effects of placement type on the language developmental trajectories of maltreated children from infancy to early childhood. Child Maltreatment, 16, 287-299. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559511427957
Professional Associations
- APA Division 2: Society for the Teaching of Psychology
- APA Division 7: Developmental Psychology
- Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network