Laura Rhinehart

Laura V. Rhinehart is an Assistant Researcher in the Department of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Education and Information Studies, where she is affiliated with the UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning and the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from UCLA and California State University, Los Angeles in 2019 under advisor Alison Bailey, M.Ed. in Urban Education from UCLA in 2011, and B.A. in Philosophy (Ethics and Public Policy) from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2003. Prior to her research career, Rhinehart worked as an Educational Specialist and teacher in charter schools and juvenile court schools from 2006 to 2014. She served as a Postdoctoral Scholar in UCLA's Education Department from 2019 to 2020, collaborating with Professor Maryanne Wolf on teacher preparation and dyslexia interventions, and as a Postdoctoral Researcher with Sai Iyer, M.D., developing a screening tool for preschool literacy delays. She also held research assistant roles on projects evaluating school readiness interventions and reading interventions for English learners. Since 2020, she has been an Assistant Researcher and Co-PI on a federally funded project from the Office of Special Education Programs studying early assessment and intervention for elementary school students with or at risk of dyslexia.

Rhinehart's research interests include dyslexia, reading development, children's executive functioning skills, ADHD, learning disabilities, assessment and screening, and interventions for students with ADHD or dyslexia, with a focus on diverse learners including English learners. Her publications appear in leading journals, including Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (2021: "Children Who Receive Special Education Services for ADHD: Early Indicators and Evidence of Disproportionate Representation in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K: 2011)"), Learning Disabilities Research & Practice (2023: "English Learners’ Performance on a Measure of Dyslexia Risk"), Annals of Dyslexia (2024: "Towards a Dynamic, Comprehensive Conceptualization of Dyslexia"), Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment (2023: validity study of digitized Rapid Automatized Naming Test), Teaching of Psychology (2021: "The Impact of Screen-Free Zones in an Undergraduate Psychology Classroom"), and Contemporary School Psychology (2022: "Long-term English Learners: Untangling Language Acquisition and Learning Disabilities"). She authored a book chapter, "Assessing Children’s Executive Functioning Skills Within Early Childhood Education Systems" (2022). Rhinehart received the Early Career Publication Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Research (2024) and the George Kneller Award from UCLA (2024). She has presented at conferences such as OSEP Project Leadership Conference and AERA, delivered invited talks on the science of reading and dyslexia, and serves on the Advisory Board for the California Chapter of The Reading League, the UC/CSU Task Force for Neurodiversity and Learning, and as a reviewer for journals including Annals of Dyslexia.

Professional Email: laura.rhinehart@ucla.edu