Joette Stefl-Mabry

Joette Stefl-Mabry, PhD is a Professor of Information Sciences and Technology in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany. Her areas of research focus on program evaluation, educational assessment, curriculum design, and professional accountability in K-12 through higher education institutions (HEIs). Dr. Stefl-Mabry currently works on research with the National Workplace Bullying Coalition (NWBC) focused on workplace psychosocial safety and interventions to mitigate and/or reduce workplace bullying.

Dr. Stefl-Mabry’s courses are intentionally designed to engage students in authentic research that is relevant to their “lived experiences” (Dewey, 1933). She embraces a problem-based learner-centric pedagogy  which has been empirically proven to improve students’ problem solving skills by empowering learners to investigate real-world issues, integrate theory within practice, and apply their knowledge in authentic practice (Deng, Kelly, & Deng, 2019; Savery, 2006; A. Walker, Leary, & Hmelo-Silver, 2015; M. Walker, 2010).

Dr. Stefl-Mabry’s graduate students’ work has been highlighted internationally during Workplace Bullying Awareness Week (2023), a worldwide event to promote psychologically safe workplaces for all.

Dr. Stefl-Mabry’s recent funded research projects include two back-to-back three-year IMLS grants [IMLS Grant RE-04-15-0081- 15 and RE-96-18-0032-18] which sought to investigate the effect of school librarians on student academic achievement and other outcomes in all K-12 public schools throughout New York State using a longitudinal, between-schools design. Together with Dr. Michael Radlick (an expert statistician) they identified and sought to address weaknesses of prior school library research and isolated the school-level effects of the school library/librarian (SL) by using structural equation (SEM) and causal modeling (developed by Radlick) to investigate the effect of SLs on student achievement in 4,520 public schools throughout New York State. Results of Dr. Stefl-Mabry and Dr. Michael S. Radlick’s research have been used to strengthen and shape the curriculum of school library teacher preparation programs throughout New York State.

CEHC Courses Taught 

CIST 673 School Libraries: Theory, Practice, and Assessment 

CIST 675 The Curriculum and Supportive Resources 

Research Interests 

Educational Assessment and Evaluation