Our Internship Faculty

Dr. Lisa Thomas is the director for the Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Center for Effective Schools. She received a Ph.D. in school psychology from Lehigh University, where she specialized in pediatric/health psychology. In her professional experience, Dr. Thomas has provided assessment, training and consultation services to a variety of individuals and organizations. She is currently involved in several projects to develop universal, targeted and intensive behavioral and academic support systems within alternative education, behavioral health and public school settings. Dr. Thomas has published her research in refereed journals and presented at national conferences. Her research interests include interventions for children with behavioral disorders, the application of school-wide positive behavior support to alternative settings, training and coaching school and behavioral health professionals, parent management training and the assessment of reading and social skills.

• Licensed Psychologist in Pennsylvania
• Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP)
• Pennsylvania School Psychologist Certification Educational Specialist I
• Pennsylvania Teacher Certification (K–6) Instructional I  

• Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports – schools and alternative settings
• Response to Intervention
• Classroom Management
• Parent Management Training
• Organizational Behavior Management (i.e., supervision, training, and performance improvement of staff)   

• 2021-present: Devereux Center for Effective Schools - Director
• 2017-2021: Devereux Center for Effective Schools - Assistant Director
• 2011-2017: Devereux Center for Effective Schools -Consulting and Research Psychologist
• 2010-2011: Devereux Center for Effective Schools - Doctoral Intern

• Lehigh University - Ph.D. in School Psychology 
• Lehigh University - M.Ed. in Human Development 
• The Pennsylvania State University – B.A. in Psychology 
• The Pennsylvania State University – B.S. in Elementary and Kindergarten Education 

• McCurdy, B.L., Thomas, L., Truckenmiller, A., House Rich, S., Hillis-Clark, P., & Lopez, J.C. (2016). School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Psychology in the Schools, 53(4), 375–389.
• Shapiro, E.S., Fritschmann, N.S., Thomas, L.B., Hughes, C.L., & McDougal, J. (2014). Concurrent and predictive validity of reading retell as a brief measure of reading comprehension. Reading Psychology, 35(7), 644–665. 

• Ted Carr Early Career Practitioner Award – Association for Positive Behavior Support
• Committee Member – Pennsylvania’s Community of Practice on School-Based Behavioral Health
• State Coordinator – Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Support Network