Sally Howell

Dr Sally Howell has an MA and PhD in Special Education. She has been involved in the education of children with special needs as a principal, teacher and consultant for over 30 years. This has involved working in public, independent and catholic schools as well as in a community-based disability organisation that had a focus on early intervention. She has extensive experience working collaboratively with parents and teachers in the support of children with special needs. Sally was Principal of the Macquarie University Special Education Centre School (MUSEC) 2013-2023. Prior to this, as Principal Education Officer, Learning Assistance within the Disability Programs Directorate of the NSW Department of Education she supported schools in delivering programs to students with difficulties in learning, preschool to Year 12. Sally has developed training materials for teachers and has contributed to special education post graduate courses in effective numeracy instruction, effective reading instruction and behaviour management. She has provided advice to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) on curriculum and assessment for K-12 students with disability and has been special education representative on a range of NESA Curriculum Committees and Panels.

Research Interests

• The acquisition of literacy skills in students with disabilities/learning difficulties.
• The acquisition of numeracy skills in students with disabilities/learning difficulties.
• Number sense as a predictor of mathematical difficulties in young children.