Education and Experience
Dr. Ennis earned her bachelor's degree in secondary education, language arts from Birmingham-Southern College and went on to earn her master’s degree in special education at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. She worked as a special education high school teacher in both resource and inclusive settings in Hoover City Schools before going on to earn her doctoral degree at Georgia State University. Before joining the faculty at UAB, Dr. Ennis was an associate professor at Clemson University for two years.
Scholarship
Dr. Ennis’s research interests are in the areas of comprehensive, integrated three-tiered models of prevention (Ci3T), instructional strategies, and students with emotional or behavioral disorders. She works to empower teachers to support the behavior of their students through effective identification, implementation, and data collection. On these topics, she has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and presented over 130 conference presentations and workshops. Dr. Ennis co-authored a book entitled Supporting Behavior for School Success: A Step-by-Step Guide.
Service
Dr. Ennis is the co-chair of the professional development committee of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders and is the co-editor of the newsletter of the Council for Exceptional Children Division for Research. She serves as an associate editor for Remedial and Special Education; on the editorial boards of Behavioral Disorders, Beyond Behavior, and Intervention in School and Clinic; and is a consulting editor for the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. She also serves on the Student Advocacy and Awards Committee of the School of Education at UAB. She supports area school by training them to design and implement comprehensive, integrated three-tiered (Ci3T) models of prevention.
Personal
Dr. Ennis and her husband, John, have three sons, Archer, Andrew, and Alden.