About

Sofia Pham, PhD

Founder

Sofia is a New York State licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist in New York and Pennsylvania. She has worked with many public schools in Philadelphia and New York City to improve the quality of education and services for students with disabilities. Sofia earned her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in school psychology from Temple University and completed a child/pediatric psychology post-doctoral fellowship in developmental disabilities and behavioral interventions at the Westchester Institute for Human Development.

Professional Interests & Expertise

Special Education and Inclusion
Cross-Cultural Assessment and Consultation
Behavioral Interventions for Children with ASD
Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS)

As a scientist-practitioner, Sofia is interested in addressing educational disparities through improving cross-cultural assessment, consultation, and intervention in K-12 classrooms and ensuring that service providers are well-equipped to support all children.

Sofia has extensive experience in assessment, consultation, and counseling. More importantly, she understands how to work with a large team of educators and providers to promote a multi-tiered system of support. As a school psychologist in New York City, she has helped many teachers improve their behavior management skills and educated them on how to work with children with disabilities. Sofia is passionate about best practices and encouraging school leaders to consider alternatives to punitive consequences when managing challenging behaviors.

Sofia developed an expertise in behavioral psychology through a fellowship at Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) where she provided behavior therapy to children and adults with developmental disabilities as well as conducted parent consultation and training. Sofia has brought the behavioral techniques she learned from the outpatient clinic back into schools in order to increase the inclusion of children with learning needs in general education classrooms. As the former regional school psychologist at KIPP: NYC, Sofia was able to implement many system-level changes including training staff on progress monitoring, ensuring the fidelity of behavior plan implementation, and advocating for evidence-based decision-making. She also worked closely with the region’s social work team to develop their crisis management skills and increase their knowledge around developmental disabilities.

In Sofia’s current role, she serves as the district representative for the New York City’s Department of Education. She collaborates with charter schools and leads the IEP development process for students with disabilities. Based on the data made available, Sofia helps the IEP team, which includes parents, reach a consensus regarding a child’s recommended placement and services.

Publications

Pham, S., Pendergast, L.L., & Magen, E. (Manuscript in Preparation). Teacher support on academic and emotional outcomes for ELLs.

Castillo, J. A. & Pham, S. (Under Review). Enuresis in a foster care population: Prevalence and risk factors.

Towle, P., Ridgard, T., Pham, S., Patrick, P., & Marrus, J. (Under Review). Intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder: Is earlier better, and how early? A systematic review.

Roy, D., Pham, S., Ruan, L., & Pendergsat, L.L. (Under Review). The role of socioeconomic status in college students across cognitive style, academic stress, and anxiety.

Fiorello, C. A. & Pham, S. (In Press). Review of the Supports Intensity Scale-Children’s Version. Mental Measurements Yearbook. Lincoln: NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

Pendergast, L. L., Nickens, L. Y., Pham, S., Miliaresis, S., & Canivez, G. L. (2017). Race and Gender Differences in Teacher Perceptions of Student Homework Performance: a Preliminary Examination. Contemporary School Psychology

Rasheed, M. A., Pham, S. Memon, U., Siyal, S., Obradović, J. & Yousafzai, A.K. (2017). Adaptation of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence- III and lessons learned for evaluating intelligence in preschool aged children in a low-income setting. International Journal of School and Educational Psychology.

Pendergast, L. L., Pham, S. (2015). Review of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener. Mental Measurements Yearbook. Lincoln: NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

Jones, P. C., Pham, S. & Laurence, J. H., (2014) Current research in adapting cognitively and affectively to cross-cultural changes. In Ratwani, K. L., Rench, T. A., Horn, Z. N., & Ruark, G. A. Technical Report. Fort Belvoir, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Scholarly Presentations

Pham, S. & Jones, P. C. (2020). Increasing compliance in counseling sessions with early elementary-aged students. Proposal accepted for the National Association of School Psychologist conference, Baltimore, MD.

Pham, S. & Liao, P-C. (2019). Behavioral Consultation in the Classroom. Workshop presented at International School Psychology Association conference, Basel, Switzerland.

Liao, P-C., & Pham, S. (2019). School psychologists as mental health providers for international college students: Insights from current research. Poster presented at International School Psychology Association conference, Basel, Switzerland.

Castilio, J., Burlazzi, S., Manderski, E., & Pham, S. (2018). Uncovering the story: children in foster care with enuresis. Poster presented at Association of University Centers on Disabilities conference, Washington, DC.

Ridgard, T., Pham, S., Towle, P., & Patrick, P. (2018). Is There Empirical Evidence that Earlier is Better for Intervention with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster presented at The XXI International Congress for Infant Studies, Philadelphia, PA.

Roy, D., Pham, S., Sisco, D. M., & Pendergast, L. L. (2016). The role of socioeconomic status in college students across variables. Poster presented at the National Association of School Psychologist conference, New Orleans, LA.

Sarshar, M., Pham, S., Dixon, T., & Pendergast, L. L. (2016). Relationship between psychological entitlement and daily interpersonal and academic stressors. Poster presented at the National Association of School Psychologist conference, New Orleans, LA.

Pham, S., Plank, W. P., & Pendergast, L. L. (2015). High school quality and stress to achieve in college. Poster presented at the Eastern Psychological Association conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Liao, P., Pham, S., Ruan, L., & Pendergast, L. L. (2015). Comparing the number of culturally-focused courses for school psychologists and early childhood educators. Poster presented at the Trainers of School Psychology conference, Orlando, FL.

Jones, P. C., Pham, S., Pendergast, L. L., & von der Embse, N. P., (2015). Modern Homonegativity Scale-Gay Men: Gender differences and factor structure. Poster presented at the National Association of School Psychologist conference, Orlando, FL.

Pham, S., Resnick, M., Yoon, J. Y., Boden, J., Dixon, T, & Pendergast, L. L. (2014). Classroom accommodations and school-based interventions for students with DMDD diagnosis. Roundtable presented at the American Psychological Association annual convention, Washington, DC.

Selected Professional Development Presentations

Pham, S. (August 2019). Classroom strategies for students with autism spectrum disorder. Presentation to teachers and school leaders at KIPP: ALL, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. (August 2019). Data collection for progress monitoring. Presentation to directors of student support services at KIPP: NYC Regional Professional Development Day, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. (August 2019). FBA and BIP process. Presentation to directors of student support services at KIPP: NYC Regional Professional Development Day, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. & Perera, L. (February 2019). Verbal de-escalation in the classroom. Presentation to faculty at KIPP Freedom Elementary School, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. (January 2019). Supporting the implementation of behavior intervention plans and progress monitoring. Presentation to directors of student support services at KIPP: NYC Regional Dean Day, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. (January 2019). Teaching new behaviors. Presentation to social workers at KIPP: NYC Regional Professional Development Day, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. (October 2018). Understanding problem behaviors and behavior intervention plans. Presentation to faculty at KIPP: NYC Regional Professional Development Day, Bronx, NY.

Pham, S. (June 2018). Assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Presentation to clinicians at Westchester Institute for Human Development, Valhalla, NY.

Pham, S. (April 2018). Communicating difficult news. Presentation to LEND trainees at Westchester Institute for Human Development, Valhalla, NY.