Dr. Leslie Calabrese, Ed.D., BCBA, LBA-NJ

Leslie Calabrese, Ed.D., BCBA, LBA-NJ, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, supports the development and applied practice of GSE preservice teachers through her role as Partnership Leader in the GSE Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN). Accordingly, she supervises and evaluates GSE teacher candidates during their clinical experiences and–by leveraging her extensive experience an educator in communities that serve historically marginalized populations such as New Brunswick, Plainfield, and Asbury Park–provides the resources and evidence-based best practices necessary to both meet the specific needs of the partner school district and their P-12 students and teachers, as well as equip teacher candidates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to teach and advocate for all students. After receiving her NJ Teacher Certificate via the Alternate Route program of NJ, she was drawn to working with students that faced individualized and disruptive behavioral challenges, and consequently enrolled in a graduate program specializing in Special Education at New Jersey City University. She would later go on to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and earn various certifications including Teacher of the Handicapped. Calabrese’s focus as an educator has been to develop meaningful understandings of diverse students and their experiences–including the social, economic, historical, and political dimensions of historically marginalized communities–and to harness that understanding to address student attrition. As an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, she hopes to instill this practice in her students and ensure the GSE’s mission to Advance Excellence and Equity in Education is being embodied long after their graduation in their teaching practice.

• Expertise & Research Interest

  Special Education

  Applied Behavior Analysis

  Classroom Management

  Professional Development

  Teacher Education

• Clinical Experience

  Part-time Instructor, Rutgers GSE (2017-2018)

  BCBA-Clinical Supervisor, Hybridge Learning Group (2017-present)

  Behavior Therapist & Program Coordinator, Hybridge Learning Group (2017)

  Language Arts Special Education Teacher/ Self-Contained SLD Teacher, New Brunswick Public Schools (2012-2018)

  First Grade Inclusion/Co-Teacher, New Brunswick Public Schools (2012-2018)

  Home Instruction Teacher, Middlesex County Regional Educational Services Commission (2012-present)

  Alternative Educator, Asbury Park Public Schools (2000-2003)

  Special Programs Instructor, Essex High School/Essex County Educational Services Commission (2000)

  Alternative Educator/Teacher, Plainfield Public Schools (1995-2000)

• Honors & Awards

  2025-2026 OASIS Professional Development Program

  Rutgers University 2024-2025 GSE Faculty Award for Excellence in Service

  Rutgers Graduate School of Education 2021-2022 Rutgers Connection Network (RCN) Mentoring Program

  Rutgers University 2020-2021 Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) Clinical Fellow

• Recent and Select Publications

  Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Based Strategies for the General Education (GE) Teacher: A Qualitative Case Study of the ABLE Initiative L Calabrese – 2026

• Files

  Download Leslie Calabrese’s CV