Tara Mason

Dr. Tara Mason is a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Consultant at the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of California, Berkeley. She is passionate about working on teams focused on equitable and inclusive learning environments that uplift student voice, identity, and access to educational opportunities. She holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from Texas Tech University, specializing in assistive technology, serving students with multiple and visual impairments. Her Master of Education (M.Ed.) focused on Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Before joining UC Berkeley, she served as a faculty member directing a graduate and undergraduate special education teacher preparation program at a university in Colorado. While working in CO, Dr. Mason held leadership roles within the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CO-TED), securing funding for small teacher preparation grants to fund paraprofessional and alternative special education teacher pipelines. Dr. Mason has an extensive background working within K-12 special education, spanning more than two decades. Her special education teaching background encompasses working in K-12 special education settings from elementary through teaching in 18+ transition programs. She has also led coaching teams to support new special education teachers at the school district level. In addition, Dr. Mason has taught as a self-contained special education teacher and worked as a teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Dr. Mason’s research interests primarily relate to UDL, special education, promoting equity and inclusion, disrupting bias and disproportionality in special education, caring pedagogies, disability justice, Generative AI in teaching and learning spaces, mentoring, and teacher preparation. She lives in California with her family.