A Distinguished Professor of Special Education at the University of Florida and former Director of the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR Center). Her research interests include teacher education, teacher assessment, and professional development, primarily in the area of reading. To support this work, Brownell has secured multiple grants from the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. DOE), totaling more than 64 million dollars. She has won multiple awards for her efforts to improve the education of teachers, including the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE), David Imig Teacher Achievement Award for lifetime achievement in teacher education.