Dr. McCurdy is a school psychologist, a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania, and board certified behavior analyst. He earned a PhD in school psychology from Lehigh University in 1990 while working as the staff psychologist at Centennial School of Lehigh University, a laboratory school dedicated to training special education professionals to work both with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and students with autism. in 1999, Dr. McCurdy founded the Devereux Center for Effective Schools and served as the director of that program until joining the faculty of PCOM in 2021.

Dr. McCurdy's primary research interest in the education and treatment of students with EBD has led to several grant-funded prevention/early intervention initiatives including the development and evaluation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in urban schools and alternative school settings, school-based parent training, and teacher training in class-wide positive behavior support. More recently, with colleagues from Devereux and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. McCurdy has been involved in the development and evaluation of a model for school-based mental health integrated within an MTSS framework.

In addition to his work in the schools, Dr. McCurdy is an active member of several professional organizations concerned with school psychology, special education, behavior analysis, and school-based behavioral health.