Last updated: October 27th, 2026
During my doctoral program, I developed a line of research examining a learning framework to train preservice special education teachers in a fundamental and essential component of special education: using student data to inform instruction. This line of research emerged directly from my experiences as a special education teacher and administrator. Across the PK-12 school settings where I worked with students with disabilities, I observed a persistent challenge: individualizing instruction to meet each student's unique learning needs. Although individualized instruction is a pillar of special education, I often encountered situations in which data were collected but not meaningfully used. Currently, this work includes my dissertation as well as two empirical studies in which I am the first author: the first is a single-case design study that has been published in a peer-reviewed journal, and the other is in progress. The single-case design study was published in the Journal of Behavioral Education in 2026. Through this study, I evaluated the effectiveness of a training I created based on the stages of learning framework in teaching four preservice special education teachers to analyze student progress data and make data-informed strategy decisions. The second study, currently in progress, is an eDelphi study in which I created and finalized a decision-making model grounded in the learning stages framework. The eDelphi participants, all faculty members in special education programs across the United States and Canada, participated in three rounds, during which they reviewed the model, rated its effectiveness, and provided feedback. The results of both studies informed my dissertation, which sought to expand the limited research base on the stages of learning and to explore the framework as one of many ways to train preservice special education teachers to use student data to guide and intensify their instruction.
In addition to my work in teacher preparation, I collaborated with my advisor, Dr. Emily Bouck, to examine the use of virtual reality (VR) to teach independent living skills to secondary students with disabilities. Through this extensive work, we explored the efficacy of a nonimmersive VR system for teaching domestic and community-based life skills and the extent to which these skills generalize to real-world settings. Through this research, I have contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications spanning empirical, practitioner, as well as a research synthesis of which I was the lead evaluator.
My long-term goal is to analyze the best, most effective methods for training preservice special education teachers in data-based individualization (DBI) as defined by the National Center on Intensive Intervention. My dissertation addresses this line, in part. My dissertation is an alternative dissertation comprising three interconnected manuscripts: two original data-collection studies and a systematic literature review. The systematic literature review examines the literature base on preservice special education teachers in their knowledge and skills related DBI.