Stephanie Cawthon, Ph.D.

Director, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Institute
Founding Director and Strategic Advisor, National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes
Director of Research and Evaluation, Drama for Schools
Professor, Department of Educational Psychology (and by courtesy, Special Education)

Research Interests and Expertise

Stephanie W. Cawthon, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned expert for her research that examines the multiple factors that affect how deaf and disabled people succeed in classrooms, workplaces, and at life. She investigates issues of equity and access in education, explores accommodations and accessible learning environments, and challenges systemic standards that may be holding some students back.

Her research has been funded by nearly $25 million in federal and other grants.

Dr. Cawthon is a professor at The University of Texas at Austin College of Education in the Educational Psychology Department, with a courtesy appointment in Special Education. She was recently named the first deaf editor of Perspectives on Deafness, an interdisciplinary Oxford University Press international book series on the leading research and practices with deaf people.

Dr. Cawthon is the founding director and strategic advisor of the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes based at The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, where she serves on the Board of Directors and as director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Institute. The National Deaf Center is a technical assistance and dissemination center funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs and Rehabilitation Services Administration with the mission to close the substantial gaps in education and employment that exist for deaf people in the United States and its territories.

With her expertise in pedagogy, research design, and systems change, Dr. Cawthon is director of research and evaluation for Drama for Schools, a collaborative professional development program model in drama-based pedagogy. An affiliation between the Departments of Theatre and Education at the university, Drama for Schools creates intentional partnerships with educators and administrators who seek to increase student engagement and focus on sustainable, whole-school change.

In 2017, Dr. Cawthon co-authored the book Shifting the Dialog, Shifting the Culture: Pathways to Successful Postsecondary Outcomes for Deaf Individuals, which a leading journal called “an important contribution to the field.” She also co-edited Research in Deaf Education: Contexts, Challenges and Considerations in 2017. Her first book, Accountability-Based Reforms: The Impact of Deaf or Hard of Hearing Students, won the Exceptional Book of the Year Award in 2012 from Exceptionality Education International.

Follow Dr. Cawthon on Twitter: @swcawthon

Research Projects and Grants

National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, 2017–2021, $20.8 million
Health Communication Education for Advertising Professionals, 2017–2018, $245,000
pepnet 2 Extension for Research Translation, 2017, $200,000 subaward from California State Northridge
Collaborative Research: Accessible STEM Instruction With Deaf Students: Supporting Faculty in Pedagogical Exploration and Innovation, 2016–2019, $156,755
Accessible by Design: Provost’s Teaching Fellow Project 2021, 2016–2018, $15,000
Rea Charitable Trust Award, 2016–2017, $60,000
PEPNet 2, 2011–2016, $2,400,000 to The University of Texas at Austin (out of $20 million to California State University, Northridge)
Arts Integration for Middle School Teachers, 2012–2014, $86,000
Bridging the Gap in Arts Integration Theory and Practice: A “Crowdsourcing” Approach to Digital Resource Development for Texas Educators, 2011–2012, $100,000
Drama for Schools, 2010–2012, $45,000

Boards, Committees, and Associations

Advisory Board: School Psychology Forum
Students With Disabilities Assessment Advisory Task Force: Council of Chief State School Officers
Technical Advisory Committee: National Center on Educational Outcomes
Technical Advisory Committee: ELPA21 Assessment Consortium at UCLA
Advisory Committee of Assessment of English Language Learners: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
Diversity Panel: National Committee on Measurement in Education and Association on Higher Education and Disability
Expert Panel: Advancing ALTELLA
Associate Editor: Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education
Principal Reviewer: Journal of Educational Psychology
Editorial Board Member: Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, American Annals of the Deaf, Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities

Awards

Faculty Research Award, Provost’s Teaching Fellows Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 2015–2016
Elizabeth Glenadine Gibb Teaching Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin, College of Education, 2014–2017
Joe R. & Teresa Long Endowed Faculty Fellow, The University of Texas at Austin, College of Education, 2013–2014
Exceptional Book of the Year Award, 2012
Graduate School Diversity Mentoring Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin, 2011–2012

Representative Publications

Books

Cawthon, S., & Garberoglio, C. L. (2017). Shifting the dialog, shifting the culture: Pathways to successful postsecondary outcomes for deaf individuals. Gallaudet University Press.

Cawthon, S., & Garberoglio, C. L. (Eds.). (2017). Research in deaf education: Contexts, challenges and considerations. Oxford University Press.

Cawthon, S. (2011). Accountability-based reforms: The impact on deaf and hard of hearing students. Gallaudet University Press.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Italics denote students at time of collaboration.

Cawthon, S. W., Garberoglio, C. L, Palmer, J., Ivanko, T., Davidson, S., Ryan, C., & Johnson, P. (2020). Accessibility of postsecondary education and training for deaf individuals: A proposed conceptual framework. Future Review.

Cawthon, S., & Easterbrooks, S. (2020). Bridging the divide between research and practice: Recommendations for the next generation of literacy research in deaf education. In S. Easterbrooks & H. Dostal (Eds.), Oxford handbook of deaf studies in literacy (pp. 417–430). Oxford University Press.

Deckart, C., Cawthon, S., & Loblein, H. (2018). Reflection on action plans: Considering systems alignment in the results of an arts-based professional learning intensive for classroom teachers. Youth Theatre Journal, 32(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2017.1423145

Cawthon, S. W., Johnson, P. M., Garberoglio, C. L., & Schoffstall, S. J. (2016). Role models as facilitators of social capital for deaf individuals: A research synthesis. American Annals of the Deaf, 16(2), 115–127.

Cawthon, S. (2015). Issues of access and validity in standardized academic assessments for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. In H. Knoors & M. Marschark (Eds.), Educating deaf learners: Global evidence (pp. 213–230). Oxford University Press.

Cawthon, S. (2015). From the margins to the spotlight: Diverse deaf and hard of hearing student populations and standardized assessment accessibility. American Annals of the Deaf, 160(4), 385–394. https://doi.org/10.1353/aad.2015.0036

Cawthon, S., Schoffstall, S., & Garberoglio, C. L. (2014). How ready are postsecondary institutions for students who are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing? Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 22(13).