About

Stephanie Washbourn Cawthon is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin, within the Department of Educational Psychology, with a courtesy appointment in Special Education. She has been a faculty member since 2007 and is recognized as an internationally-renowned expert in her field. Her research examines the multiple factors that influence the success of deaf and disabled individuals in classrooms, workplaces, and life, with a focus on issues of access in education, accommodations, accessible learning environments, and systemic standards that may hinder student achievement. Her work is funded by nearly $25 million in federal and other grants. Dr. Cawthon is the founding director of the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, based at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, where she also serves on the Board of Directors and as Director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Institute. The center aims to close gaps in education and employment for deaf people in the United States and its territories. She is also the first deaf editor of Perspectives on Deafness, an international book series published by Oxford University Press. Her expertise extends to pedagogy, research design, and systems change, and she directs research and evaluation for Drama for Schools, a professional development program that promotes drama-based pedagogy to increase student engagement and foster whole-school change. Her scholarly contributions include co-authoring and editing influential books in deaf education, and her research emphasizes systems change, research translation, and assessment issues related to access and equity for disabled populations. Dr. Cawthon is committed to service, holding roles as principal reviewer for prominent journals and participating in numerous advisory boards and professional organizations. Her teaching philosophy integrates theory, research, and practice, emphasizing diverse perspectives and interactive learning. She has developed courses on disability and culture in education, employing dynamic, mixed-methods approaches to foster conceptual, experiential, and applied understanding of disability issues. Her personal experience as someone raised oral in mainstream schools informs her dedication to addressing underrepresentation and systemic barriers faced by deaf individuals in higher education and research.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medical education
• Political Science
• Pedagogy
• Sociology
• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Mathematics education
• Linguistics
• Gerontology
• Social psychology
• Economic growth
• Developmental psychology

Selected publications

• Disability Service Use and Community College Student Outcomes

  Community College Journal of Research and Practice · 2026-01-11

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The NP’s Role in School-Based Support for Students with Disabilities

  The Journal for Nurse Practitioners · 2026-03-25

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Mentoring Graduate Students with Disabilities: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis and Review

  Education Sciences · 2026-01-31

  articleOpen access

  Graduate education is important for career and social mobility, but it is inaccessible to many students with disabilities. Prior research describes structural and societal barriers—including but not limited to ableism and discrimination—and their impact on graduate students with disabilities. This review discusses challenges unique to graduate education such as faculty-student power differentials, unwillingness to disclose disability for fear of appearing incapable, classification of graduate students as both students and employees, and limited applicability of formal accommodations beyond organized coursework. Informed by our lived experience as disabled graduate students and faculty, we conduct a qualitative evidence synthesis of 28 articles, theses, book chapters and reports into actionable steps graduate faculty can take to mentor and support graduate students with disabilities. Using a mentoring-across-difference framework, we endorse reciprocal mentoring relationships that support trust, mutual learning, and sustained connection between mentors and mentees. Recommendations range from developing trust, questioning ableist disciplinary and graduate program norms, advocating for students and helping students develop advocacy skills, and providing scaffolding for disabled graduate students’ learning and professional development.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developmental Course Taking and Academic Outcomes for Community College Students Who Use Disability Services

  New Directions for Community Colleges · 2025-08-28

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT Enrollment in developmental courses is a measure of college readiness and a common experience among US college students, particularly those with disabilities at 2‐year colleges. In this study, we examine how enrollment in developmental coursework is associated with engagement and academic outcomes among students who use disability services. Using data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) 2021–2023 cohort ( N = 218,302 students, 481 community and technical colleges, 44 states) and multilevel structural equation modeling, we find that developmental course enrollment is associated with higher levels of engagement and perceived academic skills and career preparation. The results have implications for supporting students with disabilities in entering and completing college.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Current Status of Accessibility in American Higher Education

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-08-05

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Along with other recent events, the COVID-19 pandemic forced campus stakeholders to reexamine the actual commitment to accessibility within the higher education environment. Higher education is now at a crossroads; one path provides institutions the opportunity to remain engaged with innovative and user-friendly accessibility practices, while the other prioritizes a need to “return to normal.” However, this “return to normal” can also be a return to an inaccessible and noninclusive learning environment and campus culture. This chapter defines the current status of accessibility within the US higher education environment, emphasizing the significant events occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic that created a perfect storm for change and transformation. It then explores factors that may serve as a roadmap to the future of accessibility. The chapter ends with the paradigm shift needed to address the current and future needs of all students, including disabled students: an accessibility mindset.

  PublisherDOI

• Analyzing the Meaning of Numbers and Words to Portray Deaf Experiences

  2025-04-10

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter provides a guide to developing research studies that consider the context and characteristics of deaf participants. Ethical inquiry with marginalized populations requires specific attention to decisions made throughout the research development and implementation process. Research must both adhere to the rigorous standards for each domain while at the same time being transparent about what conclusions may or may not be drawn from the resultant data. This chapter offers both emerging and seasoned scholars considerations on how to improve research so that it meets the aims of reducing inequities and injustices that deaf people face. Study conceptualization, including the chosen theoretical frame, the experiences of who is involved in the study, and reflecting on one’s own motivation for the research project, lay the groundwork for the formal work of research design and data collection. Measure selection and methodological approaches are then framed within this introductory section, with particular attention to how assumptions about research and methodology need to be critically considered as fair and unbiased for deaf participants. The chapter concludes with discussion about inference-making, tying back to the effect of theoretical frames and researcher positionality, as well as the role of research in work towards equity and justice.

  PublisherDOI

• “Take a Deep Breath and Re-Center the Student's Perspective”: Partnering Instructors and Disabled Students for Accessible Teaching

  Teaching of Psychology · 2024-08-20 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background Because accessible and anti-ableist teaching is rarely prioritized in instructional development programs, a new initiative was developed at a large, public university. Launched in January 2022, it piloted strategies for shifting instructors’ mindsets about and pedagogical approaches to accessibility. Using a professional learning community model, disabled students served as course consultants to instructors, working closely together in a semester-long partnership. Objective The purpose of this study was to research the program's effects on the participating instructors. Method Multiple raters coded qualitative data collected over a period of five months from meeting notes spanning 30 instructor–student partnership meetings, four all-team meetings, two student focus groups, three instructor focus groups, and six online discussion boards. Results The results showed the mindset shifts and teaching strategies that emerged through this semester-long initiative. They also revealed the program elements that had the greatest impact on instructors. Conclusion This study demonstrates the role that disabled students can play in helping instructors learn about accessibility and how learning community models support substantive changes in teaching. Teaching Implications The results of this study should help psychology teachers and departments improve their courses and engage in ongoing development to improve access and equity in their courses.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Parent Expectations, Deaf Youth Expectations, and Transition Goals as Predictors of Postsecondary Education Enrollment

  Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals · 2022-01-04 · 11 citations

  article

  This study used the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS2) data set to determine the effects of expectations and transition planning goals on the postsecondary education enrollment of deaf youth. Propensity scoring modeling results indicated that high expectations held by deaf youth and their parents significantly predicted postsecondary education attendance at 2- and 4-year colleges, and career and technical education (CTE) schools. College enrollment as a transition planning goal for deaf youth also significantly predicted enrollment in all three types of postsecondary education institutions. Postsecondary CTE school attendance as a transition plan goal for deaf youth did not make a difference in enrollment outcomes for CTE and 2-year college, and it significantly reduced their odds of attending 4-year college. Implications regarding expectations and transition plan goals are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• Bulletin: New Model State Plan for Vocational Rehabilitation Services for Deaf People

  The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education · 2022-06-06

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The purpose of this bulletin is to provide an overview and insights gained from the development of the new Model State Plan for Vocational Rehabilitation Services for Deaf People (Deaf Professionals Network, 2022) [https://www.csavr.org/deafmsp]. Vocational Rehabilitation, as a field, seeks to support disabled people as they train for and enter the workforce. There are many barriers to equitable access to workforce readiness and career success for disabled people, including deaf1 people. The Model State Plan serves as a guide to U.S. states in how they implement the many parts of vocational rehabilitation policy, including personnel structure, professional development, services and programs, community collaborations and partnerships, and outreach to stakeholders, to name a few. The original Model State Plan was produced in 1973 and the most recent update to the Model State Plan was in 2008. As a national document, the Model State Plan content provides over-arching direction, leaving it up to each state to operationalize the content and align it to state policies and programs. It is a foundational report from which priorities, advocacy, and strategic planning across the system can occur. Agencies and organizations may benefit from such a catalyst to reflect upon how to improve their own programs and processes.

  PublisherDOI

• Accessibility and Accommodations on Large-Scale Standardized Assessments

  2022-05-30 · 4 citations

  reference-entry1st authorCorresponding

  Strategies to improve the accessibility of standardized assessments, including the use of access features, accommodations, and alternate assessment formats, is a critical issue in creating fair and valid assessment systems. Large-scale standardized assessment systems, particularly in elementary and secondary education settings, play a critical role in evaluating student eligibility for services, efficacy of instruction, and student learning. In many cases, scores from academic large-scale assessments are high-stakes, meaning that they carry consequences for students including grade promotion or eligibility for graduation and access to postsecondary education options. Most large-scale assessments are designed to be a valid and reliable measure knowledge and skills of the majority of the student population. Yet large-scale standardized assessments can be challenging for students with disabilities, English learners (Els), and other diverse students. Issues around accessibility and fairness have been a central part of test development and assessment policies over the past 20 years and seek to ensure that students from all backgrounds can demonstrate their knowledge and skills. This attention to access is critically important when considering the high-stakes impact of the use of these scores on students. Strategies for addressing assessment accessibility seek to balance equity in testing experiences for all students as well as maintaining the standardization of the test designs. This balancing act continually brings the field to questions about the construct being measured and multiple ways to demonstrate or provide evidence of knowledge of that construct. Decision making and governance around what is allowable and what is available for accessible assessment is directly tied to the educational policy context and its embedded assessment system. In the USA, assessment and accountability policies involve policy guidance and implementation at both the national and state level. In some cases, state-level decisions are collaborative, drawing upon a consortia of states in the development and use of assessments and accompanying accessibility approaches. Yet in all cases, decisions about accessibility options need to focus on individual student needs and the purpose of the test. Current frameworks include a range of options: those that are available to all students (access features on a regular assessment), designated for some students through a formal process (accommodations on a regular assessment), and designed for a small percentage of the population (alternate assessments). Research on the impact and utility of different approaches to accessibility on large-scale standardized academic has followed the changes in assessment policy over the past two decades. Research on accommodations and impact on student scores is the most robust out of the three approaches to accessible assessment discussed in this entry. There is substantial evidence that many commonly used accommodations (e.g., extended time), overall, do not change the construct of the test. However, the research base is limited in the extent to which it can weigh in on the possible impact of accommodations use for students from specific disability groups (or with specific student characteristics, which is more relevant in accommodations decision making) or on assessments on a range of target constructs. Further, individual accommodations are rarely administered alone, such that the package of accommodations becomes the accessibility strategy, an intervention that is difficult to parse out in a controlled research design. Continued research on assessment accessibility is encouraged to consider the content and design of the assessment, student characteristics, and accommodation as a complex and dynamic system. The future of accessible assessment holds a great deal of potential. Recent shifts to online assessment delivery provide growing opportunities to maintain that balance between individual student characteristics and preferences and the requirements of a standardized testing system. Collaborative approaches to the assessment context, from decision making about student eligibility for alternate assessment to the design and implementation of tests via state consortia, all represent ways in which to engage with the broad range of stakeholders (e.g., students, families, teachers, administrators, policy makers, and researchers) that bring important information to bear on what it means to have an accessible high-stakes assessment. A system that is inclusive of students with disabilities, ELs, ELs with disabilities, and students without disabilities or EL statuses will necessarily be complex and nuanced. Embedded in all of these decisions is the recognition that assessment is not a stand-alone activity, but that it ties back to instruction, student engagement, teacher efficacy, and the pursuit of a fair and equitable education system that works for all students.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Accessible STEM Instruction with Deaf Students: Supporting Faculty in Pedagogical Exploration and Innovation

  NSF · $157k · 2016–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Carrie Lou Garberoglio

  The University of Texas at Austin

  67 shared

• Adam Sales

  Worcester Polytechnic Institute

  41 shared

• Mark Bond

  The University of Texas at Austin

  15 shared

• Sarah Schoffstall

  15 shared

• Jacqueline M. Caemmerer

  University of Connecticut

  11 shared

• Jeffrey Levi Palmer

  The University of Texas at Austin

  10 shared

• Rachel Leppo

  10 shared

• Kathryn Dawson

  8 shared

Labs

• National Deaf Center on Postsecondary OutcomesPI

Awards & honors

• Faculty Research Award, University of Texas at Austin, Colle…
• Elizabeth Glenadine Gibb Teaching Fellowship, University of…
• Joe R. & Teresa Long Endowed Faculty Fellow, University of T…
• Accountability-Based Reforms: The Impact of Deaf or Hard of…