
Dr. Sarah A. Nagro is joining Texas A&M University as an Associate Professor of Special Education and previous Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Research and Development in Teacher Education (RITE) at George Mason University. Dr. Nagro earned her OSEP-funded doctorate in special education with a specialization in teacher education from Johns Hopkins University and regularly teaches special education research and policy courses. Her research focuses on determining best practices in special education teacher education. Specifically, she focuses on understanding effective approaches to preparing profession-ready teachers through experiential learning that emphasizes reflective practice. Dr. Nagro explores how to lead change in education through policy initiatives at the federal, state, and local level, and has published a book on the importance of special education professionals engaging in policy and advocacy related issues. Dr. Nagro has secured over $16 million in external funding in collaboration with high caliber, interdisciplinary research teams. In addition to her most recent the OSEP funded project titled, “The Special education teacher education Policy, Practice, and Research doctoral training Consortium (SPARC),” Dr. Nagro was award a 2019 OSEP doctoral training grant in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) titled, “Policy and Research-Intensive Special Education Cohort (PRISE).” Through PRISE, Dr. Nagro advised six full-time doctoral students focused on tackling the national teacher shortage through research and policy initiatives. In direct support of her students, Dr. Nagro and her students co-authored quantitative, qualitative, mixed method, and descriptive research focused on special education teacher preparation, special education teacher shortage trends, special education policy and advocacy, teacher licensure trends, reflective practice, professional identity, IEP writing, disability service provision, global perspectives on special education, university supervision, best practices in feedback quality, field experience trends, early childhood special education, and special education teacher education technology.