Education

Kate Ascetta earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from University of Oregon, her MS ED in Early Childhood Special Education from Bank Street College of Education and BS in Elementary General and Special Education from the State University of New York at Geneseo. 

Background

Kate Ascetta is an assistant professor of Early Childhood Special Education in the Department of Educational and Developmental Science. Before pursuing her Ph.D. at University of Oregon, she worked in variety of settings with young children and early childhood teachers. She began as an early childhood special education teacher for young children who had experienced trauma. Prior to beginning her doctoral, she was an assistant principal at a Head Start program.

Research and Expertise

Ascetta's research interests include the development and assessment of effective instructional practices, specifically online, that promotes professional growth in teachers and leads to increased language and communication skills in young children. She studies interventions designed to promote language-rich classrooms environments and increase the sustained use of evidence-based practices in early childhood classrooms. Dr. Ascetta also had an interest in developing equitable education practices aimed to close the opportunity to gap experienced by some young children.

Her areas of expertise are early childhood special education, professional development, online instruction and language development.