Dr. Sara Estrapala is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Special Education in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Her research focuses on Tier 1 and Tier 2 Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in high schools, and she is particularly interested in studying student voice, self-regulation development, and usability and feasibility of intervention implementation in the high school context.

Dr. Estrapala was recently awarded an IES Early Career Development and Training Grant where she will iteratively develop a self-directed self-regulation intervention for high school students with disabilities and challenging behavior. She also has extensive experience managing large, multi-site randomized controlled trials, conducting single-case research designs, and mentoring novice researchers through complex, school-based research projects.

In addition to research, Dr. Estrapala has taught courses in behavior and classroom management for elementary and high school settings and functional behavioral assessment. She is also committed to translating research to practice by providing professional development for in and pre-service teachers, writing for practitioner journals, and presenting at practitioner-focused professional conferences.

Affiliations

• MU Center for Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports
• Association for Positive Behavior Supports
• Council for Exceptional Children

Areas of Expertise

• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
• High School Behavior
• Behavior Interventions in General Education Settings