Nicholas A. Gage

Overview

Nicholas A. Gage is a national expert focused on advancing rigorous research and evaluation in learner variability and special education. Gage’s research interests are centered on the identification of policies and practices at the national, state, local, and classroom levels to support the academic, social, and behavioral needs of students with disabilities. This work is grounded in a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework, with a particular emphasis on positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS). His expertise is in supporting researchers, schools, districts, and states in leveraging their data resources to best identify and develop effective and efficient systems of support for students’ academic and behavioral needs. Specific expertise includes statistical modeling, machine learning, research design and methodology, direct observation, single-subject research, MTSS, universal behavioral management, PBIS, Functional Behavioral Assessment, and evaluation of special education programs and practices.

Gage has more than 120 peer-reviewed publications in many of the top-tier special education journals and more than 250 conference presentations. He serves on 10 editorial boards and has served as Associate Editor of Exceptional Children, the Elementary School Journal, Preventing School Failure, and the Journal of Disability Policy Studies. He has received federal grants from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Office of Special Education Programs and has served as lead evaluator or statistician on numerous randomized controlled trials. He currently leads eight Education Innovation Research (EIR) projects, including as project director for the evaluation of an Expansion Phase project and project director for an Early Phase project.

Prior to joining WestEd, he was Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Florida, where he taught special education and research methods courses, and an Institutes of Education Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Connecticut. Gage has over 20 years of experience in the education and special education fields as a teacher, education leader, and researcher.

Education

• PhD in special education (leadership in behavioral disorders), University of Missouri
• MPA in public policy/non-profit business management, University of Missouri
• MA in education, Goddard College BA in cultural studies and critical theory, Goddard College

Select Publications

Gage, N. A., Mattison, R. E., & Katsiyannis, A. (2023). Who exits special education back to general education? Exploring predictors of declassification. Education and Treatment of Children, 46, 303–317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-023-00107-8

Gage N.,Rapa, L. J.,Whitford, D. K., & Katsiyannis, A. (Eds.). (2022). Disproportionality and social justice in education. Springer Cham. https://link.springer.com/book/9783031137747

Weist, M. D., Splett, J. W., Halliday, C. A., Gage, N. A., Seaman, M. A., Perkins, K. A., Perales, K., Miller, E., Collins, D., & DiStefano, C. (2022). A randomized controlled trial on the interconnected systems framework for school mental health and PBIS: Focus on proximal variables and school discipline. Journal of School Psychology, 94, 49–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2022.08.002

Gage, N. A., Katsiyannis, A., Carrero, K. M., Miller, R., & Pico, D. (2021). Exploring disproportionate discipline for Latinx students with and without disabilities: A national analysis. Behavioral Disorders, 47(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742920961356

Gage, N. A., Grasley-Boy, N., Lombardo, M., & Anderson, L. (2020). The effect of school-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports on disciplinary exclusions: A conceptual replication. Behavioral Disorders, 46(1), 42–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742919896305

Gage, N. A.,Grasley-Boy, N., George, H. P., Childs, K., & Kincaid, D. (2019). A quasi-experimental design analysis of the effects of school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports on discipline in Florida. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 21(1), 50–61.

Gage, N. A., Whitford, D. K., Katsiyannis, A., Adams, S., & Jasper, A. (2019). National analysis of the disciplinary exclusion of Black students with and without disabilities. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 1754–1764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01407-7

https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300718768208

Grasley-Boy, N. M., Gage, N. A.,& Lombardo, M. (2019). Effect of SWPBIS on disciplinary exclusions for students with and without disabilities. Exceptional Children, 86(1), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402919854196

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

2021: Martin J. Kauffman Distinguished Early Career Research Award, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division of Research

2015: Association of Positive Behavior Support (APBS) Ted Carr Early Career Research Award, APBS International

2011: Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders Carl Fenichel Memorial Research Award for Meta-Analysis of Single-Subject Research Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling: Rmpirical Examination of the Procedure and Functional Behavior Assessment-Based Intervention