Learning Beyond the University Walls

Longwood’s Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) program is proud to announce that graduate students Amber Gordon and Kurustun Musick, along with faculty members Dr. Alison King and Dr. Erin Wallace, collaborated on an article that was published in the Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship in January 2022.

“We felt this study was important because we wanted educators and parents of children to know they had a right to information,” Musick said. 

For both Gordon and Musick, this was their first time writing a research article for a peer-reviewed journal. What started as a class project evolved into a major publication opportunity because King believed that her students’ research was worth sharing. 

“Even when it was easy to feel overwhelmed by the research itself, [Longwood’s CSD faculty] equipped us with tools and knowledge to tackle each part of the research process,” Gordon said.

“Longwood CSD students are brilliant, driven and leaders in their community,” King said. “We have several graduate students working on research worthy of publication.”

In their article, “Readability of COVID-19 Parental Guidance Documents,”, Gordon and Musick examined “the readability levels of the state departments of education guidance documents regarding COVID-19 protocols for families of students receiving special education services” according to the article’s abstract. Ultimately, the study determined that parental guidance documents need to be written at a lower reading level to help parents make informed decisions about their children's educational needs. 

Gordon and Musick collaborated on a research proposal in class, which sparked their idea for this article. They were interested in exploring health literacy and parental rights in special education. Their professor, King, helped them narrow their topic and encouraged them to consider the effects of COVID-19. As their idea took shape, they asked Wallace to serve as the methodologist to get an accurate picture of the appropriate reading level the state department should write documents.

Gordon explained that parents receive copious amounts of paperwork regarding special education services and the current reading level makes it challenging for parents to fully understand each piece of information and make informed decisions for their children. 

“It is essential for public documents to have an increased readability for caregivers to understand and advocate for their children,” Wallace said. 

“This article sets the bar for our students,” Wallace said. “It shows them that you can be a master’s student and get a publication and a publication as first author. How cool is that?”

“They have since presented their research at two national conferences, one state conference, and at the Longwood Graduate Research Symposium,” King explained. “Kurustun and Amber have moved their research to the next step and are completing their second study, a thesis.”