Rate My Professor Douglas Kostewicz

Dr. Douglas E. Kostewicz serves as an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Leading at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. He earned his Ph.D. in Special Education from The Pennsylvania State University in 2008, an M.A. in Special Education from The Ohio State University in 1997, and a B.S. in Psychology from Allegheny College in 1996. A Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral level (BCBA-D) since 2002, Kostewicz joined the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Instruction and Learning, advancing to Associate Professor in 2014. Prior to academia, he worked as a Behavior Analyst for Community Residences Inc. in Southington, CT (2004-2005), the Florida Department of Children and Families and University of South Florida (1999-2003), and as a Special Education Teacher at Rocky Mount Charter School in North Carolina (1998-1999). His instructional responsibilities include courses in special education methods, applied behavior analysis, and single-case research design.

Kostewicz's research centers on the effective use of teacher attention in classrooms, graphical construction in behavior analysis, and academic and behavioral interventions for students with disabilities, with emphases on precision teaching and applied behavior analysis. He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including 'Secondary Teachers’ Remote Instructional Practices in Mathematics for Students With Disabilities' (Journal of Special Education Technology, 2023), 'Search and selection procedures of literature reviews in behavior analysis' (Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2020), 'Improving spelling for at-risk kindergartners through element skill frequency building' (Behavioral Interventions, 2019), 'Noncontingent reinforcement: Enriching the classroom environment to reduce problem behaviors' (TEACHING Exceptional Children, 2018), and 'Increasing positive and decreasing negative teacher responses to student behavior through training and feedback' (Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 2017). As Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator, he has secured over $4.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Projects, including the Urban Special Education Scholars program ($1,027,584, 2018-2023) and the Certified Orientation and Mobility/Behavior Specialists initiative ($1,112,509, 2018-2023). These efforts underscore his contributions to preparing urban special education scholars and advancing evidence-based practices.