Leslie Shaw joined the Yang Tan Institute in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations in January, 2018. In the domain of disability, most of Leslie's research has focused on transition age youth. A quantitative psychologist, she has expertise in longitudinal analyses, structural equation modeling, program evaluation, data management, and secondary data analysis.
Research Statement
My research in the area of disability began during my doctoral program as a methodologist at the Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas. This work led me to Cornell and the Yang Tan Institute. I have led research on predictors of postschool success for Autistic youth and co-led research on interagency collaboration for youth who are receiving services from state agencies. From a methods perspective, I am interested in longitudinal models in order to analyze change. Common models used in psychology are repeated measures analysis of variance, hierarchical linear model growth curves, latent growth curve models, panel models, latent change score models, and growth mixture models. These last four model types can be estimated with observed or latent variables in a structural equation modeling framework. Time series models of individuals or groups are more common in political science and econometrics but their popularity is growing in psychology as the cost of data collecting repeated measures can be greatly reduced with the use of mobile technology. I like determining which model to use to best answer the relevant research question and exploring the robustness of each model to misspecification.
Publications
Journal Articles
- Shaw, L. A., Brendli Brown, K. R., & Enayati, H. (2026). Autistic people and life experiences: the role of student skills and support. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1733550
- Brendli Brown, K, Shaw, L. A., & & Enayati, H. (2026). Predictors of Employment for Autistic Youth: Initial & Follow-up PROMISE Survey Results. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 6(1), 26-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/21541647261430270
- Brendli Brown, K., Enayati, H., & Shaw, L. A. (2025). Predictors of postsecondary education and high school exit for youth with autism spectrum disorder. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/21651434251328580
- Shaw, L. A., Saleh, M., Osmani, K. J., & Jackson, K. (2023) A national study of state-level interagency collaboration among youth serving systems. Journal of Rehabilitation, 89(3), 58-67.
Policy Report
- Matt Saleh, Kirsten Law, Jennifer Brooks, Leslie Shaw, & Andrew Karhan. (2025). JOB TRAINING FOR JUSTICE- IMPACTED NEW YORKERS WITH DISABILITIES: Interagency Coordination between Corrections and Vocational Rehabilitation.
Publications
Textbooks
Neil J. Salkind’s bestselling Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics has been helping ease student anxiety around an often intimidating subject since it first published in 2000. Now the bestselling SPSS® and Excel® versions are joined by a text for use with the R software, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics Using R. New co-author Leslie A. Shaw carries forward Salkind’s signature humorous, personable, and informative approach as the text guides students in a grounding of statistical basics and R computing, and the application of statistics to research studies. The book covers various basic and advanced statistical procedures, from correlation and graph creation to analysis of variance, regression, non-parametric tests, and more.
Professional activities
Conference Presentations
Shaw, L. A. & Brendli Brown, K. (April, 2026). Do Autistic Youth Agree with Caregivers About their Transition Experiences? Findings from a National Survey. American Educational Research Association Conference. Los Angeles, California.
Brooks, J., Malzer, V., Brendli Brown, K., Shaw, L. A. (April, 2026). Examining Differences between Early Exiters and Program Completers for the Inclusive Career Advancement Program. American Educational Research Association Conference. Los Angeles, California.
Shaw, L. A., & Brendli Brown, K. (October, 2025). Predictors of Life Experiences for Autistic People: Findings from a National Survey. Presented at the Council on Exceptional Children Division on Career Development & Transition Annual International Conference. Denver, Colorado.
Brendli Brown, K., Shaw, L. A., & Bruno, L. (October, 2025). Pre-service Teacher Implementation of the SDLMI & It’s Impact on Autistic Students’ Self-Determination. Presented at the Council on Exceptional Children Division on Career Development & Transition Annual International Conference. Denver, Colorado.
Research interests
- autism
- postsecondary transition
- interagency collaboration