03/30/2026
Megan Gleisner, a student in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's School Psychology EdS program and native of Jefferson, WI, has earned the 2025 Outstanding Capstone Award from the university's School of Graduate Studies.
Gleisner's project, titled "The Sysetmic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words (SIPPS) Program Evaluation," examined SIPPS, a literacy program designed to target students' reading fluency by teaching decoding skills, word recognition, and spelling patterns. The paper measured the effectiveness of SIPPS by determining students' growth in Oral Reading Fluency, comparing fall and spring benchmarks.
As part of UW-Whitewater's school psychology program, Gleisner earned an MSE in school psychology in 2024 and is on track to earn her Education Specialist Degree (Ed.S) in May 2026. She supported her education by winning the Barbara Ann Hersko Scholarship for a first-year psychology graduate student at the university in 2023.
Gleisner also earned her undergraduate degree at UW-Whitewater, receiving her BSE in special education in May 2023.
Each of UW-Whitewater's graduate programs nominate student capstone projects completed between fall 2024 and summer 2025 for consideration for the award. Nominated capstone projects were assessed on the following criteria: analysis, evaluation, explanation, perspective taking, and synthesis.
UW-Whitewater's School of Graduate Studies provides numerous opportunities to grow student expertise, expand career options, and increase lifetime earning potential at an affordable cost. Opportunities include master's programs, graduate certificates, and a doctoral degree program.