Ashley Ippolito

“For doctoral student Ashley Ippolito, the future of communication sciences and disorders isn’t just found in a clinic. It’s also written in code. Driven by her research on children’s language development, Ippolito developed ScriptToolKit, a language analysis program designed to bridge the gap between technical programming and clinical care. Her work highlights a powerful interdisciplinary intersection, demonstrating how custom software can reduce time spent on manual analysis, allowing researchers to focus more on the children, fulfilling Ippolito’s primary goal: research with definable real-world impact. Her passion lies in working with student-generated classroom data to build tools that address real needs in research and practice. By analyzing a corpus of children’s writing samples, she has made key connections about how students understand word structure, formation and meaning. Ippolito is also committed to ensuring the field evolves alongside her. By integrating her research directly into her practice, she is supporting fellow students in the School of Communication Science and Disorders through new learning modules for coding and data analysis. Beyond the university, she works as a speech-language pathologist in a neighboring school district, applying her findings to support children’s language development. Why did you choose Florida State University? I chose to attend FSU because it felt like a place where I could grow in more than one direction at once. I wanted a program that took research seriously, valued applied community work and encouraged students to build things that don’t exist yet. FSU offered strong mentorship, access to meaningful data and the freedom to design projects. What really stood out to me was how supported student-led ideas are here. From faculty who treat students like collaborators, to funding opportunities and interdisciplinary spaces, FSU has given me room to take risks, build tools and pursue work that matters. What academic achievements have you accomplished at FSU? One of my most meaningful academic accomplishments at FSU has been developing ScriptToolKit, a platform that includes ScriptSense, ScriptPrep and ScriptGuide. It helps speech-language pathologists, educators and researchers analyze language samples more efficiently and equitably. Another significant academic project has been my work on written language development and morphological complexity using large-scale datasets. I have been involved in cleaning, analyzing and interpreting a corpus of children’s writing samples to better understand how morphological knowledge appears in student writing. How have you impacted your community? Beyond the classroom, one of my most meaningful contributions has been my clinical and community-based work with preschool-aged children and families in a neighboring school district. I conduct evaluations, provide intervention, and collaborate with teachers and families to support children’s early language development. I have also taken on leadership and mentorship roles with undergraduate and graduate students at FSU, particularly research assistants. I design training materials, workflows and coding systems that help students develop real research skills while contributing meaningfully to ongoing projects. Together, this work contributes to FSU and Tallahassee by strengthening community partnerships, supporting early childhood development and creating pathways for students to engage in applied, socially meaningful research. The post Ashley Ippolito appeared first on Florida State University News .

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