These days, we hear more and more about the importance of using research to make decisions regarding children with disabilities. That certainly makes sense---research can point us in the right direction of "what works" and what doesn't in any number of areas where decisions must be made. And there are a lot of areas! From the parent to the administrator, from the advocate to the occupational therapist, from the teacher to the early interventionist, our decisions span a spectrum of issues, concerns, systems, children, and outcomes. We hope that improving our decisions---or at least basing them on evidence of effectiveness---will improve our service systems, which in turn will lead to an even deeper bottom line: Improving educational and life outcomes for children who have disabilities.
Research Basics
As we said above, it's important to know a bit (well, a lot!) about research, if you're going to read it and apply it to your local circumstances. We've been steadily building a collection of research pages to help our visitors do just that. So to lay the groundwork before plunging into unexpectedly deep water, you might want to start with these basic NICHCY Connections pages:
- Research 101 These resources will answer the question: What makes for good research?
- Research 102: Adding Up the Evidence It's a standard research practice to look across a variety of studies to see what kind of conclusions we can draw from the body of research on a subject. The resources in our Research 102 explain how researchers combine the findings of multiple research studies to draw more solid conclusions than any one study can tell you.
- Making Sense of Statistics in Research Don't let the stats throw you. Here's a cheat sheet to what all those terms mean.
- Weighing Info for Its Worth As we've mentioned, it's not a good idea to take research purely at its face value. But how do you weigh what you're reading to judge its credibility? Here are some tips to help you become a savvy consumer.
Of course, NICHCY is just wading into the waters, too. So here are a few more resources on the basics you might find helpful.
Applying Research
Okay, you've got the basics under your belt. Now you want to take the research you've read about and actually use it. How do you do that? Easier said than done, but here are some resources that are sure to help.
- Using data to drive and inform school change. http://data.edreform.net/ The Data Drive Reform Network at the Education Reform Network connects you to resources and publications on how and why to use data as the basis for decision making. The materials are organized into the following categories: accountability systems; analyzing school data; building capacity for data use; standards-based instruction; standardized testing; state standards; success indicators; public engagement; technology; and school, district, and state report cards.
- Implementing results-based decisionmaking: Advice from the field. www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/pdfs/1999WELFAREBARRIERS.pdf This report was published jointly by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and The Finance Project. More than 50 leaders in the field provide advice on measuring the success of their supports for children and families by the results or outcomes they achieve for individuals, families, and communities. It covers various dimensions of results-based decision-making, including strategic planning that logically connects strategies to the outcomes.
- Using research and reason in education: How teachers can use scientifically based research to make curricular and instructional decisions. http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/html/stanovich/ from the Partnership for Reading, May 2003.
- Help for schools. http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases.php?node=8 The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that schools take certain steps towards improvement. The School Improvement KnowledgeBase at the link above contains information and resources to help schools accomplish these tasks using a step-by-step, well-designed process. If you're in the driver's seat---or anywhere in the car!---you'll wanna come here.
- A Policymaker's Primer on Education Research: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Use It. www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/educationIssues/Research/primer/index.asp%20 A joint effort of Mid-Continent Research for Education (McREL) and the Education Commission of the States, 2004.
- Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported by Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide. www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/rigorousevid from the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 2003.
- Improving Student Learning: A Strategic Plan for Education Research and Its Utilization. Available from the National Academies Press. Order by calling 1.888.624.8373, or order online at: http://books.nap.edu/catalog/6488.html
Remembering the Reason Why
Why is getting research into practice so important? Certainly, it make great good sense to use what's effective and to spread the word so that others benefit from our knowledge. In the end, though, it's really about the well-being of the infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities who are our sons and daughters, family members, clients, friends, and responsibility. They will be the primary beneficiaries of improving our practice.
Who are these children---literally, millions of individuals. For a closer look at who they are, you might find these current research studies of interest.
- The children in special education. Read about the SEELS study, a 5-year investigation of the children receiving special education services, ages 6 to 12. The study's being conducted by SRI International. NICHCY's summary of the study can be found online at: www.nichcy.org/pubs/research/rb2txt.htm. The SEELS Web site is found at: www.seels.net/
- The children in early intervention. SRI is also conducting the NEILS study, which is following more than 3,338 children with disabilities or at risk for disabilities and their families through their experiences in early intervention and into early elementary school. Visit the NEILS site and see what SRI is finding, at: www.sri.com/neils/
- And then there's transition! SRI follows up their previous transition studies with this new one--the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)! Over the next several years, NLTS2 will document the experiences of a national sample of students as they move into adult roles.
- Read about the study and track its results at: www.nlts2.org/. The first wave of reports emerged in January 2004. These provide information on the characteristics and experiences of youth with disabilities in secondary school.
- Read a synopsis of the study available from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), at: www.ncset.org/publications/default.asp
- As of May 2004, NLTS2 data tables have been made available on-line. Users can view and download the tables, which cross-tabulate a large number of selected variables by disability, age, gender, income, and ethnicity. All NLTS2 data are weighted estimates for students receiving secondary special education and generalize to the national population. Find the data tables at: www.nlts2.org/
- Check out NLTS2's reports exploring important findings from the parent interviews and school data collection activities. In 2004, these include: Services and Supports for Secondary School Students with Disabilities (May 2004) and Changes Over Time in the Secondary School Experiences of Students with Disabilities (April 2004). Both are online at: www.nlts2.org/reports/reports_collapsed.html
- What do we know about youngsters' mental health and pyschosocial problems? The Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA takes a deeper look at what data exist on young people's mental health and what conclusions we can draw (or not). Read CMHS's brief online at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/prevalence/youthMH.pdf
- Summing it all up. www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/research.html Every year, Congress receives an annual report on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), our nation's special education law. Wanna know who's being served, for what disability, by whom, where, and to what outcome? Visit the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), which oversees implementation of the law and reports the state of affairs to Congress. You'll find the last eight annual reports to Congress online as well as the annual data tables.
Where Do We Look First?
So...we know why it's important to care about research and who we're caring for. Now where do we find special education research? Disability-related research? What are the primary sources we can turn to, for these initiatives? Where's the research happening? And what's it focusing upon? (What it's finding is a whole separate section!)
- Government-funded research into disabilities. Did you know that the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funds nearly 1,000 disability-related projects? Some prepare special educators or administrators, others conduct research, and still others offer technical assistance and information about educating children with disabilities These projects are a very good place to look first for assistance. What projects are focusing on your areas of special education concern? Find out in this year's annual directories of OSEP-funded projects, at: www.nichcy.org/directories/intro2006.asp
- NIDRR research can be helpful, too. NARIC, the National Rehabilitation Information Center, offers an online searchable database of more than 300 projects funded by NIDRR (National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research), including their products. If you want to know about disability, rehabilitation, and promoting independence and employment for individuals with disabilities, NARIC is the place to visit. Search the database, at: http://www.naric.com/research/default.cfm
- And don't forget the ERIC system when you're looking for research on an educational subject. ERIC is an acronym for the Educational Resources Information Center. The ERIC database contains descriptions of over 1 million educational materials, including research-based findings published in journals and related to children with and without disabilities. Search the database for the research that interests you, at: www.eric.ed.gov
- Try this database of interventions and policy evaluations. Its acronym is C2-RIPE, which stands for Register of Interventions and Policy Evaluation. Developed by the Campbell Collaboration (get it? C2?), the database provides researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public with access to reviews and review-related documents in the following areas: Education, Crime and Justice, Social Welfare, and Methods. Go to: http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/About.asp
- Scientific research related to schools and education. Visit the Child Development Center, which organizes and briefly describes current research related to schools and education according to the following groupings: learning research, educational issues, school curriculum issues, and school governance and safety issues. Choose which one you'd like to view at: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/research/learning-research.htm
Try These Web Sites!
There are many great research journals, associations, and organizations, all working to further the knowledge base of educational research we have. We've listed some primary participants below, in alphabetical order.
What Research is Revealing
Ahh, the heart of the matter...or at least a critical lynchpin in our push to get research into practice. What has research found that we can use to improve outcomes for children with disabilities?
Well, we hate to make you wait for the answer, but we're going to! To connect to a beginning spectrum of the field's knowledge base, we refer you now to several separate resources pages, which we hope you will visit time and again in your search for the latest and best of what we're learning from research. We'll add more pages as time goes by, but for the moment, please do visit any or all of the following NICHCY Connections pages:
But where to start unraveling the mysteries of the research that's out there? It's important to be aware that research isn't something you can take off a shelf and apply wholesale to your circumstances. There are many factors to consider before deciding that a specific research approach matches your situation, your students or teachers, your socio-economic setting, your local needs. If you're unsure what we mean, or wonder how to weigh the research you find to see if it's a good match with local conditions, then you may wish to take a good hard look at the first category below: Research Basics. It'll set the stage for wading into what we know--or think we know.
Thus, this page of resources is designed as a "Starter Kit" to research in general and the special education field in particular. These resources are intended to lay down the basics before we all rush off in our different directions, wearing our parent, teacher, administrator hats.
photo by:
Leonid Mamchenkov 
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