Research News Archive

You'll find links to past Research News articles below:

2008

March Research News

Scientists Link Gene Abnormality to Autism:
A rare chromosome abnormality increases the risk of developing autism by about 100 times, a new study finds. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that a tiny segment of chromosome 16 is missing or duplicated in about 1 percent of children with autism. Autism experts hope the finding could someday lead to the development of a genetic test that will help parents determine their risk of having a child with autism.
- ABC News

Congress Is Urged to Enhance 'No Child' Law
President Bush urged the Democratic-led Congress to revive a stalled effort to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law before he leaves office, but he pledged to veto any bill that "weakens the accountability" measures at the core of one of his signature domestic achievements.
- The Washington Post

Charters Struggle with Special Education:
They lack teachers, administrative expertise, access to paperwork
This story out of New Orleans exemplifies the struggle many charter schools across the country have faced in adequately serving their students with disabilities.
- The Times-Picayune

Education Sector Holds Panel Conversation on Teacher Evaluation:
Education Sector hosted a panel discussion on the topic of teacher evaluation titled, “Missing Link in the Teacher Quality Debate.” The panelists discussed the limitations of the single salary structure and the desire for performance pay systems; the challenges in crafting new teacher evaluation systems that are fair, premised on teacher improvement and not punitive; the debates on using student tests scores to detrmine teacher quality - whether as a sole measure or as part of a multiple measures strategy; the response of the unions in negotiating new evaluation systems; and the investment required to bring new systems to scale.
- Education Sector

Resources from the Response to Intervention (RTI) Summit:
Check out these resources compiled by the new National Center on Response to Intervention for its RTI Summit. The RTI Summit provided training, information, and planning time for educational teams of key state education leaders and selected state affiliate organizations to learn about components and models of RTI and to scale up comprehensive models of RTI in their schools and districts. It also helped states develop a state plan for implementing RTI and provided information about accessing federal and state resources to assist with that implementation.
- National Center on Response to Intervention

February Research News

What Works Clearinghouse Releases Reports On Dropout Prevention: Two new intervention reports are available on the following dropout prevention programs:

• New Chance - A program for young welfare mothers who have dropped out of school. New Chance aims to improve employment potential and parenting skills.
• First Things First - A reform model designed to boost student achievement in schools serving a large number of economically disadvantaged students. The model’s goal is to help students acquire the skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education and the labor market.

- The What Works Clearinghouse

Response to Intervention as It Relates to Early Intervening Services: This document is a summary of a two-day OSEP-sponsored symposium held October 30-31, 2006, by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. It presents an overview of the way in which RTI and EIS intersect and provides legislative background, a description of RTI, and a summary of barriers and recommendations generated by the participants at the symposium.
- The Center on Instruction and NASDSE

U.S. Secretary of Education Remarks on No Child Left Behind:
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings delivered remarks on No Child Left Behind and the Administration's K-12 priorities for 2008 at the National Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon in Washington, D.C. This Deparment of Education page lets you read her prepared remarks.
- U.S. Department of Education

Case Studies of Higher-Performing Middle Schools:
Case studies are produced as part of a larger study of middle schools conducted during the 2006-07 school year. Research teams investigated ten consistently higher-performing and six consistently average-performing middle schools based on student performance on New York State Assessments of 8th-grade English Language Arts and Mathematics.
- SUNY Albany

January Research News

Quality Counts 2008: Tapping into Teaching
Although student achievement is linked to good teachers, there is no system for attracting, training, and supporting the best people for the job.
-EdWeek.org (Requires Free Registration)

The Nation's Report Card
In 2008, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will continue conducting the long-term trend assessment, which has measured students' progress in mathematics and reading since the early 1970s. For selected nine-year-old students, the assessment period runs from January 7 to March 14, 2008. From March 17 to May 23, 2008, students at age 17 will take the assessments. Students at age 13 took the assessments in October through December 14, 2007. Results from these assessments in public and private schools throughout the nation will be reported in 2009.
-National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Scientists Link Gene Abnormality to Autism
Researchers Hope Finding May One Day Lead to Genetic Screening Tests A rare chromosome abnormality increases the risk of developing autism by about 100 times, a new study finds.
-ABCnews.com

Suicide prevention program focuses on teens
Research shows 'Signs of Suicide' helps reduce the number of attempts by high school students.
-Christian Science Monitor

Projections of Education Statistics to 2016
This edition of Projections of Education Statistics provides projections for key education statistics, including enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools. Included are national data on enrollment and graduates for the past 15 years and projections to the year 2016, as well as state-level data on enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools and public high school graduates to the year 2016.
-Institute for Education Sciences

Parents of Disabled Students Push for Separate Classes
As policy makers push to include more special-education students into general classrooms, factions are increasingly divided. Advocates for the disabled say special-education students benefit both academically and socially by being taught alongside typical students. Some teachers and administrators have been less supportive of the practice, saying that they lack the training and resources to handle significantly disabled children.
-Wall Street Journal

Bedtime Story Tradition is Fading in American Homes
Whatever the cause, it seems the bedtime story -- and the ritual of parents reading to their children regardless of the hour -- may be losing its hold on American family life. This article looks at the findings of the recent "Reading Across the Nation" study, stresses the importance of reading aloud, and shares a few good practices to put in place at home.
-The Wilton Villager Online (CT)

2007

December Research News

New Site Helps Educators Apply Research-Based Methods
Doing What Works, a new U.S. Department of Education site, aims to help educators adapt research-based educational techniques to their own schools. "This online library of resources will build a bridge from research to action," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said. "It translates research-based practices into examples of tools that support and improve classroom instruction."

Evidence-Based Secondary Transition Practices
The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center has assembled a group of evidenced-based practices to help transition personnel and researchers learn about effective transition practices.
-National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center

Study to Target Autism, Obesity, Asthma, and More
The new National Children's Study will track some 100,000 children throughout their youth to study genetic factors and environmental influences. "This is so important for understanding childhood diseases, but also, so many adult diseases have their antecedents in childhood," said Dr. Jane Holl, who is contributing research to the study.
-Chicago Tribune (free registration)

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007
A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. It provides the most current detailed statistical information to inform the Nation on the nature of crime in schools. This report presents data on crime at school from a variety of perspectives and sources. Data on crime away from school are also presented to place school crime in the context of crime in the larger society.
-National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

Bad Behavior Does Not Doom Pupils, Studies Say
Educators and psychologists have long feared that children entering school with behavior problems were doomed to fall behind in the upper grades. But two new studies suggest that those fears are exaggerated. One concluded that kindergartners who are identified as troubled do as well academically as their peers in elementary school. The other found that children with attention deficit disorders suffer primarily from a delay in brain development, not from a deficit or flaw. Experts say the findings of the two studies, being published today in separate journals, could change the way scientists, teachers and parents understand and manage children who are disruptive or emotionally withdrawn in the early years of school.
-New York Times

November Research News

Play in the Early Years: Key to School Success
According to a policy brief from the Action Alliance for Children, there has been a consensus among early childhood professionals that play should be a vital part of any high-quality early education program, because play benefits cognitive, social, emotional, physical and moral development. While many associate play with a break from curriculum, the fact is that play-centered preschool curriculum is not a laissez-faire approach but actually a main conduit to reinforcing instruction.
-Public Education Network

Organize Instruction, Improve Learning
Organizing Instruction and Learning to Improve Student Learning practice guide from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance,  is now available at the Center on Instruction website. This guide offers teachers ways to improve their instruction and their students' study habits to enhance learning and remembering information. It offers seven of the more concrete and applicable recommendations available for improving instruction and student learning.
-Center on Instruction

Parent Participation in State Monitoring
This In-Brief Policy Analysis provides readers a background to monitoring processes in general and many useful links to other documents and websites. This survey analysis describes what states are doing to include parents in their monitoring of local education agencies. Trends from four other Project Forum studies are also included. Sixteen of 37 responding states include parents as members on their monitoring teams. Many respondents felt strongly that there were many benefits to having parents on the teams. Both benefits and challenges are described as well as other ways states are including family members in the monitoring process.
-NASDSE

More Nations Pass US in Reading Skills
US fourth-graders have lost ground in reading ability compared with children around the world, according to results of a global reading test. Test results released yesterday showed that US students, who took the test last year, scored about the same as they did in 2001, the last time the test was given - despite an increased emphasis on reading under the No Child Left Behind law.
-Boston Globe

Accepting Autism: One family's journey
Just keep swimming. That's Ana Esparza's mantra. Keep swimming through the crying, the tantrums, the chaos of rearing three boys -- two with autism.
-Miami Herald

Research-Based Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners
The Executive Summary of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners, is now available through the Center on Instruction website. This Executive Summary provides a thorough overview of the major findings analyzed in the report. The panel of major scholars in second language learning and literacy analyzed existing evidence on teaching reading and writing to language minority students and identified gaps in this area of research. Professional development staff and educators may use the findings described in this summary to support research-based initiatives and instruction for language-minority students.
-The Center for Applied Linguistics

Supplemental Educational Services Under NCLB: State Implementation for Students with Disabilities
This In-Brief Policy Analysis provides readers a comprehensive background for SES for students with disabilities. This survey analysis describes what states are doing in this area concerning requirements, approval processes, assistance to local education agencies, data collection and effectiveness for students with disabilities.
-NASDSE

Evidence-Based Instruction for Elementary Grade ELLs
Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades practice guide, from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, is now available through the Center on Instruction website. This practice guide formulates evidence-based recommendations for teaching literacy to English Language Learners (ELLs) in the elementary grades based on the current body of studies for each area. The recommendations involve areas such as curriculum selection, sensible assessments for monitoring progress, and reasonable expectations for student achievement and growth, which would be helpful for curriculum directors at the time they make decisions about policy related to literacy instruction for ELLs in elementary grades.
-Center on Instruction

Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement
Today, more than six million of the nation's secondary school students fall well short of grade-level expectations in reading and writing. Recognizing the urgency of this literacy crisis among middle and high school students, policymakers in all parts of the country have begun to implement a wide range of new programs and services designed to help struggling adolescent readers catch up in essential literacy skills, particularly reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. However-and as this report argues-if students are to be truly prepared for the sophisticated intellectual demands of college, work, and citizenship, then these reforms will not be enough. Even as their schools help them to catch up in the basics, students also must be taught the advanced literacy skills that will enable them to succeed in the academic content areas-particularly the core content areas of math, science, English, and history.
-Alliance for Excellent Education

October Research News

How School Environments Impact Math and Reading Scores: Researchers at Child Trends analyzed data from the nationally-administered test and found that three elements of elementary school environments are associated with higher third grade math and reading scores: (1) strong principal leadership, (2) high academic standards, and (3) frequent teacher meetings to plan instruction. Schools with a fourth element, low teacher turnover, tend to have higher rates of student self-control and school engagement among third grade students.
-Child Trends

ADHD Drugs Help Boost Children's Grades: Children with ADHD can perform better at school if placed on long-term drug therapy, a new study suggests. "This is the first study that shows that taking stimulants for ADHD improves long-term school performance," said lead researcher Dr. William Barbaresi, a pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
-The Washington Post

Extensive Reading Interventions in Grades K-3: From Research to Practice: In a Response to Intervention (RTI) model, young students at risk for reading problems or learning disabilities may require extensive interventions. This report summarizes available data on the effects of extensive reading interventions (comprising at least 100 instructional sessions) and related implications for practice.
-The Center on Instruction

Intervening in Preschool Years Can Prevent Juvenile Delinquency:
Parental action can alter a preschoolers' biological response to stress, lowering the chance that even a high-risk child will become a juvenile delinquent, U.S. researchers report. The finding suggests "that antisocial behavior isn't hard wired, and parents can be part of the solution," lead author Laurie Miller Brotman, associate professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
-The Washington Post

2007 Nation's Report Card Finds Fourth & Eighth Grade Students Progressing in Math and Reading: The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that student achievement in mathematics and reading is on the rise.
-Nation's Report Card

How do you treat ADHD?: The faculty of Harvard Medical School answer the following question for concerned parents: My 4-year-old boy is very rambunctious and hard to control. Friends have suggested that he may have ADHD. Can it be diagnosed at this early age? I'm reluctant to give him medications, but what else can I do?
-Myrtle Beach Online

September Research News

NICHCY IDEA 2004 Training Modules: NICHCY is producing the IDEA 2004 training curriculum at the request of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Each module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, detailed discussions of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants. New modules available for download, use, and sharing are:

• Children Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools
• Highly Qualified Teachers
• Introduction to Procedural Safeguards
• National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)
• Overview of Key Changes in IDEA 2004
• The Top 10 Basics of Special Education

(Wondering about the 2004 date? No, the info we’re offering isn’t old! IDEA, our nation’s special education law, is only reauthorized by Congress once or twice in a decade. Federal regulations for IDEA 2004 were just published in 2006 and will be with us for many years to come. So these training materials are not only extremely current, they are also an exceptional and authoritative source of information on the law itself, its 2006 implementing regulations, and practice in the field.)

-National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: The What Works Clearinghouse was established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. New summary and intervention reports are available in the following subject areas:

• Beginning Reading:
  • The Beginning Reading Topic Report summarizes the first wave of the What Works Clearinghouse's Beginning Reading intervention reports produced in 2006-07 that focus on replicable programs of products that aim to increase skills in alphabetics, reading fluency, comprehension or general reading achievement of students in grades K-3.
  • New Intervention Reports:
    • ClassWide Peer Tutoring
    • Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition®
    • Corrective Reading
    • Early Intervention in Reading (EIR)®
    • Earobics®
    • Failure Free Reading
    • Fast ForWord®
    • Fluency Formula™
    • Kaplan SpellRead
    • Ladders to Literacy
    • Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)
    • Read Naturally
    • Read, Write, and Type!™
    • Start Making a Reader Today® (SMART)®
    • Stepping Stones to Literacy
    • Success for All (SFA)®
    • Voyager Universal Literacy System®
    • Waterford Early Reading Program™
    • Wilson Reading System®
• Character Education:
  • The Character Education Topic Report summarizes the first wave of WWC character education intervention reports prepared in 2005–06.
    
• Dropout Prevention:
  • The Dropout Prevention Topic Report summarizes the first wave of WWC dropout prevention intervention reports prepared in 2006–07.
  • New Intervention Reports:
    • Project "Graduation Really Achieves Dreams" (Project GRAD)
    • Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP)
    • Talent Development High Schools
• Early Childhood Education:
  • New Intervention Reports:
    • Curiosity Corner
    • Direct Instruction, DISTAR, and Language for Learning
    • Doors to Discovery™
    • Let's Begin with the Letter People®
    • Literacy Express
    • Pre-K Mathematics
    • Ready, Set, Leap! ®
    • SRA Real Math Building Blocks PreK (also referred to as Building Blocks for Math)
    • Waterford Early Reading Level One™
• Elementary School Math:
  • The Elementary School Math Topic Report summarizes the first wave of WWC elementary school math intervention reports prepared in 2005–06.
    
• English Language Learners:
  • The English Lanaguage Learners Topic Report summarizes the first wave of WWC English language learners intervention reports prepared in 2005–06.
  • New Intervention Reports:
    • Peer Tutoring and Response Groups
    • Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies ©
    • Success for All
• Middle School Math:
  • The Middle School Math Topic Report summarizes the first wave of WWC middle school math intervention reports prepared in 2006–07

- The What Works Clearinghouse

Best Evidence Encyclopedia Releases New Reports: provides summaries of scientific reviews produced by many authors and organizations, as well as links to the full texts of each review:

• Mathematics Programs for Middle and High School
• Reading Programs for Middle and High Schools
• What Works: Issues in Synthesizing Educational Program Evaluations - The paper contrasts practices of the What Works Clearinghouse, the Best Evidence Encyclopedia, the Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center, and other program effectiveness reviews.

- The Best Evidence Encyclopedia

Teacher Quality under NCLB: Ensuring that every child is taught by a highly qualified teacher is a central feature of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). This report describes the progress that states, districts, and schools have made implementing the teacher and paraprofessional qualification provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act through 2004–05.
-The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs

Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades: As an educator, you may wonder what you can do to improve your ELLs' literacy and language skills. This new guide from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) offers five practical recommendations to make your program a success. Highlighted best practices include providing opportunities for peer-assisted learning, helping students develop academic English, and providing small-group reading interventions.
-The U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Science

PBS Show Brings Words to Life: Preschoolers can step into a world where words are the stars of the show. WordWorld is an animated series funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, which encourages 3- to 5-year-old children to become friends with words. "WordWorld's" storylines focus on age-appropriate social-emotional lessons while introducing preschoolers to key literacy-based skills, such as letter recognition and phonological awareness. This article highlights WordWorld and two other new PBS literacy programs, SuperWhy! and WordGirl.
-Current.org

The National High School Center - new reports, research briefs, and useful toolkits from our friends at the National High School Center:

• State Approaches to More Reliable and Uniform Dropout and Graduation Data: This issue brief from the National High School Center outlines the immediate need for more accurate dropout and graduation data, while providing a snapshot of work currently underway. By drawing on two prominent methods for calculating graduation rates, the National Governors Association’s endorsed longitudinal approach and the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), this brief outlines how data are needed to track dropout trends and patterns, as well as how to direct resources and more effective strategies to ensure more students receive a high school diploma. This brief concludes by offering take-aways for states.
• Meeting the Needs of Significantly Struggling Learners in High School: A Look at Approaches to Tiered Intervention: This report provides an in-depth look at the implementation and structural issues, as well as the needed support required to successfully institute Response to Intervention (RTI) at the secondary school level. It defines the RTI models, explores benefits and challenges faced at the high school level, shares a snapshot of implementation at the high school level, and outlines the necessary resources needed to support this work.
• Easing the Transition to High School: Research and Best Practices Designed to Support High School Learning: This toolkit provides four resources (fact sheet, policy brief, issue brief, and snapshot) produced by the National High School Center on transitions into high school.
• Dropout Prevention for Students With Disabilities: A Critical Issue for State Education Agencies: This issue brief provides guidance to states as they respond to requirements presented in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) in the area of dropout prevention for students with disabilities. It also highlights the role of State Performance Plans as starting points for states to develop data collection and monitoring procedures, and supplies states with considerations and recommendations for providing a consistent method of tracking dropout data.
• New Hampshire's Multi-Tiered Approach to Dropout Prevention: Many states and districts across the country struggle with designing and implementing coherent dropout prevention initiatives that promote academic advancement, especially for special needs students, who drop out at much higher rates than the general student population. New Hampshire has been recognized for its innovative use of data collection and analysis as the key to unlocking the dropout problem.

-National High School Center

Early Action Proving Crucial to Hearing Success: Hearing specialists worry that many deaf or hearing-impaired babies who fail the screening are not making it to the next level of testing — a more vigorous hearing exam in which an audiologist uses an EEG-like machine that records the brain’s response to sound.
-New York Times

Child Health USA 2006: The 17th annual report from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau detailing the health status and service needs of America’s children is now available. Data are presented for the target populations of Title V funding: infants, children, adolescents, children with special health care needs, and women of childbearing age. It is available online at http://www.mchb.hrsa.gov/chusa_06/index.htm
-Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)

Nine Percent Of US Children Age 8 To 15 Meet Criteria For Having ADHD, Study Suggests: An estimated 8.7 percent of U.S. children age 8 to 15 meet diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but fewer than half receive treatment, according to a new report.
-Science Daily

August Research News

NICHCY IDEA 2004 Training Modules: NICHCY is producing the IDEA 2004 training curriculum at the request of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Each module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, detailed discussions of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants. New modules available for download, use, and sharing are:

• Children Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools
• Introduction to Procedural Safeguards

-National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Adds More Information to Reports: New intervention reports from the WWC will include the following elements:

• Intervention Rating: Characterizes the strength of the evidence for an intervention!™
• Improvement Index: Provides a sense of the size of the intervention’s effect
• Extent of Evidence: Tells readers how much evidence was used to determine the intervention rating

- The What Works Clearinghouse

Does RTI Help or Hurt?
School districts have long complained about the high cost of special education. Now, spurred by changes in federal law, many are pursuing a contentious new strategy designed to reduce the number of children who need to be in such pricey programs. Known as "response to intervention," or RTI, it aims to bring early help to children struggling in regular-education classrooms and thus avoid having to provide them with special-education services later, when they typically cost 50% more per student.
-The Wall Street Journal

Study: Fad treatments mushroom as autism numbers grow
As more children are diagnosed with autism, ineffective fad treatments are becoming even more common, researchers say. "Developmental disabilities like autism are a magnet for all kinds of unsupported or disproved therapies," said James Mulick, an Ohio State University professor of pediatrics and psychology. "Many parents are willing to believe anything if they come to think it could help their child."
-ScienceDaily

ADHD Treatment Pays Off
Most children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) benefit from long-term treatment, whether or not that treatment includes medication, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. 
-Lehigh University

July Research News

NICHCY IDEA 2004 Training Modules: Part of the IDEA 2004 training curriculum NICHCY is producing at the request of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Each module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, detailed discussions of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants. New modules available for download, use, and sharing are:

• The Top 10 Basics of Special Education
• Overview of Key Changes in IDEA 2004

- National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

Harmonious Interactions: Researchers in the Netherlands used video analysis to identify ways to improve interactions between young children who are deaf-blind and their parents. A new publication from the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness explains this research and how its findings can help parents create more "harmonious interactions" with their children who are deaf-blind.
- National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)

Research Suggests Repeated Assessments: A study at the University of Virginia found that people's scores on a variety of cognitive tests can vary greatly when given on different days.
-Science Daily

Identifying Autism Earlier: A new study outlines possible signs of autism in infants and toddlers. According to the study, children with autism may show signs of the disorder as early as their first birthday allowing for earlier identification and treatment.
- The Kennedy Krieger Institute

Teacher Quality Standards Vary Widely: The National Council on Teacher Quality reports that the ways in which teachers are evaluated, prepared, licensed, and compensated vary widely from state to state.
-eSchool News

Social Skills Interventions for Children with Autism: According to a new meta-analysis, programs designed to teach social skills to children with autism are largely ineffective.
-Science Daily

Students Helped by No Child Left Behind Mandated Tutoring: The RAND Coporation conducted a study which tracked the test scores of students attending tutoring programs required by NCLB. Students in 5 of the 7 school districts studied improved their math and reading scores.
-The Boston Globe

June Research News

NICHCY IDEA 2004 Training Modules: Part of the IDEA 2004 training curriculum NICHCY is producing at the request of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Each module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, detailed discussions of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants. New modules available for download, use, and sharing are:

• Disproportionality and Overrepresentation
• Introduction to Evaluation
• Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation
• Meetings of the IEP Team

- National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New intervention reports are available in the following subject areas:

• Beginning Reading - Early Intervention in Reading (EIR)®; Read, Write, and Type!™
• English Language Learners - Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)©
• Character Education - Positive Action; Too Good for Drugs and Violence; Building Decision Skills; Caring School Community; Connect with Kids; Skills for Adolescence; Lessons in Character
• Early Childhood Education - Curiosity Corner; Direct Instruction; DISTAR; and Language for Learning

- The What Works Clearinghouse

Fight Over Vaccine-Autism Link Hits Courts: Nearly 5,000 families will seek to convince a special "vaccine court" in Washington that the vaccines can cause healthy and outgoing children to withdraw into uncommunicative, autistic shells -- even though a large body of evidence and expert opinion has found no link. The court has never heard a case of such magnitude.
-The Washington Post

States Found to Vary Widely on Education: Academic standards vary so drastically from state to state that a fourth grader judged proficient in reading in Mississippi or Tennessee would fall far short of that mark in Massachusetts and South Carolina.
-The New York Times

Students with Disabilities Show Marked Improvement under No Child Left Behind: The National Center for Learning Disabilities has released a comprehensive report on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) -- Rewards and Roadblocks: How Special Education Students Are Faring Under No Child Left Behind and a companion study, State Testing Accommodations: Their Value and Validity.
-EdNews.org

May Research News

NICHCY IDEA 2004 Training Modules: Part of the IDEA 2004 training curriculum NICHCY is producing at the request of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Each module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, detailed discussions of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants. The modules available for download, use, and sharing are:

• Early Intervening Services and Response to Intervention
• Identification of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities
• The IEP Team: Who is a Member?

- National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New intervention reports are available in the following subject areas:

• Beginning Reading - Accelerated Reader Best Classroom Practices; Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing (LiPS) Program ®; Little Books
• Dropout Prevention - High School Redirection
• Elementary School Math - Progress in Mathematics © 2006

- The What Works Clearinghouse

Beating the Odds: A City by City Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments: A study examining student achievement, specifically low performing students and racial achievement gaps, in 67 major city school systems in 37 states indicates that the achievement gap is narrowing, but still lags behind in terms of state testing averages.
-The Council of the Great City Schools

The Future of Disability in America: An assessment of both principles and scientific evidence for disability policies and services. This book's recommendations propose steps to eliminate barriers and strengthen the evidence base for future public and private actions to reduce the impact of disability on individuals, families, and society.
-The National Academies

Study Sheds Light on Qualities of Best Training for Principals: A report has identified the common features of exemplary programs for preparing principals who can guide instruction and foster school improvement.
-Education Week (Two free articles monthly with registration)

Highly Qualified Teachers and Special Education: Several State Approaches: This In-Brief Policy Analysis introduces the research on the importance that teacher quality has in student achievement and the legislative background for highly qualified special educators.
-Project Forum

April Research News

Study is Breakthrough for Dyscalculia Sufferers: Scientists think they have found the area of the brain that goes wrong in people with dyscalculia – a condition that renders them unable to perform arithmetic.
-LabnewsOnline

Technology Counts - A Digital Decade: Eduation Week's 10th annual report on educational technology. The report, a joint effort of Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center, features the center’s annual state survey on educational technology and grades the 50 states and the District of Columbia on their technology leadership.
-Education Week (Two free articles monthly with registration)

All Students College-Ready: Findings from the Gates Foundation’s Education Work 2000-2006 : Highlights findings from the first seven years of the Foundation’s education grantmaking efforts, the aim of which is to prepare every student for college, work, and citizenship.
-Bill & Melinda gates Foundation

Early Child Care Linked to Increases in Vocabulary, Some Problem Behaviors in Fifth and Sixth Grades: The most recent analysis of a long-term NIH-funded study found that children who received higher quality child care before entering kindergarten had better vocabulary scores in the fifth grade than did children who received lower quality care. The study authors also found that the more time children spent in center-based care before kindergarten, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report such problem behaviors as "gets in many fights," "disobedient at school," and "argues a lot."
-The National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Software's Benefits On Tests In Doubt Educational software, a $2 billion-a-year industry that has become the darling of school systems across the country, has no significant impact on student performance, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Education..
-Washington Post

Down Syndromes, Fragile X, Linked To Faulty Brain Communication: The two most prevalent forms of genetic mental retardation, Fragile X and Down syndromes, may share a common cause, according to researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine. The problem, a crippled communication network in the brain, may also be associated with autism.
-Science Daily

Is ADHD the Leading Childhood Disorder?: New research suggests that the identification and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not limited to the United States and Western Cultures. In fact, the use of psycho-stimulant drugs to treat ADHD has more than tripled worldwide since 1993.
-PsychCentral

Autism: It’s Not Just in the Head: The devastating derangements of autism also show up in the gut and in the immune system. That unexpected discovery is sparking new treatments that target the body in addition to the brain.
-Discover Magazine

March Research News

NICHCY IDEA 2004 Training Modules: Part of the IDEA 2004 training curriculum NICHCY is producing at the request of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Each module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, detailed discussions of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants. The modules available for download, use, and sharing are::

• Disproportionality and Overrepresentation
• Introduction to Evaluation
• Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation

- National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New intervention reports are available in the following subject areas:

• Beginning Reading - Reading Recovery®
• Dropout Prevention - Middle College High School; Twelve Together
• Early Childhood Education - Words and Concepts
• English Language Learning - Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC)
• Middle School Math - Transition Mathematics

- The What Works Clearinghouse

Study Gives Teachers Barely Passing Grade in Classroom: The typical child in the USA stands only a one-in-14 chance of having a consistently rich, supportive elementary school experience, say researchers who looked at what happens daily in thousands of classrooms.
-USA Today

A New Compact to Educate the Whole Child: Current education practice and policy focus overwhelmingly on academic achievement. This achievement, however, is but one element of student learning and development and only a part of any complete system of educational accountability.
-Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

Timing and Duration of Student Participation in Special Education in the Primary Grades: This Issue Brief reports the timing of entry into special education and the number of grades in which students receive special education across the primary grades.
-National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES)

AT and Early Childhood Education: Researchers and other professionals are proving that Assistive Technology (AT) can act as an equalizer tool by enabling the child to participate in activities and interact with materials in ways that would have previously been impossible.
-The Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD)

Key State Education Policies on PK-12 Education: This CCSSO report informs policymakers and educators about the current status of key education policies across the 50 states that define and shape elementary and secondary education in public schools.
-The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

Research To Explore Genetic Causes Of Autism: Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center and 10 other institutions will share a $10 million gift from James and Marilyn Simons of The Simons Foundation to create a databank of DNA samples from autism patients around the country.
-Science Daily

February Research News

Playtime Benefits Children’s Development: Children’s mental development can benefit from stimulating play even if the child is malnourished or living in poverty, says a new study in the medical journal The Lancet.
-The National Academies

QIAT Please: Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology: This issue looks at how a whole community can engage in education and create demand and support for improvement.
-The Family Center on Technology and Disability

OSEP Parent Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students With Disabilities: Offers a collection of praent-focused resources on the same substantive areas addressed in the initial release of the Tool Kit, including assessment, instructional practices, behavior, and accommodations.
-U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

No One Strategy Is Best For Teaching Reading, Professor Shows: Lots of individualized instruction, combined with the use of diagnostic tools that help teachers match each child with the amounts and types of reading instruction that are most effective for him or her, is vastly preferable to the standard "one size fits all" approach to reading education that is prevalent in many American elementary schools.
-Science Daily

Study: Factors Predict Special Ed Placement: Preschool is often the time when learning and behavioral disabilities are first identified, according to a new study from the Elementary School Journal
-WESH.com

January Research News

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New intervention reports are available in the following subject areas:

• Phonological Awareness Training (Early Childhood Education)
• Financial Incentives for Teen Parents to Stay in School
• Talent Search (Dropout Prevention)

- The What Works Clearinghouse

No Child Left Behind: A Five-Year Review: Teachers report on what they like and what they'd like to change about the NCLB law.
-The Gainesville Times

Voices in Urban Education: This issue looks at how a whole community can engage in education and create demand and support for improvement.
-Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Teaching Vocabulary: This informative article provides research-based strategies and lesson models for vocabulary instruction.
-LDonline.org

Harvard Study Finds Disproportionate Representation in Special Education: Some ethnic groups are over-represented in special education classrooms while others appear under-represented, according to this recent report.
-The Council for Exceptional Children

2006

December Research News

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New intervention reports are available in the following subject areas:

• Elementary School Math
• Early Childhood Education

Dropout Rates in the United States: This report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades, including characteristics of dropouts and completers in these years.
-National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

A Look at How the Brain Learns to Read: Adults can start in their children's infancy by training them for later success.
-Star-Gazette, Corning/Elmira, NY

New Teaching Method May Aid Autistic Students: A three-year study of the Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success is being funded with a $450,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and is considered one of the first of its kind in the nation.
-The Courrier Journal, Lousville, Kentucky

Emerging Evidence on Improving High School Student Achievement and Graduation Rates: The Effects of Four Popular Improvement Programs: The National High School Center released methods for improving low-performing high schools based on some of the most rigorous research currently available in the school reform arena.
-The National High School Center

November Research News

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New intervention reports are available in the following areas:

• Beginning Reading
• Character Education
• Dropout Prevention
• Early Childhood Education
• Elementary School Math
• English Language Learners

-The What Works Clearinghouse

Autism Guards Its Secrets: Exactly what and even how much doctors know about autism and its causes is a matter of debate.
-United Press International

Inclusion Aids Special-Needs Preschoolers: Studies show that children with disabilities in inclusive settings are more likely to start talking or playing with others. Typical children do just as well academically and show more sensitivity to the needs of others when a child with a disability is present.
-New Jersey Media Group

Model Program Gives Special Kids a Chance at College: The College of New Jersey in Ewing has enrolled half-dozen students in a pioneering program designed to introduce higher education to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
-Newhouse News Service

MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: What do teachers, principals and deans of schools of education each consider most critical to prepare teachers to meet classroom demands? This report answers those questions, as well as discussing the expectations and experiences of prospective and former teachers.
-MetLife

Researchers Suggest Link between TV Watching and Autism: Combining data on local weather conditions, homes with cable television and autism incidence researchers at Cornell reached the conclusion that autism rates are higher in communities where more children are inside watching TV.
-Slate

Autism's Causes are More Complex than TV: A rebuttal to the above article linking TV-watching and autism questions the Cornell results and explores other areas of research into autism's roots, including genetics and environmental toxins.
-TIME

Ed. Dept. Backs Research Plans for RTI Method: With funding from the Department of Education, researchers are closely examining “response to intervention,” an instructional framework that many educators say offers promise for treating children with learning difficulties before they fall behind their peers.
-Education Week

Growing Hispanic Population Changing the Landscape of U.S. Education: Demographic data on U.S. schools between 1993 and 2003 shows a dramatic increase in the number of Latino students, especially in urban areas. This report examines the schools most impacted by the increase in Latino enrollment.
- Pew Hispanic Center

October Research News

Early Repairs in Foundation for Reading: Latest diagnostic tests can help identify and treat preschoolers at risk for reading problems.
-The New York Times

NCLB: Expectations + Rigor = Promising Results: No Child Left Behind has added a fourth "R" to reading, writing and 'rithmetic -- results.
-San Francisco Chronicle

Reality Check: How principals and superintendents see public education today -- school leaders have an almost bouyant view of education compared to reformers.
-Public Agenda

Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools: A new report from the Center on Education Policy (CEP).
-Phi Delta Kappan

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New research reports are available on Beginning Reading, Early Childhood Education, Character Education, English Language Learning, and Elementary School Mathematics interventions.
-The What Works Clearinghouse

September Research News

To Fight Stuttering, Doctors Look at the Brain: Stuttering is a speech disorder that may be neurological, and treatable with drugs.
-The New York Times

A Better Breakfast Can Boost a Child's Brainpower: Evidence suggests that eating breakfast really does help kids learn.
-National Public Radio (NPR)

Digital Divide Separates Students: Many more white children use the Internet than do Hispanic and black students, a reminder that going online is hardly a way of life for everyone, a federal study has found.
-CNN

Abusing Research: The Study of Homework and Other Examples: Respect for research (and for science more generally) ought to include a recognition of its limits.
-Phi Delta Kappan

What Works Clearinghouse Releases New Reports: New research reports are available on Character Education, English Language Learning, and Elementary School Math interventions.
-The What Works Clearinghouse

August Research News

Research Roundup: Part two of a series of columns that talks about the importance of scientifically-based practices.
-National Center for Learning Disabilities

Dropping in On Dropouts: As we come to the end of another school year, it seems appropriate to take another look at students who have brought their school careers to a premature end—dropouts.
-Phi Delta Kappan

Study Gives Schools Tips on Latinos: Success has little to do with money, class sizes, fancy reading programs, parent involvement or tutoring, a study released Thursday concluded.
-The Arizona Republic

Radical Change for Failing Schools: The most promising part of the No Child Left Behind Act is language requiring schools to use research-based practices. Yet it’s the least embraced by the educational establishment.
-The Journal Gazette

Cast the Die Early and Reap the Rewards: An informative article from our Australian friends discussing the merits of early intervention practices.
-The Sydney Morning Herald