NICHCY Connections...
to What Works: Can We Say?

Launched September 29, 2004
Updated December 5, 2007
Approx. 12 pages when printed

Authors
Dr. Barbara Smith
Research Analyst, NICHCY

Lisa Küpper
Director of Publications, NICHCY

What works? What Works. We hear those words a lot these days, sometimes as a statement, sometimes as a question. Millions of dollars have been expended trying to determine what's effective in...you name it---teaching children, teaching children with disabilities, teaching math and every other subject in school, training teachers, hiring teachers and keeping them, administering sound educational programs, keeping our children from dropping out of school, graduating them with solid skills...and on and on. Educating children is a complex business, and every facet of it contributes to (or can detract from!) the functioning of the whole. So--what have we found out? What can we say after all the research we've conducted, all the journals that tell what's been discovered, all the experience we combine? Do we know what's effective, what works in building educational systems and practices that will serve our children?

This NICHCY Connections page takes a look at an array of topics in education and the research we have on each. We've focused primarily on published meta-analyses and syntheses that add up the evidence to date on effective practice in each area. A caution is in order, though, before we launch into the list of resources. We are in the process of reviewing these resources for the soundness of their methodological approach to synthesizing the evidence from individual studies. A meta-analysis can be well-done---or not. Or, as with most things, somewhere in between. It's important to recognize 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, then you may wish to take a look at our Special Education Research: Where to Start? It'll connect you with basic intros to research, perspectives on how to use it locally, things to be cautious about, and places to visit online that offer beginning connections to special education research.

Why, you might ask, are we telling you about research that may or may not represent the state of the art? Because what's in the list below represents what's available for all of us to pull from as we work to improve our educational systems and children's outcomes. And while we put these resources through an internal system of extensive review and scrutiny, children are in school, growing older, teachers are leaving the profession, educational agencies can't find and keep sufficient related services personnel to address the needs of students, and states struggle with accountability, reform, teacher training, and budgetary limits. The time is now, and what information we do have is what we have to work with.

As we review these resources, we will add information here to tell you what we find. And we'll be adding to this page, as research penetrates ever more deeply into the educational world and more syntheses and meta-analyses emerge to guide our decision making and practice. So please do check back occasionally to see what's new!

First Toe in the Water

• What exactly IS "scientifically based research?"
  The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) calls for the use of "scientifically based research" as the foundation for many education programs and for classroom instruction. Leading experts in the fields of education and science came together at a seminar hosted by the Department of Education and discussed the meaning of scientifically based research and its status across various disciplines. Find out what they said in these transcripts, available online at: www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/whatworks/research/index.html
  
  
• What works in education?
  The WWC---the What Works Clearinghouse---has been established to answer that very question. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, the WWC is expected to serve as a central source of scientific evidence of what works in education. They are starting off their investigations by focusing on seven topics of high interest (for example, interventions for beginning reading). Read all about the WWC and follow their findings as they emerge, at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
  
  Read all about it online at:
  www.whatworks.ed.gov
  
  
• Research Connections in Special Education.
  http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/osep-sp.html#recon
  This is a publication reviewing OSEP-sponsored research on topics in special education. As such, it may very well be the first toe you put in the research waters of special education. Thirteen issues were developed by the OSEP/ERIC Special Project. Any of these topics interest you?
  
  • Paraprofessionals
  • Strengthening the first R
  • Strengthening the second R
  • Improving family involvement in special education
  • Homework practices that support students with disabilities
  • Improving results for culturally and linguistically diverse students
  • New ideas for planning transitions to the adult world
  • There are more---at the link above. Go have a look at what OSEP-funded research has to tell

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• Becoming friends with using data to make decisions.
  http://data.edreform.net/
  If you haven't yet embraced data as the basis for making decisions, you may want to pause and take a look at our Special Education Research: Where to Start?, if you haven't already. Look in particular at the two beginning sections: Research Basics and Applying Research, which will help you make data your fast friend.
  
  
• Help for schools.
  http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases.php?node=8
  If you're in the driver's seat---or anywhere in the car!---you'll wanna come here.
The School Improvement KnowledgeBase at the link above contains information and resources to help you improve your school using a step-by-step, well-designed process and hooking you up to the research base supporting each step.


• What works in comprehensive school reform?
  www.centerforcsri.org/
  Find out at the the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement. This online collection of tools and resources is designed to aid schools as they plan, implement, and sustain schoolwide reform programs. Be sure to delve into the School Reform and Improvement database and "Guides and Tools," which includes Unlocking the 11 Components of CSR.
  
  
• A quick overview of the research in comprehensive school reform.
  www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/whatworks/research/page_pg9.html
  The link above will take you to Becki Herman 's overview of what it means to apply the definition of scientifically based research to the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program.
  
  
• Looking for a practitioner's guide to school reform?
  www.centerforcsri.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=17
  Here's one that draws on scientifically based research. It's available online at the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement.
  
  
• And does school reform actually improve student achievement?
  www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report59.pdf
  The link above will take you to Comprehensive School Reform and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis (2002), which reviews the research on the achievement effects of the nationally disseminated and externally developed school improvement programs known as “whole-school” or “comprehensive” reforms.
  
  
• Increasing rates of school completion: Moving from policy and research to practice.
  www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/dropout/default.asp
  From the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), May 2004.

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• What works in teacher preparation?
  www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/educationIssues/teachingquality/tpreport/index.asp
  This report from the Education Commission of the States reviews the body of research on teacher preparation to answer eight questions about teacher preparation that are of particular importance to policy and education leaders. Read Eight Questions on Teacher Preparation: What Does the Research Say?
  
  
• What works to keep teachers from leaving?
  http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/reports/tapping_potential
  Did you know that one out of every two new teachers will quit within five years? About 207,000 teachers, nearly 6% of the teaching workforce, will not return to teaching next fall. Research shows that comprehensive induction cuts teacher attrition rates in half and develops new teachers more rapidly into highly skilled, experienced professionals. Read all about it in this report from the Alliance for Excellent Education.
  
  
• More on teacher recruitment and retention.
  www.rand.org/publications/TR/TR164/
  "A Review of the Research Literature on Teacher Recruitment and Retention" represents a comprehensive and critical examination of research published since 1980 on the topic of teacher recruitment and retention in the United States.
  
  

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• What works in early childhood education?
  www.researchtopractice.info/
  Visit the Research and Training Center (RTC) on Early Childhood Development. Its mission is to promote and enhance the healthy development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. The RTC was established to create a bridge between research evidence and early childhood intervention practices.
  
  
• What works with young children with disabilities?
  www.dec-sped.org
  The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children concerns itself directly with the question of what works with young children who have special needs, birth through age eight. Visit the site above and learn more about DEC's publications, which will put you in touch with evidence-based practices and strategies in early intervention and early childhood special education.
  
  
• Inclusion for young children with disabilities?
  www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecrii/index.html
  The Early Childhood Research Institute on Inclusion (ECRII) was a five year national research project funded by OSEP to study the inclusion of preschool children with disabilities in typical preschool, day care and community settings. The project ended on August 31, 2000, but its information is still available on the Web and includes An Administrator's Guide to Preschool Inclusion.
  
  
• What works with young children who have challenging behavior?
  http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/index.html
  Visit the Center for Evidence Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior (CEBPYCCB). Its mission is to promote the use of evidence-based practice to meet the needs of young children who have, or are at risk for, problem behavior. Its Web site will provide you with research syntheses on effective intervention procedures, presentation and workshop materials, training opportunities, and a wide variety of useful links.
  
  
• What's important when working with families who are culturally or linguistically diverse?
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/index.html
  The Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) can tell you.
  
  
• How do we measure children's progress?
  http://cehd.umn.edu/ceed/projects/ecri/dissem.html
  The Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development (ECRI-MGD) was launched iin October, 1996. Its mission is to produce a comprehensive system for measuring the skills and needs of individual children with disabilities from birth to eight years of age.
  
  
• More on measuring children's progress and outcomes.
  www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/index.cfm
  Among other things, the Early Childhood Outcomes Center (ECO) is researching issues related to the development and implementation of outcome measures that states can use to demonstrating results for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families. If you're concerned with how to measure outcomes and demonstrate accountability for these young ones, you'll want to visit ECO and see their work.

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• Research Basics


• NCLB and Reading


• Teaching Reading: Is it Rocket Science?


• Beginning Reading Instruction


• Reading with Older Children


• Don't Miss Resources


• Literacy & Children with Disabilities


• Reading & English Learners

Rather than repeat all that info here, we refer you to this separate A-Z page, at: www.nichcy.org/resources/literacy2.asp

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• Maybe start with a sidetrip---to other NICHCY A-Z pages.
  When it comes to making use of research when planning or delivering certain school services, or knowing what's effective, you may find any of these separate NICHCY pages helpful. What's your subject, issue, or concern? If it's any of what's below, click on the link (or go to www.nichcy.org/resources/default.asp) and connect with a wealth of already organized info on that subject.
  
  • Autism
    
    
  • Any of the other disorders on the autism spectrum: Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, or PDDNOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).
    
    
  • Behavior issues, including where to find behavior expertise; what research has to tell us about effective use of behavior assessment, plans, and positive supports; what's effective in improving student behavior at school; and how to stop bullying.
    
    
  • Curriculum--find out what's available for use in the general ed classroom, what's designed just for students with specific disabilities like LD or AD/HD, what other teachers have to share, what publishers specialize in disability-related or special education materials...and more.
    
    
  • Including students with disabilities in state and district assessments--Find out what states are doing, what accommodations students are receiving, what alternate assessment are being used, and what research has to say about what's effective practice.
    
    
  • Learning and the brain--what research is finding about how we learn and what it means for how we educate.
    
    
  • Learning disabilities--There's a lot of research and best practice on this topic!
    
    
  • Literacy--Here you'll get connected to a ton of info on teaching reading and developing students' literacy skills.
    
    
  • Research on specific disabilities--This is a growing collection of info on what light research (both medical and educational) is shedding on disabilities such as LD, autism, AD/HD, and others.
    
    
• Try this database of interventions and policy evaluations.
  http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/About.asp
  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.
   
• Handbook of Research on Teaching (4th Edition).
  From the American Educational Research Association, 2001. Order by calling 1.800.628.4094, or order online at: www.aera.net/publications/?id=313#handbook
   
• Find effective teaching techniques for different disabilities.
  http://special.edschool.virginia.edu/information/interventions.html
  Students studying special education at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education and East Tennessee State University College of Education have read and summarized scores of research articles about methods for teaching specific skills to individuals with disabilities. Take advantage of their work in the areas of: reading, spelling, handwriting, writing, math, content instruction, behavioral challenges, language skills, social skills, vocational skills, and functional skills.
  
  
• Handbook of Research on Improving Student Achievement.
  From the Educational Research Service, 2003. Order by calling 1.800.791.9308, or order online at: www.ers.org
   
• What is all the buzz about universal design for learning?
  http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html
  Learn all about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). CAST develops technology-based educational resources and strategies based on the principles of UDL.
  
  
• Scientific research in math?
  www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/whatworks/research/page_pg6.html
  The link above will take you to Dr. Russell Gersten's summary of the current state of affairs in math education research.



• All things paraprofessional.
  www.nrcpara.org/resources/bibliography/index.php
  If the qualifications, training, or supervision of paraprofessionals fall within your areas of concern or responsibility, you may be interested in Paraeducator Training Resources, Administrative Guidelines, and Personnel Preparation Models: An Annotated Bibliography 1991-1999, a Web page offering of the National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Education and Related Services (NRCP). You'll find links to materials focused on the distinct categories of: Paraeducator Roles and Responsibilities; Paraeducator Training Materials; Career Development Programs and Models; Policy Questions and Administrative Issues; Paraeducator Supervision; and Research.
  
  
• What do we know about youngsters' mental health and pyschosocial problems?
  http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/prevalence/youthMH.pdf
  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:
  
  
• What works in school psychology?
  www.sp-ebi.org
  Visit the Task Force on Evidence Based Interventions in School Psychology's site, at the link above. The Task Force is focusing upon the research in the following domains: Academic Intervention Programs, Comprehensive School Health Care, Family Intervention Programs, School-Wide And Classroom-Based Programs, and School-Based Intervention Programs For Social Behavior Problems.
  
  
• More on what works in school psychology: Evidence-based interventions.
  www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/workingPapers/Working_Paper_No_2003_13.pdf
  WCER is the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. It offers access to a range of research documents and papers. The one linked above is part of WCER's Working Paper series and presents an overview of issues related to evidence-based practice and the role that the school psychology profession can play in developing and disseminating evidence-based interventions (EBIs).
  
  
• Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs. Available online from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), at: www.casel.org/projects_products/safeandsound.php
  
  
• What works in preventing challenging behaviors?
  www.pbis.org
  Find out by visiting the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
  
  
• More on what works in preventing challenging behaviors.
  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/whatworks.html
  The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning offers What Works Briefs, which summarize effective practices for supporting children's social-emotional development and preventing challenging behaviors.
  
  Training modules are also available in English and in Spanish on: classroom preventive practices, social-emotional teaching strategies, individualized intensive interventions (determining the meaning of challenging behavior and developing a behavior suport plan), and leadership strategies. The training modules are available online at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/modules.html
  
  
• And a bit more.
  http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWebContent/reel/review_groups/EPPI/EBD/EBD1.pdf
  Identify effective strategies and the circumstances where they have worked in this article: "Support For Pupils With Emotional And Behavioral Difficulties (EBD) In Mainstream Primary School Classrooms: A Systematic Review Of The Effectiveness Of Interventions."
  
  
• What works with at-risk students?
  www.mcrel.org/topics/noteworthy.asp
  McREL's (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning) annual Noteworthy Perspectives focuses this year upon Classroom Strategies for Helping At-Risk Students. Six strategies are discussed: whole class instruction, cognitively oriented instruction,
small-group instruction, tutoring, peer tutoring, and computer-based instruction.


• What makes a mentoring program work?
  http://www.mentoring.org
  Visit MENTOR to connect with the latest research on mentoring theory, practice and programs. (You can also find what your State Mentoring Partnership is up to and how to get involved.)
  
  
• Effective strategies to achieve inclusive education: What we've learned from research and experience.
  www.tash.org/publications/foundations_for_inclusion.htm
  TASH offers a 2003 compendium of the latest research on inclusion. The book covers both the conceptual underpinnings of inclusion and the strategies that have proven effective in achieving it.
  
  
• How do you set up and run an effective after-school program?
  www.mentoring.org/program_staff/index.php?cid=61
  Visit the After-School Program Clearinghouse, which provides resources you can use to implement, manage, and strengthen your after-school program.
  
  
• Scientific research related to schools and education.
  http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/research/learning-research.htm
  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.
  
  
• What's the impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement?
  www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
  Find out in A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement, from the National Center for Family Community Connections with Schools at the Southwest Educational Development Lab, 2002. Available online at:

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• What works in transition to adulthood?
  The What Works Transition Research Synthesis Project is designed to tell us precisely that. The project will review and synthesize the past 20 years of research and advancements in the area of transition for youth with disabilities, and publish results and syntheses. Approximately every three months, they will also publish a What Works Data Brief through the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET). Read about the study on NCSET's site, at: www.ncset.org/publications/default.asp.
  
  
• Other research-to-practice information in transition.
  NCSET also offers research to practice briefs designed to improve secondary education and transition services. These are available online at: www.ncset.org/publications/default.asp.
  

• Research 101
  (What makes for good research?)
  


• Research 102: Adding Up the Evidence
  (How do you combine the findings of multiple research studies?)
  


• Making Sense of Statistics in Research
  (Don't let stats throw you.)
  


• Weighing Info for Its Worth
  (Is this research well done?)
  
  
• Special Education Research: Where to Start?
  (How to begin finding and applying research.)
  
  
• What Works: Can We Say? (you're here!)
  (Where can I find information on evidence-based practices?)
  
  
• Research-Based Resources on Specific Disabilities
  (A starting place for research-based information on disabilities.)