The National Special Education Research Agenda: Inside the Matrix

1
The National Special Education Research Agenda
Inside the Matrix
2
The National Center for Special Education
Research (NCSER) in the Institute of Education
Sciences (IES) ButWhat exactly is the
Institute of Education Sciences? (And, what
happened to OSERS and OSEP?)
3
IDEA Reauthorization in 2004

• Amended the The Education Sciences Reform Act of
  2002 to establish the National Center for Special
  Education Research in the Institute of Education
  Sciences (IES)
• Transferred responsibility for special education
  research and Studies and Evaluations (except
  for the Annual Report) from the Office of Special
  Education Programs to NCSER.

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The Charge Legislative Branch

• Research, statistical, and evaluation
  activities supported by the Institute shall
  apply rigorous, systematic, and objective
  methodology to obtain reliable and valid
  knowledge and present findings and make claims
  that are appropriate to and supported by the
  methods that have been employed. (ESRA, 2002)

5
IES Goals

• develop or identify programs, practices,
  policies, and approaches that enhance academic
  achievement and that can be widely deployed
• identify what does not work and what is
  problematic, and thereby encourage innovation and
  further research
• gain fundamental understanding of the processes
  that underlie variations in the effectiveness of
  education programs
• develop delivery systems for the results of
  education research that will be routinely used by
  practitioners and the public when making
  education decisions

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Organizational Structure
Office of the Director Grover J. Whitehurst,
Director
National Board for Education Sciences Robert C.
Granger, Chair Sonia Chessen, Executive Director
Office of Science Andrew White, Deputy
Director for Science
Office of Administration and Policy Sue
Betka, Deputy Director for Administration and
Policy
Office of Communication and Outreach Mike
Bowler, Director of Communications and Outreach
Office of Information Technology Gerald
Malitz, Chief Information Technology Officer
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Organizational Structure
Office of the Director Grover J. Whitehurst,
Director
National Board for Education Sciences Robert C.
Granger, Chair Sonia Chessen, Executive Director
National Center for Education Evaluation and
Regional Assistance Phoebe Cottingham, Commissione
r
National Center for Education Research Lynn
Okagaki, Commissioner
National Center for Education Statistics Mark
Schneider, Commissioner
National Center for Special Education
Research Edward J. Kameenui, Commissioner
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The National Center for Special Education
Research (NCSER) in The Institute of Education
Sciences (IES)In Appreciation of Hartleys
First Law
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Hartleys First Law

• You can lead a horse to water,
• but if you can get him to float on his back,
  youve got something.
• Bloch, A. (1982). Murphys law and other reasons
  why things go wrong. LA Price/Stern/Sloan
  Publishers, Inc.

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Five Organizing Principles

• for
• National Center for Special Education Research in
  the
• Institute of Education Sciences

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NCSER Organizing Principles

• 1. The science must come first--

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Ode to Feynman
This phenomenon of having a memory for the race,
of having an accumulated knowledge passable from
one generation to another, was new in the world.
But it had a disease in it. It was possible to
pass on mistaken ideas. It was possible to pass
on ideas which were not profitable for the race
Then a way of avoiding the disease was
discovered And that is what science is the
result of the discovery that it is worthwhile
rechecking by new direct experience, and not
necessarily trusting the race experience from the
past (p. 185).
Richard P. Feynman (1999). The pleasure of
finding things out. Cambridge, MA Perseus
Publishing.
13
Weve done wellnow theres an opportunity to
really be amazing--to be amazing as a business,
to be amazing in the positive impact that we have
on society. But we have to do some things a
little bit differently to be as amazing as we
hope we can be. Steve Ballmer, CEO,
MicrosoftBusiness Week, June 17, 2002
(http//www.business week.com/magazine/content/02_
24/b3787001.htm)
Invoking the Ballmer Standard
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NCSER Organizing Principles

• 1. The science must come first--and it must be
  the best, perhaps even amazing.

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Methodological Statistical Issues

• Traditional issues Highly nested nature of
  student performance in complex systems that
  provoke complex interactions among range of
  variables (familial, social, pedagogical,
  curricular, organizational) compounded by
  heterogeneity of student characteristics/performan
  ce comorbidity.
• Quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis) of
  single-case research to identify effective
  educational interventions
• Statistical power for random assignment
  evaluations of programs and interventions etc.

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Evidence-based Education

• Using the best available empirical evidence in
  making decisions about education

-- Particularly for students with disabilities
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IES NCSER Practice (TA D)

• Simple Formula
• 1. R - TA D Irrelevant
• 2. TA D - R Irresponsible
• 3. R TA D Relevant Responsible
• What Does This Mean?
• Levels of evidence process mechanisms

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Levels of Evidence on What Works

1. Meta-analyses of high quality evidence
2. Experiments and well designed quasi-experiments
   using WWC standards (including small n designs)
3. Statistical modeling of correlational and
   longitudinal data
4. Best practice studies with matching and
   contrastive analysis
5. Expert opinion supported by conceptual models and
   generalizations from high quality research on
   related topics
6. Simple correlational studies, case studies,
   pre-post studies, and best practice studies w/o
   matching

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What Can CEC Do?

• Establish a Scientific Advisory Council to
  anchor the primacy of science in CEC
• Advocate insist upon rigorous scientific
  standards in special education research TA D
  (and within organization)
• Adopt levels of evidence to adjudicate/promote
  research-to-practice translation
• Launch a public awareness campaign to inform
  parents about importance of science

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Presidents FY 2006 Education Final
Appropriations (in millions of dollars)

• Title I Grants to LEAs 12,713 million (largest
  portion of NCLB programs)
• Reading First/Early Reading First 1,132
  million
• Research in special education and studies and
  evaluation 82 million (0.11 of total ED
  monies)
• Total Education Appropriation 71,545 million
• Reference http//www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget
  /budget06/06action.pdf

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Comparison of FY2006 Appropriations with other
Federal agencies (millions of dollars)

• Comparison Agency
• Defense Budget Authority 419,341
• Homeland Security Authority 34,152
• Secret Service Agency 1,200
• Environmental Protection Agency 7,571
• Total Federal Budget 2,568 (in billions of
  dollars)

• Comparative for NCSER (82 million)
• 0.02 monies authorized as compared to DOD
• 0.24 of monies authorized as compared to DHS
• 6.83 of monies authorized as compared to Secret
  Service Agency
• 1.08 of monies authorized as compared with the
  EPA
• 0.003 of total monies authorized

Reference http//www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy06/
browse.html
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Federal Research and Development Spending
(Proposed FY 2006)

• Total Across Federal Agencies 132,304 million
• Federal agencies include DOD, HHS, NASA, DOE,
  NSF, USDA, DHS, DOC, DOT, DVA, DOI, EPA, and
  Other
• RD is characterized as basic research,
  applied research, development, R D equipment or
  RD facilities.
• NCSER Appropriation 81.7 million (0.06 of RD
  monies)
• Reference http//www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy
  2006/budget.html

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NCSER Organizing Principles

• 2. Because the special education problem space
  is infinitely broad and complex, we must invest
  wisely and strategically.

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To do so requires going inside the Special
Education Matrix

• What Special Education Matrix?

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Features of NCSER Research Matrix

• NCSER Statutory responsibilities 18
• Disability Statutory categories 12
• Total Research Matrix cells 18 x 12 216

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Matrix of Disability Category by NCSER Duties
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NCSER Evidence Map Just One of 216 Cells
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FY 2006 NCSER Research Programs

• Reading Writing Special Education Research
• Math Science Special Education Research
• Special Education Teacher Quality
  Reading/Writing
• Special Education Teacher Quality Math/Science
• Early Intervention and Assessment for Young
  Children with Disabilities

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FY 2006 NCSER Programs (contd)

• Assessment for Accountability Special Education
  Research
• Individualized Education Programs Research
• Serious Behavior Disorders Special Education
  Research
• Secondary and Post-Secondary Outcomes Special
  Education Research
• Language and Vocabulary Development Special
  Education Research

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FY 2007 Grant Competitions

• Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special
  Education, and Assessment for Young Children with
  Disabilities
• Mathematics and Science
• Reading, Writing, and Language
• Serious Behavior Disorders
• Assessment for Accountability

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FY 2007 Grant Competitions

• Individualized Education Programs and
  Individualized Family Service Plans
• Secondary and Transition Services
• Quality of Teacher and Other Service Providers
  for Students with Disabilities
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Response to Intervention

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Research Grant Program Goals

• Goals differ by topic area, and include
• Goal 1 Identifying promising practices.
• Goal 2 Developing and testing new approaches.
• Goal 3 Conducting efficacy and replication
  trials.
• Goal 4 Conducting large scale evaluations.
• Goal 5 Developing and validating assessments.

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NCSER Organizing Principles

• 3. Research in special education is at the
  heart of the National Center for Special
  Education Research (NCSER) in IES.

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Public Law 108-446December 3, 2004 118 STAT.
2647 - 108th Congress

• USC 1401 Sec. 602. DEFINITIONS
•  
• (29) SPECIAL EDUCATION.The term special
  education means specially designed instruction,
  at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs
  of a child with a disability, including
• (A) instruction conducted in the classroom, in
  the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in
  other settings and
• (b) instruction in physical education.

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Specially Designed Instruction

• NOT
• special institutions
• teaching strategies
• curricular programs
• special support
• special learning
• general programs

• Design Architecture of information
• Individualized Education Program (IEP)
• AND Related Services
• Families

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NCSER Organizing Principles

• 4. Building the research capacity of the field is
  not a Lone Ranger endeavor Collaboration and
  consultation are essential.

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The Charge Customers

• Make research more practical
• Fill gaps in knowledge
• Provide digested and vetted findings
• Consider products for end users
• Consider expanding current IES research grammar
  and goal structure

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Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services (OSERS)

• John Hager, Assistant Secretary

Dr. Troy Justesen, Deputy Assistant Secretary Dr.
Alexa E. Posny, Director, Office of Special
Education Programs (OSEP) Dr. Lou Danielson,
Director of Research to Practice Division
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Ode to Borens First Law

• 5. Good science is good business for everyone
  but good science is not enough. Results must
  lead to the engineering of high quality
  performance and delivery systems.

40
Why the Global Economy Is Here To Stay Jeffrey
E. Garten, Dean, Yale School of
Management (Business Week, March 23, 1998, p.
21) Delivering some 2.8 million packages in 210
countries each day, FedEx is pushing
globalization faster and deeperbecause it is
using information technology to reengineer its
clients worldwide supply and distribution
systemsFedEx canelectronically track where any
shipment is at any given moment, and it can
guarantee on-time delivery.
41
Cream of the Crop, Alison Peacock. Horizon
Air, April, 1998, p. 12-17. A computerized
system keeps track of how much milk each cow
gives each time. Obrist can look up any cow on
his computer and track her milking yields for
weeks at a time, noting at a glance when she is
at peak production or if her health is ailing
(p. 13).
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Engineering Systems

• IT Systems (including digital technology) that
  permit, for example
• the large scale, real time management of a range
  of student performance data at the district,
  school, and classroom levels, including the real
  time management of individualized education
  programs (e.g., FedEx Dairy Farmers)
• greater and faster accessibility to the full
  range of print materials
• accountability and information management systems
  linked to student performance and results

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Five Harsh Realities to Hartleys First Law
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Harsh Realities

• We have more cells than research dollars. Most
  cells are either empty or partially filled. None
  of the cells are completely filled. Where should
  NCSER make investments for the short and long
  term? What organizing principles and values
  should guide these decisions?
• Space and time is at least three-dimensional
  Investments must reflect a long-term horizontal
  view (breadth) with vertical short-term
  investments (depth) that vary over time,
  complimented with diagonal investments when
  possible/feasible (depending on quality of
  research from field).
•  

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Harsh Realities (Contd)

• What is the capacity of the field to deliver the
  research goods? The quality of the research
  infrastructure and capacity is essential to good
  science and research.
• Needed Short and long-term investments in
  building professional capacity that is
  interdisciplinary, rigorous, and content
  intensive in special education as a primary
  discipline.

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Harsh Realities (contd)

• What is the capacity of the U.S. Department of
  Education and the Institute of Education Sciences
  (IES) to deliver the goods?
•  
• What are the mechanisms for obtaining input from
  the fieldindividuals and parents/ caregivers of
  children and individuals with disabilities,
  professional organizations, stakeholders and the
  general publicon the research investments?

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Stockmayers Theorem

• If it looks easy, its tough.
• If it looks tough, its damn well impossible.
• Bloch, A. (1982). Murphys law and other reasons
  why things go wrong. LA Price/Stern/Sloan
  Publishers, Inc.

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• The home of
• evidence-based education