Question and Answers Review
Under IDEA, your special education and related services for students with disabilities are guided by peer-reviewed research. A program or service in a student’s IEP grounded in peer-reviewed research means there is reliable evidence that the program or service works. This is demonstrated by research that
- Employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment; involves data analyses that are adequate to support the general findings; relies on measurements or observational methods hat provide reliable data; makes claims of casual relationships only in random-assignment experiments or other designs (to the extent such designs substantially eliminate plausible competing explanations for the obtained results)
- Ensures that studies and methods are presented in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, to offer the opportunity to build systematically on the findings of the research
- Obtains acceptance by a peer-reviewed journal or approval by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review; and uses research designs and methods appropriate to the research question posed
Q: Do IEP teams still have to provide a statement of special education and related services and supplementary aids and services?
A: Yes, this information is still a required part of the IEP. IEP teams base special education, related services and supplementary aids and services on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable.
Q: Does this mean the IEP must state the methodology that will be used to instruct the student?
A: It isn’t clear from the language of the statute. Absent further guidance from the Education Department, I think it will be enough to state in the IEP that these services will be “based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable.” You also need to be prepared to discuss the issue, including any methodologies the parent might request. If the parent is requesting a scientifically based approach and the district’s response is that the teacher will use the methods that have worked for her for the past 15 years but there is no peer-reviewed research to back these methods, you may be in trouble.
Q: How should IEP teams approach this new research expectation?
A: Teachers should inventory materials in your special education resource rooms and classrooms. Although statutory language states “to the extent practicable,” teams are accountable for knowing the research basis of the instructional employed.
Q: Will any research support work?
A: No. The law says “peer-reviewed” research. Although the new IDEA does not define the term, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) defines “scientifically based research” to include peer-reviewed research that involves the application of rigorous, systemic and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs.
Peer-reviewed research:
- Employs systemic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment.
- Involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn.
- Relies on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and valid data across evaluators and observers, multiple measurements and observations, and studies by the same or different investigators.
- Is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which individuals, entities, programs or activities are assigned to different conditions and with appropriate controls to evaluate the effects of the condition of interest, with a preference for random-assignment experiments, or other designs to the extent that those designs contain within-condition or across-condition controls.
- Ensures that experimental studies are presented in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, offer the opportunity to build systematically on their findings.
- Has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective and scientific review.
Q: Where do IEP teams begin locating peer-reviewed research?
A: Begin with the state education agency. Another source is the United States Department if Education (ED). If either agency identifies a methodology as scientifically based, the team may select the strategy. ED maintains two Web sites that identify peer-reviewed instructional techniques: Doing What Works and What Works Clearinghouse.
Q: Do these standards have any implications for parents?
A: Yes. Often parents request methodologies that promises great progress; however, they may not be based on peer-reviewed research. The requirement to provide services “based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable” offers school districts a framework for which to consider parent requests for a particular methodology.