Special educators are required to use evidence-based academic and behavioral interventions in their classrooms (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). No rigorous and comprehensive database currently exists to support educators. Within the field of special education, single-subject research is the primary research methodology (Horner, Carr, Halle,…

In the wake of an increasing political commitment to evidence-based decision making and evidence-based educational reform that emerged with the No Child Left Behind effort, the question of what counts as evidence has become increasingly important in the field of science education. In current public discussions, academics, politicians, and other…

Although implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) has been strongly advocated by federal legislation as well as school districts in recent years, the concept has not been well accepted in adapted physical education (APE), perhaps due to a lack of understanding of the central notion of EBP. The purpose of this article is to discuss how APE…

Professionals mostly agree that scientific research should guide practice in education. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA; 2004) and the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) require that students with disabilities receive research-based practices in the "least restrictive environment." Because the least…

The implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002 and subsequent sanctions for lower performing school systems has resulted in a number of both positive and negative consequences. One negative effect of NCLB is that teachers report a great deal of anxiety with regard to state-mandated assessments. The authors propose that one cause for the…

The field of evaluation faces a number of serious challenges in light of No Child Left Behind legislation, among them feasibility, resources, and blurring lines among research, evaluation, and assessment. At the same time, these challenges open the door for opportunities in evaluation. Now more than ever, the expertise of evaluators is needed and…

In the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Congress called for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to conduct a rigorous study of the conditions and practices under which educational technology is effective in increasing student academic achievement. A 2007 report presenting study findings for the 2004-2005 school year, indicated that, after one…

This article argues with a literature review that a simplistic distinction between strong and weak evidence hinged on the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the federal "gold standard" for generating rigorous evidence on social programs and policies, is not tenable with evaluative studies of complex, field interventions such as…

A major tenet of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act is the identification and use of evidence-based practices, or those instructional techniques shown by research as most likely to improve student outcomes meaningfully. However, much confusion exists regarding the meaning and potential…

A core component of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) is the provision of free after-school tutoring services, labeled "supplemental educational services" (SES), to eligible students. Importantly, an explicit NCLB requirement makes each state responsible for evaluating individual SES providers with regard to effectiveness in…

The central idea of evidence-based education--that education policy and practice ought to be fashioned based on what is known from rigorous research--offers a compelling way to approach reform efforts. Recent federal trends reflect a growing enthusiasm for such change. Most visibly, the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act requires that…

Meeting a key need, this is the first comprehensive guide to implementing a schoolwide response to intervention (RTI) program. The book is geared to helping practitioners understand and respond to No Child Left Behind and to the new special education eligibility guidelines outlined in IDEIA 2004. Presented are the theoretical and empirical…

To appreciate the true impact of scientifically based research on education, it may be useful first to understand the meaning of the various terms that the law employs as part of its definition of SBR (Scientifcally Based Research). The This article presents an explication from a Software & Information Industry Association publication titled…

This paper discusses different perspectives associated with the use of multiple measures in educational assessment and explores some of the technical considerations for selecting and combining multiple measures. The paper concludes with an example of the use of multiple measures with regard to the recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002.…

When the editors of The Voice of Evidence in Reading Research, Ms. McCardle and Ms. Chhabra, decided to edit a book and to invite authors to contribute to it, they wanted it to be a book for teachers. As stated in the first chapter, their motivation was to empower teachers to judge research worthiness for themselves. They feel that it is important…