Connecting Research, Policy and Practice National Center for Special

Connecting Research, Policy and Practice National Center for Special Education Research: Overview Deborah Speece, Ph.D. Commissioner Jacquelyn Buckley, Ph.D. Research Scientist Webinar conducted May 9, 2012 ies.ed.gov

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

Organizational Structure Standards & Review Office National Center for Education Statistics ies.ed.gov Office of the Director National Center for Education Evaluation National Board for Education Sciences National Center for Education Research National Center for Special Education Research

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

NCSER’S Mission per IDEA To sponsor research to expand knowledge and understanding of the needs of infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities in order to improve the developmental, educational, and transitional results of such individuals; To sponsor research to improve services provided under, and support the implementation of, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.); and To evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in coordination with the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. ies.ed.gov Source: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/pl108446.pdf

Statutory Duties (18) Examples: – Identify scientifically based educational practices – Examine the special needs of preschool aged children, infants, and toddlers with disabilities – Improve the alignment, compatibility, and development of valid and reliable assessments – Examine and improve secondary and postsecondary education and transitional outcomes ies.ed.gov Source: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/pl108446.pdf

Statutory Duties, Cont’d – Examine and incorporate universal design concepts – Improve the preparation of personnel – Help parents improve educational results – Address the unique needs of children with significant cognitive impairments – Examine the special needs of limited English proficient children with disabilities ies.ed.gov

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

Commissioner’s Goals Identify pressing, researchable issues Increase the number of funded grants Improve communication with the field ies.ed.gov

Identify pressing, researchable issues Technical Working Group Pacific Coast Research Conference US Dept. of Ed/Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Teacher Roundtable CEC Division Meetings American Educational Research Association invited panel on policy and research ies.ed.gov

Increase the number of funded grants FY12 1st Round Award abstracts now on web 28 awards: 26 research; 2 postdoctoral 10 Development, 8 Efficacy ies.ed.gov

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Improve communication with the field Within Gov’t: Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services; National Science Foundation; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Across Field: – CEC: national conference, Division leaders, teacher roundtable – Met with a number of organizations: AERA Policy Forum, HECSE, NASDSE, CCD ies.ed.gov

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

NCSER Investments by Competition (RFA) Program Number of Awards Investment (in millions) 188 333.0 Research & Development Centers 4 40.0 Postdoctoral Research Training 10 6.5 Small Business Innovation Research 7 7.3 Unsolicited Awards 3 1.4 Special Education Research FY 2006-2011 ies.ed.gov

Research & Development Centers – Improving Mathematics Instruction for Students with Mathematics Difficulties (FY 2010) – Assessment and Accountability in Special Education (FY 2011) – Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (FY 2008) – Serious Behavior Disorders at the Secondary Level (FY 2008) ies.ed.gov

Next set of slides refer to our main special education research competition held twice per year (84.324A) Investments from 2006-2011 ies.ed.gov

Structure of the Competition 5 Goals 11 Topics ies.ed.gov

FY2013 Research Goals Exploration Development & Innovation Efficacy & Replication Effectiveness Measurement ies.ed.gov

Special Education Research Topics Autism Spectrum Disorders Cognition and Student Learning in Special Education Early Intervention and Early Learning in Special Education Families of Children with Disabilities** Mathematics and Science Education Professional Development for Teachers and Related Services Providers Reading, Writing, and Language Development Social and Behavioral Outcomes to Support Learning Special Education Policy, Finance, and Systems Technology for Special Education** Transition Outcomes for Secondary Students with Disabilities ies.ed.gov

NCSER Projects by Goal FY 2006 – FY 2011 % of Funds Expended R & D Centers not included ies.ed.gov

NCSER Topics by Goals Portfolio Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 Goal 4 Goal 5 Autism 1 3 6 0 0 CASL 3 3 1 0 0 Early Int 2 19 17 0 5 Math/Sci 2 10 1 0 4 Rdg/Write 0 13 4 0 7 Prof Dev 3 12 1 0 0 Soc/Behav 0 22 9 2 5 Plcy/Fin/Sys 0 7 2 0 8 Transition 5 8 4 0 1 FY 2006- FY2011 ies.ed.gov

NCSER Research Investments by Topic FY 2006 – FY 2011 ies.ed.gov % of Funds Expended R & D Centers not included

NCSER Investments by Developmental Level Middle School. 12% Middle School. 12% High School . 10% Middle & High School . 4% hool . 10% Middle & High School . 4% FY 2006 – FY 2011 % of Funds Expended R & D Centers not included ies.ed.gov

NCSER Investments by At Risk or Identified Disability ies.ed.gov

NCSER Investments by Special Education Categories FY 2006 – FY 2011 ies.ed.gov % of Funds Expended R & D Centers not included

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

Connecting Research, Policy and Practice Examples of Research Findings by NCSER Investigators ies.ed.gov

Exploration What Goes With What? Preservice teacher preparation in special education is uniquely related to children’s reading performance (Sass, GSU) Early and persistent mathematics difficulty robustly predicts children’s math growth over 5 years of schooling (Morgan, PSU) ies.ed.gov

Development & Innovation What Interventions Have Promise? A newly developed summer employment program showed promise of increasing community-based work experiences for youth with intellectual disabilities (Carter, Vanderbilt) Targeted (vs. comprehensive) kindergarten literacy intervention yields better student outcomes for children at risk of disability at the end of second grade especially if implemented in kindergarten (vs. first grade); ELL children (vs. English only children) who are at risk appear to benefit the most two years after intervention ended. (O’Connor, UC-Riverside) ies.ed.gov

Efficacy & Replication What Works? Multiple investigators demonstrated that children with intellectual disabilities can improve their reading skills using instructional techniques that are effective for typically developing youngsters (e.g., Browder, UNCC) Preschoolers with autism who were in classrooms implementing a peer-based communication program had better outcomes than children in control classrooms: cognition, language, social skills, autism symptom severity (Strain, CU-D) ies.ed.gov

What Works? (cont’d) First Step to Success, a program for students with emotional disturbance, has positive effects on external behavior, and potentially positive effects on emotional/internal behavior, social outcomes, and ratings of academic performance. Meets evidence standards as reviewed by the WWC. (Walker, ORI) ies.ed.gov

Projects Under Construction Intervention to assist middle school youth with emotional disturbance transitioning from alternative schools to general education home schools (Buchanan, OR Soc Lrng Cntr) Multimedia intervention to assist hearing parents of deaf toddlers in their children’s rehabilitation; low SES families (Suskind, U Chicago) Computer based test delivery platform to increase accessibility of state tests for students with visual impairments (Laitusis, ETS) ies.ed.gov

Outline for Today’s Webinar IES Organizational Structure NCSER Mission & Duties Current Goals & Activities Current Status Investments Findings New Opportunities & Future Directions Questions ies.ed.gov

What’s Next? Summer Institutes – Single-case experimental designs – Randomized controlled trials – Quasi experimental designs ies.ed.gov

NCSER New Initiatives for FY13 Early Career Development and Mentoring Program Research Initiative: Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students with Learning Disabilities (A3) ies.ed.gov

Important Dates and Deadlines FY 2012 NCER (305) & NCSER (324) Grant Programs Application Deadline Letter of Intent Due Date Application Posted Start Dates 305A: Ed Research 324A: Sp Ed Research 305D: Stats/Methods 6/21/12 4/19/12 4/19/12 3/1/13 to 9/1/13 305A: Ed Research 324A: Sp Ed Research 305B: Research Training 324B: Sp Ed Research Training 324D: A3 Initiative 305E: State/Local 305H: Researcheries.ed.gov Practitioner Partnerships 9/20/12 7/19/12 7/19/12 7/1/13 to 9/1/13 38

For Further Information http://ies.ed.gov/funding Contact the program officer for the topic under which you intend to apply: – Available in the Request for Applications: – http://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncer progs.asp – http://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncser progs.asp Sign up for IES News Flash to receive latest information: – http://ies.ed.gov/newsflash/ ies.ed.gov

Additional Webinars Available http://ies.ed.gov/funding/webinars/index.asp Basic Overview Application Process Grant Writing Workshops for each goal Grant Writing Workshops for early career researchers and minority serving institutions Overviews of research training programs Overviews of NCSER funding opportunities ies.ed.gov

Questions? [email protected] [email protected] http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/ ies.ed.gov