Scientifically Based Research and Students with Severe Disabilities: Where do Educators Find Evidence-Based Practices?

Abstract

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that all teachers use scientifically based research (SBR) in their classrooms. Teachers are referred to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), which has developed standards to review and rate research to identify evidence-based practices. This article defines SBR under NCLB, summarizes current evidence standards, provides questions to help educators identify SBR and evidence-based practices, discusses the implications of evidence-based practices for rural schools, and briefly discusses why students with severe disabilities need to be included in SBR. It seems that the methodologies preferred by the WWC to determine if a practice is scientifically based are problematic for educators of students with severe disabilities, and even more so for small schools in rural communities.