Sometimes it seems every product or practice promoted in education today is labeled “evidence-based” or “research-based” by its creators.  How can an educator be sure that a practice is really evidence-based; i.e., proven through high-quality studies to meaningfully improve student outcomes?  One way is by using websites that experts in the field have identified as trustworthy sources.  In a 2015 article, Test, Kemp-Imman, Diegelmann, Hitt and Bethune identified 26 websites that list instructional EBPs as trustworthy, each with a “clear, specific set of criteria to classify a practice as evidence based”.  Here is a set of five of those resources that we often use as jumping-off points:

* Johns Hopkins’ Best Evidence Encyclopedia

* American Institute for Research, National Center on Intensive Intervention

* National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: http://transitionta.org/evidencepractices

* IRIS Center at Vanderbilt

* OSEP’s What Works Clearinghouse

Test, D. W., Kemp-Inman, A., Diegelmann, K., Hitt, S. B., & Bethune, L. (2015). Are online sources for identifying evidence-based practices trustworthy? An evaluation. Exceptional Children, 82(1), pp. 58-80.

Interested specifically in what works for students with disabilities?  Click on the “Learn More” button below to read the article by RSE-TASC Special Education School Improvement Specialist, Andrew Ecker, that identifies practices from 13 trustworthy websites relevant to teachers of students with disabilities.  The EBPs are organized into six categories: schoolwide framework, literacy instruction, math instruction, assessment, behavior/social skills instruction, and transition.

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