This page is maintained by John McCabe and John Boniello, Lower Hudson Special Education School Improvement Specialists. Click here to send them a question or comment.
WHAT WORKS
Quality Improvement Process
Interpreting Research Volume 2: Types of Research Studies and Experimental Design
This is Volume 2 of a recurring series on interpreting research, meant to help educators better interpret the research out there on practices and interventions, so that we can all be more informed. Check out Volume 1 if you didn’t read it, which is on the anatomy of a research study, what the different parts of each article are. Now that you know what the different pieces of the articles you are reading are, and what information is contained in each, I feel it is important to talk about the different types of articles you might read, and the ways in which the experiments are designed in these articles.
Interpreting Research Volume 1: The Anatomy of a Research Study:
I think it is important for educators to understand how to read and interpret research, and not enough of us do it. So this is blog number one on reading and interpreting research. I plan to make this a semi-regular feature on my blog. So tell me -- what usually happens when you decide to sit down and read the latest Journal of Learning Disabilities or Exceptional Children or [insert name here], and find an article about a possible intervention or practice that is promising.
What Makes Teams Work?
In my role as a Non-District Specialist for the RSE-TASC I have the responsibility and opportunity to be a member of many different kinds of teams. As professionals, I bet all of us can attest to the importance of being an effective team member; however, do we spend time thinking about how to measure or assess team effectiveness?
Toolkit
Quality Improvement Process Toolkit
- Golden Circle Tools: The Why, How and What of the Quality Improvement Process: The concept of the Golden Circle, developed by Simon Sinek and articulated in this TED Talk is used by QIP Teams to ensure that their work is driven by a meaningful Why, or student outcome, and identifies Hows and Whats for the school to implement that are directly aligned to that student outcome.
- RSE-TASC Explicit Instruction Walk-Through Tool: The RSE-TASC Explicit Instruction Walk-Through Tool is both a teaching tool and a data collection tool. It identifies research-based practices that have been proven to be effective for all students, but particularly effective for students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and student of poverty.