|
| Evidence-Based Practice Reviews: Applying EBP Standards to Reviews of School-Based Practices |
| Sunday, May 25, 2008 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| Williford C |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Karen D. Hager (University of Kentucky) |
| Discussant: Karen D. Hager (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: A number of professional organizations (e.g., CEC, What Works Clearinghouse, American Psychological Association) have recently developed standards or published proposed standards for evaluating the evidence-base of various practices. Establishing such standards is a fairly recent endeavor, thus there will likely be a great deal of discussion and revision before proposed standards are finalized and become required and/or expected in a given field. These standards frameworks address the issues of what constitutes adequate evidence to identify a practice as evidence-based differently. For example, the weight put on different types of research (e.g., randomized clinical trials, single subject designs) varies a great deal. In addition, the standards put forth by some organizations provide much more detail regarding analysis of individual studies to make a determination of the evidence-base than do others. Therefore, some require more decision-making on the part of reviewers. The purpose of this symposium is to apply two or more of the standards frameworks to individual practices and (a) make a determination of the practice as evidence-based or not, and (b) evaluate the standards frameworks themselves regarding issues such as usability, completeness, and correspondence of the results with other methods of evaluating the research base. |
| |
| Activity Schedules for Children with Autism: A Review of the Evidence Base. |
| ALISON M. BETZ (Utah State University), Thomas S. Higbee (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: Various standards for identifying evidence-based practices in special education have been suggested by multiple professional organizations. In the current paper, these standards will be applied to a specific intervention technique for teaching skills to individuals with autism (activity schedules). A review of the activity schedule literature was conducted and the results were then analyzed using multiple standards for evidence-based practices. In addition to discussing the evidence-base for activity schedules, application of the various standards to this research base will be discussed. |
| |
| A Review of Secondary Peer Tutoring: Results from Three Sets of Evidence-Based Practice Standards. |
| DONALD M. STENHOFF (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: The No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004 require special education and general education teachers to use evidence-based practices and instructional arrangements in their classrooms. This is especially important when teaching content knowledge and various skills to students with disabilities. Professional organizations have conceptualized standards to identify evidenced-based practices in research. The purpose of this study is to compare the outcomes of a peer tutoring meta-analysis when this research base is analyzed using three different sets of evidence-based practice standards. |
| |
| Community and School-Based Mentoring Programs: Perils and Pitfalls In Evaluating the Evidence. |
| BENJAMIN LIGNUGARIS/KRAFT (Utah State University), Ginger L. Kelso (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this presentation is to describe the difficulties in evaluating the quality of studies based on peer reviewed research reports. Gersten et al.’s (2005) quality indicators for group and quasi-experimental research were used to evaluate the literature on community and school-based mentoring programs. Results of that analysis will be presented along with an analysis of study outcomes. Discussion will focus on study qualities that are difficult to evaluate from available research reports and the relationship between the perceived quality of a study and study outcomes. |
|
| |