1. Increasing Special Education Research Opportunities THE POLICY BEHIND EXPANDING EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES

2. Today’s Discussion  Brief Historical Perspective & Overview of Federal Role in Special Education Research  Dramatic Funding Losses & Impact on New Research Opportunities  Strengthening Education Through Research Act

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4. A Quick Look Back… 2002 Education Sciences Reform Act Est. Institute of Education Sciences 2004 IDEA Reauthorization 2004 National Center for Special Education Research Created 2006 NCSER Awards First Grants By 2013 Over 260 Grants, in 30 states awarded

5. A Quick Look Back… 260 Research Projects in Key Areas 400,000 Special Educators Nationwide 6 Million Children & Youth with Disabilities

6. A Quick Look Back… Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Research National Center for Special Education Research National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance National Center for Education Statistics

7. A Broad Reach

8. CEC State Profiles How many NCSER grants funded in your state? Who was funded? Examples of research supported. http://www.cec.sped.org/Policy-and-Advocacy/More- Issues/Special-Education-Research

9. A Broad Impact NCSER Summary of Research Findings http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/projects/

10. Dramatic Funding Loss & Impact on New Research 30%30%

11. 75% 75% fewer research grants in 2013 4% of high quality grants funded in 2013, down from 12% in 2012

12. CEC’s ESRA Recommendations Strengthen National Center for Special Education Research Bridge Research-to- Practice Gap Recognize Special/Gifted Ed in Institute for Education Sciences Support, Strong Consistent Leadership 12

13. Strengthening Education Through Research Act Introduced on 4/2/14 and Approved by Full House on 5/8/14 by Representatives Kline (R-MN), Miller (D- CA), Rokita (R-IN), McCarthy (D-CA) Includes key CEC Recommendations: Prioritizing special education research funding within the Institute of Education Sciences. Emphasizing the elimination of the achievement gap between students with and without disabilities. Increasing dissemination and collaboration with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). Increasing the pipeline of early career special education researchers. Ensuring peer reviewers have expertise in areas relevant to grant applications. CEC has significant concerns as funding levels are far too low 13

14. Strengthening Education Through Research Act S.227 Introduced by Senator Alexander (R-TN) on February 4, 2015 Very similar to House Bill CEC has significant concerns as funding levels are far too low 14

15. Strengthening Education Through Research Act House Education and the Workforce Committee Report “[The Strengthening Education Through Research Act] includes important policy changes to address requests from the special education community, including the Council for Exceptional Children and National Center for Learning Disabilities.” May 2014

16. Strengthening Education Through Research Act Prioritizing special education research funding within the Institute of Education Sciences. “Most importantly, SETRA proposes to prioritize funding for special education research…the bill will allow for increased funding for NCSER each year the bill is authorized and authorizes a 12.9 percent increase …in the least year of the bill.” -House Education & the Workforce Committee Report -May 2014

18. Questions?