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The National Center for Special Education Research Research Programs and Funded Projects 2005–2012
NCSER 2005-2012

Introduction

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) began its operation on July 1, 2005.  Since then, we have funded more than 250 new research and research training projects.  We have strong research portfolios that include improving early intervention and early childhood special education; reading, writing, and language development for children with disabilities; and academic and behavior outcomes for students with serious behavior disorders.

NCSER is stimulating special education research on teacher quality, mathematics and science education, transition outcomes for secondary students with disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and systems-level interventions in special education.  Through our research grant programs, we are supporting research to develop and evaluate interventions and assessments for children with low and high incidence disabilities. Moreover, we have funded six Research and Development Centers that focus on critical topics that require sustained and intensive research attention.

Over the past 4 years, we have funded a number of postdoctoral research training grant programs in special education to increase the supply of scientists and researchers who are prepared to expand our knowledge of disabilities, conduct rigorous evaluation studies, develop new interventions that are grounded in a science of learning, and design and validate measurement instruments for students in special education.

I am proud of the work that is being accomplished by NCSER researchers and look forward to the new knowledge that will be generated in support of children and youth with disabilities.  Scientists who claim special education as their field of study are among the finest scholars in the country.  The projects listed here represent a new generation of research to improve the quality of early intervention and special education in the United States.

Deborah L. Speece
Commissioner
National Center for Special Education Research
July, 2012

Please note that each project listed is hyperlinked to its abstract on the IES website.