IES Blog

Today, we’ll take you through our conversation with Dr. Sarah Powell, associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Powell’s project, Math SPIRAL: Specialized Intervention to Reach All Learners, evaluates an educator-provided mathematics intervention for students in grades 4 and 5. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

*Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER): How would you describe your research project in a sentence?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: We work collaboratively with teachers and support them, through professional development, in providing math tutoring to students in grades 4 and 5. 

NCSER: What was the need that inspired you to conduct this research?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: There are too many students who are not meeting minimum levels of math proficiency, and the state of Texas passed legislation to help these students by requiring that they receive small-group instruction. Our project provides support to the teachers who do this small-group instruction and tests the impact of this support on student math outcomes.  

NCSER: What outcomes do you expect to change with this research?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: We expect teacher instructional practices to improve, especially around the use of evidence-based practices to teach math. We would also expect student math outcomes to improve when those students receive tutoring from the teachers in our project.  

NCSER: What inspired you to do research in special education?   

Dr. Sarah Powell: In middle school, I struggled with math and received poor math grades. In ninth grade, I had a math teacher who explained math in a way that helped me understand. As I spent time in schools as a teacher, I saw other students struggle with math like I did. When I learned how research can help improve math outcomes for students, I was in! 

NCSER: Why is this particular research project important to you?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: Prior to this project, most of my research was on intervention design and the testing of those interventions. It was very focused on the student. With SPIRAL, we are working with teachers and trying to improve teaching practices without a specific curriculum in place.  

NCSER: How do you think this grant will impact special education?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: This grant has the opportunity to impact what we know about best practice for providing math professional learning and coaching to math teachers. This grant also has the potential to determine if student math outcomes can improve when teachers participate in collaborative learning about best practices for the teaching and learning of math. Researchers may also learn more about conducting studies using regression discontinuity design in schools.  

NCSER: How will this project address challenges related to the pandemic?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: In Texas, the majority of students, including students with disabilities, did not meet minimum levels of math proficiency in 2021. This project addresses a challenge that more students than usual are experiencing difficulty with math, and many math teachers are providing small-group instruction who have not provided such support before.  

“Children with or at risk for disabilities start to enjoy math when they start to see small successes with their learning. Math can be for all!”

NCSER: What are some of the biggest challenges in special education research today?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: Collaborating with school partners has become more difficult when schools have more and more students who experience difficulty with reading and math. Many schools feel overwhelmed, so finding the time to collaborate with researchers is not necessarily a priority.

NCSER: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about children and youth with or at risk for disabilities?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: Children with or at risk for disabilities start to enjoy math when they start to see small successes with their learning. Math can be for all! 

NCSER: What are some of the most exciting news/innovations/stories that give you hope for the future of special education research?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: I am enthralled in all the conversations about the “science of reading” and the recognition that many schools have been teaching reading according to beliefs instead of evidence. The math story is the same–and I am hopeful we can start to focus on the teaching and learning of math in order to improve math outcomes for all students.  

NCSER: What are some of the future goals for you and your team?  

Dr. Sarah Powell: Continue to develop strong partnerships with our local school districts and continue to respond to their needs–SPIRAL is an example of that. We all work hard and want to continue to improve the math outcomes of students and ensure all students have access to evidence-based math instruction.  

Thank you for reading our conversation with Dr. Sarah Powell! Come back tomorrow for our next grantee spotlight!  

Today, we present you with Dr. Megan York Roberts, associate professor at Northwestern University. Dr. Megan York Roberts’ project, Reducing Time to Autism Diagnosis for Toddlers Enrolled in Early Intervention, tests a virtual process for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder to support earlier access to autism-specific intervention services in Illinois. 

*Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER): How would you describe your research project in a sentence?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: This research project aims to test a new autism diagnostic pathway that will ultimately reduce time to diagnosis.  

NCSER: What was the need that inspired you to conduct this research?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: As an intervention researcher, I was frustrated by the barriers families face in accessing timely specialized intervention services (which requires an autism diagnosis). For example, families often have to navigate an entirely new system to access an autism evaluation in Illinois. First, they have to find where they can get an evaluation; then they have to wait for several months for the appointment, and then they must figure out how to access additional services. This lift is just too much for caregivers, especially those who aren’t familiar with the early intervention (EI) or medical system and what services may be available to them. Each of these barriers increases the length of time a child and their family go without services and supports.

NCSER: What outcomes do you expect to change with this research?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: I hope that children will be able to receive an autism evaluation sooner, which will lead to quicker access to specialized intervention services. An autism diagnosis is often referred to as the “golden ticket” to additional specialized services. I want all families who need this ticket to get it as soon as they want it. I also want families to have a positive experience with the diagnostic process. I want them to feel heard and I want them to feel like we have seen their whole child. At the end of this grant, I want to have a new autism diagnostic pathway that: (a) allows families to receive a timely, culturally responsive, and neurodiversity-affirming evaluation, and (b) includes open-access training materials to support EI clinicians’ widespread implementation of this diagnostic approach.

NCSER: What inspired you to do research in early intervention?   

Dr. Megan York Roberts: I was an early-intervention clinician in upstate New York for several years and realized that the period from birth to three years of age is also one of the most important developmental periods; there is so much potential to impact a child’s long-term outcomes when intervention is implemented during this period of heighted neuroplasticity.  

NCSER: Why is this particular research project important to you?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: This is the first research project that will have an immediate, real-world impact for 1,200 children in Illinois who will be able to access an autism diagnostic evaluation sooner, while simultaneously providing the necessary data to potentially change how we diagnose autism across the U.S. and in the future.  

NCSER: How do you think this grant will impact early intervention?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: I hope that the data from this grant will lead to a new autism diagnostic pathway that exists within EI systems, as opposed to the current medical model. Right now, the primary option for toddlers enrolled in EI in Illinois is to receive an autism evaluation by a physician. This is problematic because there are very few physicians who provide these evaluations as part of the EI medical diagnostic process. If EI clinicians (with appropriate training) were allowed to diagnose autism, this would drastically increase the number of evaluation slots, thereby reducing the time to diagnosis.

NCSER: How will this project address challenges related to the pandemic?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: The pandemic drastically increased the waitlists for autism diagnostic evaluations; in some cases, the wait is 24 months. I hope that this project drastically reduces or eliminates this wait for children enrolled in EI in Illinois.  

NCSER: What are some of the biggest challenges in early intervention research today?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: I think there are two big challenges. First, we struggle to recruit study samples that represent all children enrolled in early intervention. Second, implementation in real-world settings continues to be challenging. For example, despite decades of research supporting the use of caregiver coaching, most caregivers do not receive coaching.  

NCSER: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about children and youth with or at risk for disabilities?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: Early intervention should not be about “fixing” a child, but rather thinking about how we can change the context such that the child is better able to learn, develop, and thrive. 

“Early intervention should not be about ‘fixing’ a child, but rather thinking about how we can change the context such that the child is better able to learn, develop, and thrive.”

NCSER: What are some of the most exciting news/innovations/stories that give you hope for the future of early intervention research?  

Dr. Megan York Roberts: When we applied for this grant, we posted about our need for letters of support on Instagram. We received hundreds of responses from clinicians saying that they were so excited for the project and that they would be willing to participate. This gives me such hope that all of us (caregivers, clinicians, researchers) can work together to solve really important problems.  

NCSER: What are some of the future goals for you and your team?   

Dr. Megan York Roberts: We want to do more community-based participatory work in which we engage stakeholders (caregivers, EI clinicians) in all parts of the research process, from designing the study to interpreting the results.  

Thank you for reading our conversation with Dr. Megan York Roberts! Check back in next week!

Today, we want to present to you Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi, assistant research professor at the University of Kansas. Dr. Choi’s work focuses on testing whether Resources Aligned and Integrated for Student Equity (RAISE)—a systematic, data-informed decision-making process—improves the academic and behavioral outcomes of elementary school students with or at risk for disabilities. We hope you enjoy learning more about Dr. Choi’s work as much as we did! 

*Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER): How would you describe your research project in a sentence? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The project is designed to examine the efficacy of a decision-making procedure (called RAISE) that integrates and aligns general and special education resources at all levels of an equity-based, multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) with inclusive instructional strategies and family and community engagement to enhance instruction for students with or at risk for disabilities in general education settings. 

NCSER: What was the need that inspired you to conduct this research? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: Equity-based MTSS can be a powerful way to provide equitable and inclusive education; however, the most intensive level (tier) of support of the equity-based MTSS is still often considered the same as special education, and thus not all students who need the support have access to available resources offered within the prevention and instruction system. It is also expected that all students with or at risk for disabilities—regardless of their cultural, gender, and socioeconomic backgrounds—can more effectively learn when educators are making decisions that include all available resources and instructional strategies, regardless of tier level. My colleagues and I agreed that proper responses to this issue can accelerate the recovery from the pandemic and minimize the likelihood of overidentification of disability. 

NCSER: What outcomes do you expect to change with this research? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The RAISE model provides tools and guidance for grade-level and school-wide teams to review data and make instructional decisions for students with or at risk for disabilities. The research investigates the impact of the implementation on student academic scores, measured by benchmark assessments, and behavior, measured by the major office discipline referrals (ODRs). In the meantime, changes in the adult problem-solving behavior at the grade-level/school-wide team meeting will be examined. 

NCSER: What inspired you to do research in special education? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The education of students with or at risk for disabilities seems to be the most complicated issue. It is highly associated with other social and educational issues, such as racial equity, poverty, cultural diversity, social class, ableism, and so on. Our previous special education research studies regarding school reform, system change, and school leadership led us to apply to NCSER’s pandemic-recovery competition for support to conduct this study. 

NCSER: Why is this particular research project important to you? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The impact of the pandemic is huge, especially for those who may have experienced or are experiencing learning regression as a result. Students with or at risk for disabilities may experience its impact more acutely and for a longer time. We have observed outcome improvements for this population with equity-based MTSS implementation in other projects. The current research’s rigorous design will contribute to understanding how to address such regression in academic and social skills.

NCSER: How do you think this grant will impact special education? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The findings of the current project, if successful, will provide a practice model for special and general educators to work together within grade-level and school-wide teams to use data to align and integrate general and special education resources to better support students with or at risk for disabilities. The project will produce knowledge of the usable and feasible implementation of RAISE in authentic conditions on valued student outcomes. The products of this research will be a set of support resources to strengthen routine data practices to intensify support for students to engage with the general education curriculum. 

NCSER: How will this project address challenges related to the pandemic? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The pandemic not only caused some students to experience regression in academic learning and social and behavioral skills, but also a high level of educator burnout. The project is designed to provide guidance to use data and plan academic, social, and behavior instruction. In addition, RAISE encourages school teams to routinely work as a team with special educators, utilize students’ strengths and needs when making decisions, and connect and share progress with various stakeholders. The teaming, collaborative decision-making, and resource mapping embedded in this data-use routine will provide educators with emotional support and solutions that work for their classrooms and students. 

“The concept of disability is socially and historically constructed. Education ought to be able to deal with diverse academic, behavior, and social-emotional learning needs without applying labels to students that may limit the expectations of the educators who instruct them.”

NCSER: What are some of the biggest challenges in special education research today? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: Special education, as it is known, is a multi- and cross-disciplinary field that integrates education, health, mental health, policy, community and family services, and so on. No doubt the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has led to improved results for students with disabilities. The next level of research in special education should be large-scale and longitudinal studies to investigate the impact of special education or related practices, such as inclusive education, in the community with other multidisciplinary group members. The biggest barriers would include limited data access, disconnected data-based communication among general and special education, and inconsistent data collection across SEAs/LEAs and over time. 

NCSER: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about children and youth with or at risk for disabilities? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The concept of disability is socially and historically constructed. Education ought to be able to deal with diverse academic, behavior, and social-emotional learning needs without applying labels to students that may limit the expectations of the educators who instruct them. 

NCSER: What are some of the most exciting news/innovations/stories that give you hope for the future of special education research? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: The most exciting part since I started working on special education research is that more research funding has been available to study system change, school climate, and multidisciplinary collaboration (especially between general and special education). I personally hope to see joint funding opportunities between general and special education research agencies in the future. 

NCSER: What are some of the future goals for you and your team? 

Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi: We at SWIFT Education Center received three federal awards from the Department of Education this year. These awards support the following projects: 1) National Center on Inclusion toward Rightful Presence (from the Office of Special Education Programs), 2) Supporting Effective School Leaders through Professional Learning and Resources for Equity Leadership and Educator Well-Being (from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education), and 3) Resources Aligned and Integrated for Student Equity (RAISE): A Protocol for Grade-Level Teams to Intensify Instruction for Students with or at Risk for Disabilities (from IES). Although these projects have methodological differences, all three include research components. Findings from those research activities will allow us to build knowledge regarding how equity-based MTSS works for various populations, including students with or at risk for disabilities and economically, culturally, and socially disadvantaged students. We will continue to work on equity and excellence in education. 

Thank you for reading our conversation with Dr. Jeong Hoon Choi! Come back tomorrow for our next grantee spotlight!  

Today, we would like to highlight the work of Dr. Brook Sawyer, associate professor at Lehigh University. Dr. Sawyer plans to adapt and test whether Parents Plus (P+), an online parent-implemented intervention, accelerates the language development of preschoolers with developmental language disorders. We hope you enjoy this interview! 

*Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER): How would you describe your research project in a sentence?  

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Our goal is to empower parents with knowledge and skills to improve the language skills of their preschool children with developmental language disorders. 

NCSER: What was the need that inspired you to conduct this research? 

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Language skills are imperative for healthy development, given that they are central to social relationships and academic learning. When children with developmental language disorders receive early-intervention services, such as speech-language services, their language skills improve. For preschool children, these early-intervention services are typically delivered in the preschool setting. Because speech-language pathologists have such large caseloads, they often are not able to effectively teach parents to facilitate their children’s language development. As such, we lose valuable opportunities to promote children’s language skills. By providing training to parents, we can provide children with many more high-quality opportunities to develop their language skills. 

NCSER: What outcomes do you expect to change with this research? 

Dr. Brook Sawyer: We expect that parents will gain skills to facilitate their children’s language development. In turn, we expect that children’s language skills will improve. 

NCSER: What inspired you to do research in special education? 

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Children with disabilities require additional support to develop skills. Additionally, parents and teachers need the tools to engage with children in positive and supportive ways. As both a parent and teacher myself, I understand how challenging it can be to provide optimal learning environments for children. I want to do all that I can to support parents and teachers and the children that they care for.   

NCSER: Why is this particular research project important to you?  

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Given the critical importance of language skills for social relationships and academic learning, we must provide children with developmental language disorders as many high-quality language-learning opportunities as possible to develop their language skills. Obviously, parents have an immensely important role in promoting their children’s development. Yet without education and support, parents can feel unempowered. We developed Parents Plus as a fully online program to provide a convenient way for parents to learn how to facilitate their children’s language skills.  

NCSER: How do you think this grant will impact special education?  

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Once children enter preschool, their special education services are typically delivered in schools, and it can be challenging to meaningfully involve parents. Given how important parents are in supporting their children’s development, we need to develop feasible and effective ways to empower parents with knowledge and skills. In this way, we can enhance the learning environments that children are receiving at home. 

NCSER: How will this project address challenges related to the pandemic?  

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Because children’s special education services were disrupted during the pandemic, critical learning opportunities were lost. By training and supporting parents, along with children receiving their typical speech-language services in preschool, children will experience increased opportunities to develop their language skills. As such, we expect that children’s language skills will improve more than if they only received language services in preschool. 

NCSER: What are some of the biggest challenges in special education research today? 

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Overall, I think parents, teachers, and related personnel—like speech-language pathologists—are very overwhelmed. They have many demands on their time and understandably may not feel they have the bandwidth to engage in research to develop and test new programs. We have experienced challenges in finding the best ways to let parents know about our project. 

NCSER: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about children and youth with or at risk for disabilities?  

Dr. Brook Sawyer: I’ll frame this particularly around the population of children that we focus on—preschool children with developmental language disorders (DLD). Individuals, including parents and teachers, may not recognize that preschool children with DLD are constantly communicating, and want to communicate, because children are communicating differently. For instance, children may be primarily communicating through behavior, even challenging behavior, because they do not yet have the verbal skills to express their wants/needs. When adults do not understand children’s behaviors as communicative acts, parents and teachers may not respond to children appropriately. As such, bids for connections and learning opportunities are lost. It is our goal in Parents Plus to teach parents to recognize and capitalize on opportunities to build language skills. In our initial pilot test, parents were anecdotally reporting to the coach that they were finding much more enjoyment being with their child once they had the knowledge to understand their children’s communicative acts—and the skills to respond. 

Further, some individuals believe that young children with DLD may “grow out of it.” However, if intervention is not provided in a timely manner, children’s language delays typically become magnified. As such, we need to intervene early and provide support for children in their natural settings, including preschool and home contexts.  

NCSER: What are some of the most exciting news/innovations/stories that give you hope for the future of special education research?  

Dr. Brook Sawyer: Technology is making it easier for parents and educators to individualize support based on a particular child’s needs. For example, we use remote coaching, where parents send short videos to their coach and receive individualized suggestions on how they can provide optimal language-learning opportunities for their child. By doing this remotely, it is more convenient for the parent and coach and cuts down on logistical challenges, like travel and childcare.

NCSER: What are some of the future goals for you and your team? 

Dr. Brook Sawyer: We hope to develop a culturally and linguistically adapted version of Parents Plus for Latine parents who speak Spanish in the home. 

Thank you for reading our conversation with Dr. Brook Sawyer! Come back tomorrow for our next grantee spotlight!  

We hope you enjoyed yesterday’s NCSER grantee spotlight! Today, we present to you Dr. Beth Stormshak, Knight Chair and professor at the University of Oregon. Dr. Stormshak’s project is to conduct an efficacy trial of the Family Check-Up Online to address emotional and behavioral challenges among middle school students with or at risk for disability during their transition back to school after the pandemic-related school closures. 

*Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

NCSER: How would you describe your research project in a sentence?  

Dr. Beth Stormshak: This research examines the Family Check-Up Online in a hybrid efficacy-effectiveness trial that provides support for schools to implement the model under ideal conditions, and then tests the ability of schools to implement and sustain the intervention under real-world conditions, with the goal of reducing mental health and behavior problems in students who have been identified as “high needs.” 

NCSER: What was the need that inspired you to conduct this research? 

Dr. Beth Stormshak: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the dire circumstances that most schools are facing as they tackle the mental health and behavioral concerns of students. Staffing shortages, escalating rates of mental health problems, and limited resources have led to a crisis that needs to be addressed nationwide. 

NCSER: What outcomes do you expect to change with this research? 

Dr. Beth Stormshak: With this research, we expect to impact student outcomes—including mental health, behavior, attendance, and achievement—which we refer to as the “ABCs” of student success (attendance, behavior, and classroom performance). We also expect to impact staffing outcomes, such as training in evidence-based approaches to intervention and willingness to engage with parents and caretakers to improve student success. 

NCSER: What inspired you to do research in special education?   

Dr. Beth Stormshak: I am interested in evidence-based interventions that support students who are struggling both academically and behaviorally. My work began over 30 years ago with a focus on improving student behavior problems in schools and has now expanded to include mental health and wellness, which impact most students and families receiving special education services. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the dire circumstances that most schools are facing as they tackle the mental health and behavioral concerns of students. Staffing shortages, escalating rates of mental health problems, and limited resources have led to a crisis that needs to be addressed nationwide.”

NCSER: Why is this particular research project important to you?  

Dr. Beth Stormshak: There is clear evidence that supporting parents in building positive relationships with their child improves child behavior, mental health, and academic outcomes. Yet schools have few resources to administer family-centered interventions. My research bridges the gap between schools and families by testing a new tool for supporting families at home, with clear implications for school behavior. The ultimate goal of this research is to support parent skills and relationship building, which in turn will lead to reductions in student problem behavior and mental health concerns. 

NCSER: How do you think this grant will impact special education?  

Dr. Beth Stormshak: Special educators are unique in that they often interface with families more than other school personnel. They also have training in behavioral supports for students, making them ideal candidates to learn this model and apply it to school settings. I hope that our work will provide a sustainable tool for educators that can be used to improve student outcomes. 

NCSER: How will this project address challenges related to the pandemic?  

Dr. Beth Stormshak: Parents are more frustrated than ever with services provided to support student mental health. Schools are overwhelmed with students who need support, and communities do not have any additional resources to support families and students. This online program provides a cost-effective approach to service distribution that will have greater reach and impact than most programs currently available in schools and communities. 

NCSER: What are some of the biggest challenges in special education research today? 

Dr. Beth Stormshak: There are many challenges to special education research, including sustaining partnerships with schools when there is high turnover in staffing and limited resources at the school level to engage with the research community. Due to the crisis levels of staffing in most schools, it is challenging for schools to add “one more thing” to their plate. It is also a challenge for schools to identify staff for training and support in new programs. 

NCSER: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about children and youth with or at risk for disabilities?  

Dr. Beth Stormshak: Disabilities come in a variety of forms, and may include behavioral concerns, mental health concerns, and academic concerns. All parents want the best for their children, and many families struggle with approaches to behavioral management that are effective and helpful to their child. Many parents also feel blamed by schools or communities for their child’s disabilities. The Family Check-Up is strength-based and supportive, focusing on what parents are doing well and supporting parents to engage positively with their child. Our research on this model over 25 years suggests that parents who engage in the program will experience improvements in child behavior, mental health, and self-regulation, as well as their own parenting skills, stress, and depression. All of these outcomes lead to improvements in student achievement. 

NCSER: What are some of the most exciting news/innovations/stories that give you hope for the future of special education research?  

Dr. Beth Stormshak: There are many ways to intervene and support students. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped us focus on the mental health needs of students, and ultimately may change the way we think about schools, their role, and their engagement with families. The pandemic has also normalized telehealth and online support for students and parents. This has enabled the development of evidence-based programs, such as the Family Check-Up, to online platforms, which can be delivered asynchronously and therefore can reach large numbers of students that were, before, inaccessible. Ultimately this will lead to reductions in health disparities for many populations who have had limited access to mental health services. 

NCSER: What are some of the future goals for you and your team? 

Dr. Beth Stormshak: Our goals are to test the Family Check-Up Online in real-world settings and to adapt the model to fit the needs of schools across the country. Our work is community-based and we have engaged school providers in the process of development, carefully testing the feasibility and acceptability of this approach with school collaborators. We hope that this research provides insights into the process for implementing the model in schools, which can be applied to other schools across the United States who are interested in learning this model and providing this resource to parents and students. 

Thank you for reading our conversation with Dr. Beth Stormshak! Come back tomorrow for our next grantee spotlight!