Developing Infrastructure and Procedures for the Special Education Research Accelerator

To accomplish these goals, the research team will conduct a 2-year project to (a) develop infrastructure supports for SERA, (b) conduct a pilot test of SERA and analyze the data, and (c) assess the feasibility and usability of SERA. During Year 1, the research team will develop resources for training and technical assistance for research partners; templates for formalizing partnership relationships (data sharing agreements and IRB protocols); and an online data portal to house resources, facilitate data collection efforts, and track communication among the research team and partners. In Years 1 and 2, the research team will conduct a pilot study of SERA. Specifically, they will recruit research partners from across the U.S. who have expressed interest in being involved in open science projects; work with partners to select an intervention, outcome measures, and sample eligibility criteria; and train research partners on the intervention and study procedures. Research partners will then recruit students and conduct random assignment, implement the intervention and collect data, and submit data to the research team. In Year 2, the research team will analyze data to determine whether certain assumptions required for replication of results were met, estimate site effects and the pooled effect across sites on learner outcomes, evaluate replication success, and describe the quality of the data from research partners and the technical assistance provided by the research team. Finally, the research team will solicit feedback from research partners and facilitate an external review of the SERA processes, procedures, materials, and data to evaluate the feasibility and usability of SERA and inform future iterations of the platform.