Recommended Reading

Promoting Replication, Transparency, and Openness in Scientific Publishing (March 2016) 

Dr. Brian Cook, former DR President and University of Hawaii researcher, describes and encourages serious consideration of an approach for changing how research is conducted and reported:  an initiative for journal editors to encourage, if not require, that researchers adhere to practices that promote transparency, openness, and replication. In this paper, read about the Center for Open Science’s Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) guidelines to “translate scientific norms and values into concrete actions and change the current incentive structures to drive researchers’ behavior toward more openness.”

Thinking and Communicating About Evidence-based Practices in Special Education, DR White Paper (2011)

Evidence-based practice is an increasingly popular term in special education--we see evidence-based practices promoted frequently at conference and in trainings. Yet many of these practices have questionable research support. Indeed, many educators do not understand what exactly evidence-based practices mean and use the term inappropriately -- confusing it with phrases such as best practice and research-based practice. Accordingly, many special educators are wary of evidence-based reforms and remain uncommitted to using evidence-based practices. In this white paper, the CEC Division for Research clarifies what evidence-based practices are, and what they are not, so that educators can understand and communicate clearly about evidence-based practice and the important role they can play in improving outcomes for students with disabilities.  Authors of this DR White Paper are Bryan G. Cook and Sara Cothren Cook (University of Hawaii).