Why Research is Important

A Brief Note from Joseph Witt, PhD, Senior Scientist

Reasonable care can be taken by school-based professionals to determine if a product has a scientifically acceptable research base.  The primary indicator is simple:  does the product have peer reviewed published studies indicating it does what it purports to do?  The scientific peer review process includes a process whereby research is reviewed by people who are disinterested third parties that scrutinize studies for scientific merit.  Studies which are not sound do not get published in quality journals.

Very few products have a true research base because conducting the research and going through the peer review process can take 2-4 years.  What publishers present instead is "data" from a school here or there that used the product and got good results and everyone "liked" the program.  The problem with this claim is the "research" complied with no standards, the schools presented are specially selected, and it is not known if other products were being used at the same time. 

With RTI systems, ask for published peer reviewed data showing improved achievement as the result of implementation of that specific RTI model.  RTI outcomes should include improved performance on state tests and/or decreased need for special education.

Knowledgeable professionals sometimes question even the best conducted research because they perceive it to have been conducted in "Lab" somewhere that bears little resemblance to their school and their students.  In some cases, this is true.  Some of the more mature tools available, however, have been extensively field tested in "real" schools. 

Why does the research matter to schools?  Research is important in considering services for students for two reasons.  First, you can start with tools that have been shown to be effective.  Federal laws such as NCLB and IDEA require this.  Second, for something to actually be effective in a school, it has to be used and used with fidelity.  For a tool to be used it helps if everyone believes it can work because this helps professionals to the day to day activities, without which, even the most effective tools do not succeed.  By communicating to professionals that the tool is effective it helps to create a sense of efficacy which can help each person with their personal decision to use the tool with fidelity.