Research Process In Teaching Shaun Dwyer
RES/351
April 30, 2015
Robert Batiste

Research Process In Teaching Professionals mostly agree that scientific research should guide practice in education (Odom et al., 2005). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA; 2004) and the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) require that students with disabilities receive research based practices in the “least restrictive environment.” Because the least restrictive environment is often considered to be the general education classroom, the responsibility to implement research-based practices frequently rests with the classroom teacher. However, during their initial teacher training and certification, many teachers may not have received formal instruction regarding the implementation of current research-based practices. Subsequently, teachers often feel detached from the very research base they are now required to utilize (Ayres, Meyer, Erevelles, & Park-Lee, 1994; Boardman, Arguelles, Vaughn, Hughes, & Klingner, 2005). Interviews with teachers conducted by Boardman and colleagues (2005) suggested that teachers often select classroom instructional practices and behavioral interventions based on four criteria: (a) feasibility within the classroom, (b) perceived appropriateness for particular students, (c) availability of required materials, and (d) availability of required professional development or outside expert support. When a practice does not sufficiently meet one or more of these criteria, the practice (or intervention) is often adapted by mixing components from multiple interventions or by implementing only part of a given intervention. Often these adaptations are inconsistent with the research base and, therefore, potentially detract from the effectiveness of the intervention (Broadman et al., 2005; Fullan & Miles, 1992; McInerney