Towards a more inclusive approach to intervention research: the case of research in learning disabilities |
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Authors: | Curt Dudley-Marling Alex Gurn |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Lynch School of Education , Boston College , Chestnut Hill , MA , USA dudleyma@bc.edu;3. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Lynch School of Education , Boston College , Chestnut Hill , MA , USA |
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Abstract: | Intervention research in special education tends to rely on comparisons of mean differences to determine instructional strategies that ‘work’ for students with disabilities. This reliance on mean differences obscures individual variation that is always present in educational research. This paper examines the degree to which individual variation is acknowledged in reports of intervention research published in four leading learning disabilities journals over a five-year period. It was found that, although there was considerable variance present in intervention studies published in these journals, this variability was often unacknowledged. This paper concludes with suggestions for how researchers might acknowledge variance in their research. |
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Keywords: | special education inclusive education curriculum and instruction |
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