The Promises and Realities of Evidence-Based Practices: Perception From Assessment Personnel

Abstract

Assessment personnel are those individuals who work in the capacity of evaluation of students with disabilities, including, but not limited to, educational diagnosticians, educational examiners, psychometrists, and instructional specialists. These professionals are responsible for identifying strengths and weaknesses and for providing teachers with evidence-based recommendations that can be implemented in the classroom to improve performance of students with learning deficits. This qualitative study examines 19 educational diagnosticians' perceptions related to the barriers and supports that impacted their ability to provide evidence-based recommendations for students who are learning disabled. Three categories of barriers to issuing successful evidence-based recommendations emerged as a result of the study: Knowledge of Evidence-Based Interventions, Time to Complete Assessments, and Support from Administrators and Teachers.

De-evolution of expectations for evidence-based practices in public education in the United States

“…In recent years, many educators have begun to publicly lament the extent to which educational policies and practices have been adopted with little research that demonstrates their effectiveness (Cochran- Smith, Piazza, & Power, 2013;Cook & Cook, 2013;Rueter & Simpson, 2012). Once considered the gold standard for educational practice, policies and regulations that govern practice were expected to have solid evidence of effectiveness (i.e., a practice would show an actual, positive impact on the teachers, children, or others who were the "targets" of the practice) before these practices could become commonplace.…”

“…Indeed, for many years, the very absence of a rigorous commitment to a science of implementation in public education was a major cause for concern among educational researchers, funding agencies, and accreditation bodies (Brittingham, 2009;Cook, 2002;Greenberg, Putnam, & Walsh, 2014;Whitehurst, 2012). As public educators increasingly resisted curriculum and instructional practices that lacked objective evidence of effectiveness but had growing commercial support, numerous disciplines within public education adopted educational reforms, self-regulation, and increased accreditation standards, and a cultural shift among educators evolved who insisted on implementing interventions only if they were informed by evidence of effectiveness (McGuire, 2009;Rueter & Simpson, 2012;Yell, Conroy, Katsiyannis, & Conroy, 2013).…”

“…Various efforts have been advocated to strengthen accrediting agencies' roles in promoting EBPs for teachers and teacher preparation programs, including (a) adopting particular practices, (b) merging agencies, (c) refocusing teaching standards on subject matter content, and (d) integrating teacher preparation into deeper clinical experiences (Alter & Naiditch, 2012;Darling-Hammond, 2010). The effort to establish an evidence base for policies and practices is wasted, however, if teachers, administrators, and other practitioners are not familiar with these practices or lack the professional judgement on when and how to implement them (Cook & Cook, 2013;Rueter & Simpson, 2012). If policies require certain practices, but educators do not know which practices are actually informed by evidence, or do not how to implement them with fidelity, then the policies will have "little impact or negative unintended consequences that harm the educational process" (Detrich et al, 2016, p. 129).…”