Doing What Works is a website dedicated to helping educators identify and make use of effective teaching practices. Doing What Works contains practice guides developed by the Department’s Institute for Education Sciences that evaluate research on the effectiveness of teaching practices described in the guides. The website also contains examples of possible ways this research may be used, but not necessarily the only ways to implement these teaching practices.

Evidence-based practices are interventions or treatment approaches that have been scientifically demonstrated to be effective, regardless of the discipline that developed them. Therefore, the term "evidence" can be substituted with "scientific evidence." The types of evidence available, however, cannot always be easily categorized or labeled as scientific or non-scientific. It is probably better to think of the types of evidence (and evidence-based practices) as falling along a continuum or scale.

An excellent source for obtaining information about Evidenced Based instructional practices in the field of Education is the What Works Clearinghouse. On an ongoing basis, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) collects, screens, and identifies studies of the effectiveness of educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies). They review the studies that have the strongest design and they report on the strengths and weaknesses of those studies against the WWC Evidence Standards so that you know what the best scientific evidence has to say.

The WWC does not endorse any interventions nor does it conduct field studies. The WWC releases study, intervention, and topic reports. A study report rates individual studies and designs to give you a sense of how much you can rely on research findings for that individual study. An intervention report provides all findings that meet WWC Evidence Standards for a particular intervention. Each topic report briefly describes the topic and each intervention that the WWC reviewed.

WWC Review Process and Key Review Standards

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evaluates the strength of the evidence of effectiveness of educational interventions. As part of the Institute of Education Sciences' (IES) plan to help educators and education policymakers incorporate scientifically based research into their educational decisions, the WWC has established rigorous standards for the review of causal research. The first set of these standards is for the review of individual studies.

WWC Evidence Standards:

The WWC Evidence Standards identify studies that provide the strongest evidence of effects: primarily well conducted randomized controlled trials and regression discontinuity studies, and secondarily quasi-experimental studies of especially strong design.

"Meets Evidence Standards"--randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that do not have problems with randomization, attrition, or disruption, and regression discontinuity designs that do not have problems with attrition or disruption.

"Meets Evidence Standards with Reservations"--strong quasi-experimental studies that have comparison groups and meet other WWC Evidence Standards, as well as randomized trials with randomization, attrition, or disruption problems and regression discontinuity designs with attrition or disruption problems.

"Does Not Meet Evidence Screens"--studies that provide insufficient evidence of causal validity or are not relevant to the topic being reviewed.

In addition, the standards rate other important characteristics of study design, such as intervention fidelity, outcome measures, and generalizability.

RECOMMENDED WEB SITES

• What Works Clearing House – A central, independent source of evidence of what works in education
   
• Center for Evidence-Based Practices – evidence-based practices for early intervention
   
• Educational Materials for Evidence-Based Practices (New York State Office of Mental Health)
   
• Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators – A collection of assessment rubrics for use of the World Wide Web that may be helpful for anyone designing their own.
   
• Education Week – News and information about all aspects of education, with a searchable archive of several publications, dating back to 1981.
   
• Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) – USDE sponsored site gives educators access to resources on federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites
   
• ISTE – International organization for leaders and potential leaders in educational technology.

Learning Disabilities Resource Kit

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Last modified: January 03, 2008