A Strong Foundation: A Scientific Frame of Mind for Evidence-Based Practices

Abstract

Science and logic offer the greatest promise of progress in increasing the odds that students, especially those who struggle academically or behaviorally, will experience positive outcomes. That said, science and scientific thinking have been under attack in recent decades, including in special education. There are a number of reasons science may not be valued; I posit that these include the ideas that (1) science is incremental, (2) science is slow, (3) science and the theories developed from it evolve, and (4) science does not answer our most vexing problems. If science is understood for its strengths, which include identifying variables that increase the probability of positive outcomes, scientific and logical thinking would be far more accepted as the most promising foundation for progress in special education.

Citation

Landrum, T.J. (2022), "A Strong Foundation: A Scientific Frame of Mind for Evidence-Based Practices", Kauffman, J.M. (Ed.) Revitalizing Special Education, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-494-720221004