SRI International Researchers to Identify and Report on Effective Education Interventions for Students with Disabilities
SRI Collaborates with Mathematica and Partners to Move Education Reform forward in Next Phase of U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse
MENLO PARK, Calif. – July 19, 2007 – SRI International, an independent, nonprofit research and development organization, will synthesize research and provide practice guidelines to inform and improve special education reform efforts for the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a program of the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.
SRI is a subcontractor to Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., which was awarded a $50.3 million contract in July to administer and expand the next generation of the WWC. The program was established in 2002 to provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education.
SRI will focus much of its work on students with disabilities, who comprise approximately 12 percent of the U.S. K-12 student population. SRI has extensive experience in this area: since 1978, SRI has conducted congressionally mandated longitudinal studies of the implementation of special education programs and their outcomes for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities to help policy makers and educators improve the U.S. education system.
"In this new phase of the program, our scientific research and analysis will inform the WWC’s identification of effective programs and tools for this student population," said Mary Wagner, Ph.D., director of SRI’s Center for Education and Human Services.
Co-directors of SRI’s involvement in the program are Jose Blackorby, Ph.D., manager of SRI’s Special Education and Disability Policy Program, and Ellen Schiller, Ph.D., a senior policy researcher in SRI’s Center for Education and Human Services.
About Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Mathematica, one of the nation’s leading independent research firms, conducts policy research and surveys for federal and state governments, as well as private clients. The employee-owned firm, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Washington, D.C., and Cambridge, Mass., has conducted some of the most important studies of education, health care, welfare, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs in the United States. Mathematica strives to improve public well-being by bringing the highest standards of quality, objectivity, and excellence to bear on the provision of information collection and analysis to its clients.
About SRI International’s Center for Education and Human Services
SRI's Center for Education and Human Services is committed to using research, evaluation and policy analysis to improve policies and programs that affect children, youth and families. Particular attention is paid to issues involving children and families who face significant challenges resulting from economic disadvantage, disability, teenage parenthood, neighborhood decay or other factors that put them at risk of poor outcomes. Using a broad range of methodological tools, staff examine the design, implementation and impact of policies, program, and practices at federal, state and community levels in the areas of early childhood education, elementary and secondary education and employment and training issues.
About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world’s leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses, and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships, and creates spin-off companies.
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