IES Blog

As a federal agency committed to advancing knowledge and innovation, IES recognizes just how critical it is to invest in the next generation of researchers in the education sciences. Since NCSER was established in 2006, we have funded a total of 86 postdocs and 37 early career scholars through our training programs. These investigators have gone on to produce notable accomplishments, including now-seminal research articles and research projects funded through our main research competitions, all while pushing the field of special education in new and important ways. The time is right to expand this investment further to bring scholars into the NCSER community even earlier in their research careers.

This fall, NCSER is launching its first grant competition for doctoral students: the Special Education Dissertation Research Fellowship Program (ALN 84.324G). This competition will provide up to eight advanced doctoral students with a 1-year fellowship of up to $50,000 to support the completion of their dissertation research and to participate in IES-related training. The goal of the fellowship is to broaden opportunities for emerging researchers to engage with IES and to prepare them to conduct high-quality research focused on learners with or at risk for disabilities. By providing financial support and resources during the dissertation phase, we hope to empower these emerging researchers to tackle new and pressing challenges in the field of special education.

Our inaugural competition focuses on four areas that have, to date, been underrepresented in NCSER’s funding portfolio—education systems, postsecondary education, educational technologies, and low-incidence disabilities. Each of these areas holds immense potential for impact, and we are prioritizing them through our other funding avenues. Our FY25 Special Education Research Grants competition (ALN 84.324A) focuses explicitly on education systems.  To establish more robust programs of research in the areas of postsecondary education and educational technologies, we launched a Research and Development (R&D) Center on postsecondary education and the AI Institute for Exceptional Education, both in FY23. We continue to explore ways to spur additional research investments focused on low-incidence disabilities.  

By making a concerted effort across our training programs, research grants, and special initiatives, we aim to encourage the fields of early intervention and special education to explore areas where we believe there are opportunities for groundbreaking research. We also hope this new initiative will continue NCSER’s work to foster a vibrant community of scholars committed to leveraging rigorous research to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. We look forward to seeing the impactful research that emerges from this fellowship and to working with the talented individuals who receive these dissertation fellowships.

This blog was written by Nathan Jones, NCSER commissioner, and Courtney Pollack and Katie Taylor, NCSER program officers.

As you begin the new school year, consider how you can use the following evidence-based practices and resources to improve literacy and mathematics instruction in your school!

Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Student Literacy in Grades PK-9

Learning to read, and then reading to learn, are critical both to student success—both in and out of the classroom. 

Set our youngest learners on the path to success

Caregivers and educators can support early literacy by:

• Intentionally planning activities to build children’s vocabulary and language;
• Building children’s knowledge of letters and sounds; and
• Using shared book reading to develop children’s language, knowledge of print features, and knowledge of the world.

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse’s Preparing Young Children for School Practice Guide.

Use evidence-based literacy practices to support foundational literacy

Educators can do so by:

• Teaching students to decode works, analyze word parts, and write and recognize words; and
• Helping parents to become involved in their child’s literacy development, including incorporating activities into daily routines like grocery shopping or chores around the house. 

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse’s Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through Third Grade Practice Guide.

Also check out the Regional Educational Laboratories’ Teachers Guides to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills. 

Provide struggling readers additional opportunities for practice

Evidence-based strategies include:

• Offering readers the chance to make sense of challenging (“stretch”) text that will expose them to complex ideas and information; and
• Providing purposeful fluency-building activities to help students read effortlessly, including reading with appropriate expression, pitch, tempo, and pauses (“prosody”).

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse’s Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9 Practice Guide.

Evidence-Based Strategies for Teaching Mathematics in Grades PK-9

Evidence-based practices in teaching math can support every student in becoming more mathematically literate. In addition to promoting student achievement, proficiency in math can provide students the greatest possible opportunity for additional education and high-quality careers.

Set our youngest learners on the path to success

Caregivers and educators can support early math learning by: 

• Providing intentional instruction to build children’s understanding of mathematical ideas and skills, and
• Engaging children in conversations about mathematical ideas and support them in using mathematical language.

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse’s Preparing Young Children for School Practice Guide.

Also check out the Regional Educational Laboratories’ Teaching Math to Young Children for Families and Caregivers.

Use evidence-based practice to support elementary school students who may be struggling to develop math skills

Educators can do so by:

• Using number lines to build students’ understanding of grade-level concepts underlying mathematical operations and to prepare them for advanced math; 
• Using well-chosen concrete and semi-concrete representations to support students’ learning of mathematical concepts and procedures; and
• Regularly including timed activities as one way to build fluency in mathematics. 

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse’s Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades Practice Guide.

Improve algebra knowledge in middle school and high school through evidence-based teaching strategies

Evidence-based strategies include:

• Teaching students to intentionally choose from alternative algebraic strategies when solving problems; 
• Teaching the students to use the structure of algebraic representations; and
• Using solved problems to engage students in analyzing algebraic reasoning and strategies.

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students Practice Guide.

General Strategies to Improve Student Learning

Whether you’re teaching literacy, math,  or another subject, remember the following tips that can support effective instruction when applied in developmentally appropriate ways:

• Space learning over time.
• Interleave worked example solutions with problem-solving exercises.
• Combine graphics with verbal descriptions.
• Connect and integrate abstract and concrete representations of concepts.
• Use quizzes to re-expose students to key content and promote learning.
• Ask deep explanatory questions.

Learn More

Learn more about these recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse’s Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning Practice Guide.

Calling all education leaders and educators who teach mathematics! We hope you are enjoying your well-earned summer break. We at the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) would like to share our heartfelt gratitude for your dedication and hard work serving our nation’s children. Teachers, we know what it takes to create engaging lesson plans that meet the needs of diverse learners, provide academic and emotional support to your students, and foster a sense of community and belonging in your classroom. Education leaders, we also know that you are working to prepare educators for this coming school year.

Since 2008, NCSER has funded a range of studies focused on improving mathematics instruction in areas such as understanding of whole numbers, fractions, word problem solving, and algebraic reasoning, which are the building blocks of success in secondary mathematics and beyond. Based on what we're finding through our funded projects, we would like to share some resources with you to support work to improve mathematics instruction and learning—especially for students with or at risk for disabilities that affect mathematics—in the 2024-25 school year.

WWC Mathematics Practice Guides

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guides are written specifically for educators and summarize interventions and instructional practices for which there is the strongest evidence for improving outcomes for learners. The following WWC Practice Guides can be useful to support educators in strengthening mathematics instruction:

• Teaching Math to Young Children
• Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades
• Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 to 8
• Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students
• Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning

Evidence-Based Math Interventions

Below are five examples of NCSER-funded interventions that have demonstrated improved outcomes in mathematics for learners with or at risk for a disability that affects mathematics.

• Numbershire is a digital math game with an intensive focus on critical whole number concepts and skills for students in kindergarten through second grade. Published findings from an efficacy study indicate significant effects favoring the learners using Numbershire on proximal measures of whole-number concepts and skills.
• Whole Number Foundations Level K is a kindergarten math intervention that provides in-depth instruction on critical whole number concepts, including counting and cardinality, operations and algebraic thinking, and number operations in base 10. Published findings from a replication efficacy trial of the intervention, originally called ROOTS, showed that students who received ROOTS in a small group of 2 or 5 students outperformed students in the control group.
• Whole Number Foundations Level 1 is a first grade intervention aimed at developing understanding of whole numbers. Published findings from an efficacy trial of the intervention, initially called FUSION, showed a significant effect on improving student math performance. The strongest effects on student outcomes at a follow-up assessment the next school year were among smaller groups of students (2:1) compared to the slightly larger groups.
• Pirate Math Equation Quest is a third grade intervention tested using two version of the tutoring program—one using equations to solve word problems and one using word-problem instruction alone. Published findings showed that students in both intervention groups significantly outperformed students in the control group with large effect sizes. At follow up (grade 4), only students in the group focusing on using equations (pre-algebra reasoning) significantly outperformed the control group on a measure of word problem solving.
• Super Solvers is a fraction intervention for grades 4-5 delivered in small groups of students with or at risk for math learning disabilities. The intervention was tested with interleaved calculation instruction (learning two or more related concepts or skills, instead of focusing exclusively on one concept or skill) and blocked calculation instruction (learning one concept or skill at a time). Published findings showed that students in the intervention group significantly outperformed the control group. At follow up a year later, the two intervention groups still significantly outperformed the control group, but the group with interleaved calculation instruction made greater gains than the blocked calculations group.

IES Math Summit 2023

In 2023, IES held a Math Summit  focused on evidence-based instructional practices, including presentations by some of our NCSER grantees who have developed and tested interventions to improve outcomes for learners with or at risk for disabilities. Below, we share links to these recorded sessions to support your professional learning.

Strategies for Differentiating Instruction for Diverse Learners

• (Grades Pre-K-3) Strategies for Differentiating Instruction for Diverse Learners, Dr. Lynn Fuchs, Vanderbilt University
• (Grades PreK-3) Education Technology as a Tool for Effective Differentiation, Dr. Nancy Nelson, Boston University

High-Dose Tutoring and Other Academic Recovery Strategies

• (Grades PreK-3) Utilizing the Curriculum Research Framework to Develop, Test, and Explore the Impacts of Interventions, Dr. Ben Clarke, University of Oregon
• (Grades PreK-3) Making Mathematics Interventions Work for Struggling Learners: 2021 What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide, Dr. Lynn Fuchs, Vanderbilt University
• (Grades 4–8) A Fraction Sense Intervention Grounded in the Science of Learning, Dr. Nancy Jordan, University of Delaware

Language and Mathematics, Including Support for English Learners

• (Grades 4-8) Math Supports for Students with Reading Difficulties, Dr. Steve Ritter, Carnegie Learning

Increasing Opportunities to Learn and Raising Expectations for All

• (Grades 9-12) Seeing Growth in Algebra, Dr. Anne Foegen, University of Minnesota

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to our nation’s learners. We hope these resources will energize you for the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

This blog was produced by Sarah Brasiel (Sarah.Brasiel@ed.gov), a program officer for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics portfolio in the National Center for Special Education Research.