Evidence-Based Practices in Special Education: A Brief Evolution and Noteworthy Practices

Although the field of special education has historically focused on improving outcomes for students with disabilities, research, practice, and policy has evolved over several “eras.” The contemporary “evidence-based practice (EBP) era” has focused on identifying and disseminating practices that are supported by high-quality research evidence and therefore, the most likely to improve the outcomes of students with disabilities. In this introductory article, we briefly share the eras (a tour, perhaps?) of special education practice and research that preceded the EBP movement and preview articles describing the research base and implementation of evidence-based and empirically validated practices from the articles included in this special issue of TEACHING Exceptional Children.