IRIS Spotlight

IRIS & UNESCO

The IRIS Center was invited to be included in a new initiative sponsored by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education and UNESCO: Inclusive Education in Action: Empowering Teachers: Empowering Learners (http://www.inclusive-education-in-action.org/index.html). UNESCO is developing a knowledge-base about inclusive teaching and learning as the agency seeks to create a better worldwide understanding of inclusive education and to put an end to any child being denied an educational opportunity. Its stated purpose is “to provide on-line materials for the target groups of policy makers and other key stakeholders working to develop equity and equal opportunities for all within education systems—with a particular focus on teacher education policy and practice.” In this regard, descriptions and illustrations of IRIS resources can now be accessed at the initiative’s website: http://www.inclusive-education-in-action.org/example-101.html. The IRIS Center is one of only two U.S.- based centers featured in this collection.

New Research

• The Efficacy of IRIS STAR Legacy Modules Under Different Instructional Conditions

  Among their findings on the effectiveness of IRIS Modules, Kristin L. Sayeski, Bethany Hamilton-Jones, and Susan Oh reported that “Strong effect sizes from pretest to posttest were found across all three [of the included] modules across all conditions.” Other significant findings support the use of IRIS Modules in flipped classroom conditions, particularly for content on procedural knowledge of the implementation of evidence-based practices, as well as the maintenance of that knowledge over time.

  Citation: Sayeski, K. L., Hamilton-Jones, B., & Oh, S. (2015). The efficacy of IRIS STAR Legacy Modules under different instructional conditions. Teacher Education and Special Education, 38(4), 291–305.

• Are Online Sources for Identifying Evidence-Based Practices Trustworthy? An Evaluation

  David W. Test, Amy Kemp-Inman, Karen Diegelmann, Sara Beth Hitt, and Lauren Bethune conducted an analysis of the trustworthiness of websites that claimed to provide information on evidence-based practices in special education. The IRIS Center was among only a small handful of sites that received top ratings for both levels of trust and quality of evidence.

  Citation: Test, D. W., Kemp-Inman, A., Diegelmann, K., Hitt, S. B., & Bethune, L. (2015). Are online sources for identifying evidence-based practices trustworthy? An evaluation. Exceptional Children, 82(1), 1–23.