Despite the importance of replication for building an evidence base, there has been no formal examination to date of replication research in special education. In this review, we examined the extent and nature of replication of intervention research in special education using an “article progeny” approach and a three-pronged definition of replication (direct, conceptual, intervention overlap). In this approach, original articles (i.e., parent studies) were selected via a stratified, random sampling procedure. Next, we examined all articles that referenced the parent articles (i.e., child studies) to determine the extent and nature of the replication of the original studies. Seventy-five percent of the parent studies were replicated by at least one child study. Across all parent studies, there were 39 replication child studies. Although there was a high overall replication rate, there were a limited number of conceptual replications, and no direct replication studies were identified.
*BottgeB. A. (1999). Effects of contextualized math instruction on problem solving of average and below-average achieving students. The Journal of Special Education, 33, 81–92. doi:10.1177/002246699903300202
2.
ChardD. J.Ketterlin-GellerL. R.BakerS. K.DoablerC.ApichatabutraC. (2009). Repeated reading interventions for students with learning disabilities: Status of the evidence. Exceptional Children, 75, 263–281. doi:10.1177/001440290907500301
3.
CookB. G. (2014). A call for examining replication and bias in special education research. Remedial and Special Education, 35, 233–246. doi:10.1177/0741932514528995
4.
CookB. G.CollinsL. W.CookS. C.CookL. (2016). A replication by any other name . . . : A systematic review of replicative intervention studies. Remedial and Special Education, 37, 223–234. doi:10.1177/0741932516637198
5.
*FavazzaP. C.PhillipsenL.KumarP. (2000). Measuring and promoting acceptance of young children with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 66, 491–508. doi:10.1177/001440290006600404
6.
GerstenR.FuchsL. S.ComptonD.CoyneM.GreenwoodC.InnocentiM. S. (2005). Quality indicators for group experimental and quasi-experimental research in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 149–164. doi:10.1177/001440290507100202
7.
*GunnB.BiglanA.SmolkowskiK.AryD. (2000). The efficacy of supplemental instruction in decoding skills for Hispanic and non-Hispanic students in early elementary school. The Journal of Special Education, 34, 90–103. doi:10.1177/002246690003400204
8.
*HamiltonS. L.SeibertM. A.GardnerR.Talbert-JohnsonC. (2000). Using guided notes to improve the academic achievement of incarcerated adolescents with learning and behavior problems. Remedial and Special Education, 21, 133–170. doi:10.1177/074193250002100302
9.
*HockM. F.PulversK. A.DeshlerD. D.SchumakerJ. B. (2001). The effects of an after-school tutoring program on the academic performance of at-risk students and students with LD. Remedial and Special Education, 22, 172–186. doi:10.1177/074193250102200305
10.
HornerR. H.CarrE. G.HalleJ.McGeeG.OdomS.WoleryM. (2005). The use of single-subject research to identify evidence-based practice in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 165–179. doi:10.1177/001440290507100203
JonesK. S.DerbyP. L.SchmidlinE. A. (2010). An investigation of the prevalence of replication research in human factors. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 52, 586–595. doi:0018720810384394.
13.
KellyC. D. (2006). Replicating empirical research in behavioral ecology: How and why it should be done but rarely ever is. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 81, 221–236. doi:10.1086/506236
14.
LaneK. L.KalbergJ. R.ShepcaroJ. C. (2009). An examination of the evidence base for function-based interventions for students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders attending middle and high schools. Exceptional Children, 75, 321–340. doi:10.1177/001440290907500304
15.
LemonsC. J.KingS. A.DavidsonK. A.BerryessaT. L.GajjarS. A.SacksL. H. (2016). An inadvertent concurrent replication: Same roadmap, different journey. Remedial and Special Education, 37, 213–222. doi:10.1177/0741932516631116
16.
MakelM. C.PluckerJ. A. (2014). Facts are more important than novelty: Replication in the education sciences. Educational Researcher, 43, 304–316. doi:10.3102/0013189X14545513
17.
MakelM. C.PluckerJ. A.FreemanJ.LombardiA. R.SimonsenB.CoyneM. D. (2016). Replication of special education research: Necessary but far too rare. Remedial and Special Education, 37, 205–212. doi: 10.1177/0741932516646083
18.
MakelM. C.PluckerJ. A.HegartyB. (2012). Replications in psychology research how often do they really occur?Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 537–542. doi:10.1177/1745691612460688
19.
*McCleeryJ. A.TindalG. A. (1999). Teaching the scientific method to at-risk students and students with learning disabilities through concept anchoring and explicit instruction. Remedial and Special Education, 20, 7–18. doi:10.1177/074193259902000102
20.
*McConaughyS. H.KayP. J.FitzgeraldM. (2000). How long is long enough? Outcomes for a school-based prevention program. Exceptional Children, 67, 21–34. doi:10.1177/001440290006700102
21.
MontagueM.DietzS. (2009). Evaluating the evidence base for cognitive strategy instruction and mathematical problem solving. Exceptional Children, 75, 285–302. doi:10.1177/001440290907500302
22.
*MorseT. E.SchusterJ. W. (2000). Teaching elementary students with moderate intellectual disabilities how to shop for groceries. Exceptional Children, 66, 273–288. doi:10.1177/001440290006600210
23.
RosenthalR. (1991). Replication in behavioral research. In NeuliepJ. W. (Ed.), Replication research in the social sciences (pp. 1–39). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
24.
SchmidtS. (2009). Shall we really do it again? The powerful concept of replication is neglected in the social sciences. Review of General Psychology, 13, 90–100. doi:10.1037/a0015108
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2010, August). Lovaas model of applied behavior analysis. Available from http://whatworks.ed.gov
27.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2012, April). Play-based interventions. Available from http://whatworks.ed.gov
28.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2013, November). Reciprocal teaching. Available from http://whatworks.ed.gov
29.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2014, May). Students with learning disabilities intervention report: Repeated reading. Available from http://whatworks.ed.gov
