ABSTRACT
The use of evidence-based practices in special education has received considerable attention in both the literature and in policy directives over the past 30 years; however, teachers and other service providers continue to struggle to select and implement these practices in their classrooms with high levels of quality. Implementation science is a field of study that seeks to help overcome research-to-practice gaps by identifying how best to support the uptake, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based practices in applied settings such as schools. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of implementation science, including definitions of key terms and a description of frameworks used to guide research in implementation science, and indicate how the field of implementation can support teachers’ use of evidence-based practices and systematically address the research-to practice gap in special education. In particular, three frameworks that can be used to conceptualize the uptake, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based practices will be presented and the concept of common practice elements, a promising approach for cataloging and matching evidence-based practices with students’ unique learning and behavior needs in context, will be described. Implications of using a common elements approach within the frameworks will be described, as will future research needs.
