Author: Christina Taylor

In 2022, the Special Education Research Accelerator received funding from the National Science Foundation’s EDU Core Research (ECR) program to launch Crowdsource Science, a nationally representative study investigating science instruction for fourth and fifth graders with learning disabilities. By combining surveys, audio recordings, classroom observations, instructional materials, and student work samples, the project is creating the largest known dataset on science instruction for elementary students with learning disabilities. This growing research infrastructure will enable researchers to better understand how instructional practices relate to student engagement and achievement while supporting new lines of inquiry across the field.

Now, after three years of data collection (2023–2026), Crowdsource Science has grown into a truly national effort. Working alongside our network of research partners, we have collected data from 56 teachers across 36 schools in 16 states, resulting in 676 classroom audio recordings and transcripts, 224 direct observations, 285 instructional materials, and 869 student work samples. This comprehensive dataset represents diverse classrooms, regions, and student populations, providing unprecedented opportunities to examine elementary science instruction at scale. The project remains committed to open science and data sharing, ensuring these data can support future research long after the initial study is complete.

As we move from data collection to data use, we are beginning to uncover important patterns in science instruction. For example, students receive an average of 175 minutes of science instruction each week, although instructional time varies considerably across classrooms. We also find that many students with learning disabilities are frequently pulled from science for remedial services, and that planned science instruction is not always enacted, particularly in lower-SES schools. Looking ahead, this dataset will support secondary analyses, AI-assisted observation tools, and research that informs practice, policy, and professional learning.

For more details, visit the ECR Hub project page.

The above infographic was presented at the 2026 ECR PI Meeting in Arlington, Virginia.

In 2022, the Special Education Research Accelerator received funding from the National Science Foundation’s EDU Core Research (ECR) program to launch Crowdsource Science, a nationally representative observation study focused on investigating science education for fourth and fifth graders with learning disabilities. This comprehensive study involves collecting survey data, audio recordings, permanent products, classroom observations, and interviews. By analyzing instructional practices and student engagement, the project aims to illuminate what science instruction looks like for students with learning disabilities, addressing the documented achievement gap and providing insights to better support these learners.

The first year of data collection, during the 2023-2024 school year, has laid a strong foundation for the project. We partnered with 18 SERA Research Partners across the country to collect data from 29 teachers in 19 schools across 14 states. These teachers provided invaluable insights into the type of science instruction received by fourth and fifth grade students with learning disabilities. This initial phase has been crucial in establishing a comprehensive understanding, and we eagerly anticipate a second year of data collection to deepen our insights and continue advancing our goals.

For more details, visit the ECR Hub project page.

The above infographic was presented at the 2024 ECR PI Meeting in Arlington, Virginia.

In this project, we developed and piloted a platform for crowdsourcing research in special education, enabling numerous researchers to collect data in schools throughout the country. Crowdsourcing has the potential to increase the number and diversity of students participating in studies, making research findings more relevant to educators in various settings nationwide. However, until now, no platform existed to facilitate crowdsourced special education research.

Our crowdsourcing platform, the Special Education Research Accelerator (SERA), is hosted on the SERA website (https://edresearchaccelerator.org/). It provides resources to support research partners nationwide in implementing study procedures consistently, such as video trainings, detailed data collection protocols, and access to the SERA Data Portal. We have also recruited a network of over 350 doctoral-level researchers interested in participating in crowdsourced research in special education, some of whom took part in this pilot study.

To pilot our crowdsourcing platform and process, we designed an experiment to test the effects of prompting elementary students with high-incidence disabilities to generate explanations on remembering animal facts. In a previous study, Scruggs and colleagues (1994) found that students who generated their own explanations had significantly greater immediate and delayed recall (after one week) of animal facts compared to a control group that merely repeated the facts. This study involved 36 fourth- and fifth-grade students with high-incidence disabilities in the Ohio River Valley. We replicated this study to determine if we would observe the same effects with a different group of students from across the country.

Example Animal Facts and Explanations

Fact	Explanation
The emperor penguin carries its eggs on top of its feet.	The emperor penguin carries its eggs on top of its feet because the emperor penguin lives in an icy world and has to keep its eggs off the ice to keep them warm.
Some frogs lay eggs that sink in water.	Some frogs lay eggs that sink in water because eggs that have sunk to the bottom of the water are harder for other animals to find and eat.
The aardvark can completely close its nostrils.	The aardvark can completely close its nostrils because the aardvark digs in the dirt for food and needs to keep dust, dirt, and bugs from getting in its nose

Due to the pandemic, we redesigned the pilot study to allow researchers to implement procedures and collect data online. The pilot ultimately involved seven research teams from Temple University, Texas Christian University, University of Missouri, University North Carolina-Wilmington, University of Louisville, University of Virginia, and Washington State University-Vancouver​. These teams conducted the study with 31 third- and fourth-grade students with high-incidence disabilities from across the country.

In contrast to Scruggs and colleagues’ findings, our study found that prompting students to generate explanations for animal facts did not result in better immediate or delayed recall (after one week) compared to the control group, which merely repeated the facts. This discrepancy between our findings and the previous study’s results may be due to the online delivery of the intervention and/or differences in the student samples. Further research is needed to determine under what conditions and for which students generating explanations of science facts improves recall.

Although we did not find that generating explanations for animal facts helped students recall the facts better than simply repeating them, conducting the pilot study allowed us to demonstrate the feasibility of crowdsourcing field-based research with students with disabilities across multiple research teams. Additionally, it provided valuable information for refining and expanding SERA.

We want to thank our participating SERA research partners, schools, teachers, and students for their invaluable participation in this initiative. Their contributions are fundamental to establishing a robust evidence base aimed at improving students’ future outcomes.

Along with seven research-partner teams across the country, we finished collecting data for the SERA Pilot Study: Science Instruction for Students with Disabilities in 2022. As the SERA Team finishes analyzing outcome data (check back soon for a summary of procedures and findings), we conducted internal reviews with our team and participating research partners to elicit their feedback on the implementation of this crowdsourced research study. Without these research partnerships, our efforts to democratize and accelerate the pace of research through crowdsourcing special education research would not be possible. We value these partnerships and are incredibly grateful for all our SERA Research Partners who participated in the pilot study.

One of the seven research teams we worked with throughout the SERA Pilot Study was the team at University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). The UNCW research team included Dr. Amelia Moody, Dr. James Stocker, Dr. Sharon Richter, and Racheal Gliniak (graduate research assistant).

The following post was written by Drs. Amelia Moody and James Stocker to summarize their experience as SERA Research Partners:

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Crowdsourcing in special education research offers opportunities to determine the types of evidence-based interventions that function most effectively and efficiently across diverse populations of students. The Special Education Research Accelerator (SERA) at the University of Virginia welcomes a diverse array of researchers to participate in large-scale replication research. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, we had the opportunity to engage as a research partner in a crowdsourcing pilot study on science facts. We piloted the study in both rural and urban schools, with the majority of schools located in high-poverty locations. 

We received training materials and videos to guide us through each step of data collection. The SERA team provided extraordinary support, and we found them easily accessible to answer questions throughout the study. We enjoyed problem-solving together to meet the unique needs of our students located in high-poverty areas. In one instance, an urban school had a number of issues related to sharing and collecting information through digital means as well as internet accessibility. Our team identified the barriers and generated solutions alongside the SERA team. We quickly converted to paper format and successfully recruited participants through flyers in backpacks. Also, data collection for each participant occurred via a school liaison versus web-based questionnaires for parents/guardians that had outdated contact information. We quickly realized that when developing large and diverse participant samples, it is critical to have multiple options to meet the needs of each population of students.

We discovered that the SERA team at the University of Virginia accepted and valued our feedback on the pandemic-modified intervention procedure. We delivered the intervention via zoom and provided information back to the SERA team to improve the application and fidelity of the protocol. Overall, we collected a significant amount of data across multiple sites alongside other SERA partners across the country. Our participation allowed SERA to gain data from a more diverse population of participants. The goal of the project was to answer critical questions about how to improve outcomes for children with disabilities. The crowdsourcing process was effective and efficient in meeting this goal.

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Click here to view a full list of SERA Research Partners. If you are interested in becoming a SERA Research Partner and learning more about our upcoming studies, please submit a message through our Contact Form and a member of the SERA Team will reach out to you!