Our Activities

The Wing Institute is working on, and has planned for the future, a number of initiatives designed to develop and support an expanded model for evidence-based education.; The model is designed around the following components:

The Wing Institute initiatives are designed to:

The Wing Institute is identifying organizations, institutions, professionals, researchers, policy makers, publications, research, web sites, and databases that have an interest in evidence-based education. The purpose is to identify potential partnerships, collaborations, memberships, and subscriptions that will support the Wing Institute's mission.

The Wing Institute is conducting an extensive review of existing research, literature, policies, and projects across a wide-range of topic areas related to evidence-based education policies and practices. The purpose of this review is to assess the current knowledge base, establish a baseline, build a database, and guide future initiatives.

Initial "core" research areas include:

• Evidence-based health and service models
• Evidence-based education
• Scientific research paradigms
• Research to practice models
• Behavior analysis
• School accountability
• Decision-making
• Social influence and culture change
• School reform
• Public policy

The Wing Institute is conducting an extensive review of research paradigms to identify the issues and opportunities for each of the components of its evidence-based education model, including:

• Efficacy Research ("gold standard", randomized trials, single subject designs, other quantitative models)
• Effectiveness Research (quantitative and qualitative models)
• Implementation (
• Monitoring (high stakes testing, graduation rates, curriculum based measurement, "platinum standard")

The Wing Institute is conducting an extensive review of the latest organizational and electronic technologies in creating effective networks for education stakeholders to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate their evidence-based education research, policies, and interventions, including:

• Information Management Technologies (data bases, libraries, interactive software, clearinghouse architecture, publication formats, summit formats)
• Network Management Technologies (structure, membership, goal development, activities coordination, evaluation and accountability)
• Electronic Communication Technologies (software, hardware, internet, electronic communication)

The Wing Institute has identified the key components of an evidence-based education model that effectively translated research into practice. The components are encapsulated by the following:

• efficacy research ("what works?")
• effectiveness research ("when does it work?")
• implementation ("how do we make it work?")
• progress monitoring ("is it working?")

The Wing Institute is conducting a Gap Analysis of evidence-based education in the current American educational system. The GAP analysis examines: what are the critical features that must be in place to support evidence-based education, what is the status of each of these features in the current system (where are the "gaps", what are the contingencies shaping the status quo, and recommendations for addressing these "gaps".

The Wing Institute sponsors ongoing summits of key education "stakeholders", including: researchers, academics, educators, policy makers, consumers, and service providers. The summits will provide a public forum to share information, elicit feedback, and identify future directions.

The Wing Institute is establishing a formal evidence-based knowledge network across professional disciplines, institutions and regions in support of cross- communication, collaboration, and cooperation for the advancement of evidence-based education policies and practices. The knowledge network will use the latest technologies to continue developing a knowledge base of existing information, translating this information into effective policies and interventions, facilitating existing research activities, and promoting new research.

The Wing Institute is creating an online information clearinghouse on its web site for those interested in evidence-based education. The clearinghouse will use the very latest in search, mapping, and data-base technologies to provide reviews of research, analysis of current issues, links to related organizations and activities, policy analyses, and resources for education stakeholders.

The Wing Institute will utilize its knowledge network to continually identify, analyze and disseminate new research, resources, policies, and publications in the areas of efficacy, effectiveness, implementation, and monitoring.; It will make use of the latest information and communication technologies to identify and close the gaps in knowledge related to evidence-based education.

The Wing Institute will continually update and refine the Gap analysis (goals, current conditions, contingencies, interventions) as its knowledge network expands, using it as the organizational framework for future analysis and recommendations.

The Wing Institute is sponsoring its first summit of "education stakeholders" from various disciplines, service and research areas as well as consumers who have experience with, and interest in, evidence-based special education. The summit offers presentations from top experts in the field, opportunities for particpants to provide feedback on work done to date, and a format for problem solving and making recommendations for the future.

The Wing Institute will publish its initial findings in The First Annual Report on Evidence-based Education, including a report from the Summit, copies of presentations, relevant resource materials and the initial GAP Analysis.