Social and Emotional Intervention Research as Justice: A Case for Accountability

The field of special education is recognized for conducting research designed to improve the quality of life for the children and families we serve. However, our field has been criticized for empirical approaches that are inconsistent with the values and beliefs we articulate as central to our scientific practice. As such, a shift in our research endeavors is warranted. Given the specific calls within early childhood special education for research programs that consider the marginalized experiences of children and families, we posit five guidelines to reframe social and emotional intervention research in early childhood special education as justice-oriented. These guidelines are (a) understand the historical and immediate context of research participants; (b) incorporate best practices in social and emotional assessment to reduce bias; (c) center children’s and families’ voices in social validity measures; (d) address confounding variables to fidelity of implementation; and (e) examine diversity in research team composition.