Vol. 16 No. 15 (2020): Education Leaders’ Perspectives on Special Education Research: A Priority Setting Study

Research priority setting makes knowledge users integral to the development of research agendas. The purpose of this study was to explore educational leaders’ perspectives on research priorities in special education. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with leaders from 60 public school districts in British Columbia, Canada. Seventy-one participants representing 43 districts completed the survey. The results of a pre-set list of questions indicated that the top three research priorities were
grade-to-grade transitions, high school graduation, and time to designation. In terms of designation, or student categorization, participants were most interested in “Intensive Behaviour Interventions/Severe Mental Illness.” When asked about other
priorities, participants identified types of support and interventions. These results have implications for developing research agendas that can support informed decision-making around policy and programming.