What is Scientifically Based Research (SBR)?
Scientifically based research is a term that appears well over one hundred times in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The strong presence of the term "scientifically based research" in NCLB illustrates a growing trend towards the SBR requirements in federal legislation of educational research.
This current trend reflects two realities:
- A general perception of current educational research being of low quality (Feuer et al., 2002; Kaestle, 1992, 1993; National Research Council, 2002; Sroufe, 1997) and
- A demand by federal lawmakers for higher accountability for federally-funded education programs and federally-funded education research (National Research Council, 2002).
While legislators and policy makers have put forth sometimes-conflicting definitions of SBR, a coherent meaning of the term seems to be coalescing around six scientific principles that apply to both quantitative and qualitative research designs. The specific research designs themselves are not directly prescribed by either the federal lawmakers or the Department of Education. However, based upon the language of funding priorities and policy focus, there is a strong emphasis on quantitative experimental and quasi-experimental research studies in order to establish programmatic effects.
Why is it important?
As the emphasis on SBR extends from the legislation and policy-making rooms to our nation's classrooms, everyone involved in education will be affected. Everything from federal funding priorities to classroom instruction choices will begin to reflect the need to use scientifically based research to improve our educational system. Therefore, it is important for all educational stakeholders, from state-level administrators to parents and teachers to become familiar with this term.
Where can I go to get more information?
This module is an excellent introduction to this field and is also available in 
PDF format.
