Primary level prevention focuses on all students. It includes the core curriculum and the differentiated instruction delivered within the regular education classroom setting. The core curriculum is the course of study deemed critical and usually mandatory for all students of a school or district. Core curricula are often instituted at the elementary and secondary levels by local school boards, departments of education, or other administrative agencies charged with overseeing education. Such curricula should be research-based and incorporate differentiated instruction. Within the core curriculum, teaching and learning should be well articulated from one grade to another and within grade levels so that students have highly similar experiences, regardless of their assigned teacher.
Universal screening, continuous progress monitoring, and outcome measures or summative assessments are commonly used to inform instructional decisions. Universal screening is used to determine the effectiveness of the core curriculum and identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes. Progress monitoring is used to confirm risk status and monitor the progress of students not receiving secondary or tertiary interventions. Outcome measures or summative assessments are used for accountability.
- Selecting Evidence-based Practices – The Center on Response to Intervention’s learning module focuses on the steps needed to select evidence-based practices and provides guidance on how to use online resources that provide information on curricula and interventions. Participants will walk through the steps of using these online resources to select evidence-based practices for their districts and schools.
- Best Evidence Encyclopedia – Gives educators and researchers fair and useful information about the strength of the evidence supporting a variety of programs available for students in grades K-12.
Created by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE) under funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
- What Works Clearinghouse – The goal of the WWC is promote informed education decision making by providing educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence about “what works” in education. Through systematic reviews to identify rigorous research, the WWC provides educators with credible and reliable evidence that they can use to make informed decisions.
WWC was established in 2002 as an initiative of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education.