President's Message - Winter 2008

Why Should You Join DR?

Robin McWilliam
Vanderbilt University

Why would someone join the Division for Research (DR)? We are not focused on a particular group of children or families. We do not have our own conference - yet. And we like to talk about things like levels of evidence, epistemology, effect size, visual analysis, the Belmont Report, and the tribulations of publishing about low-incidence disabilities.

To existing members, the advantages of membership are easy to define. We like to talk about evidence, epistemology, effect size&. But nonmembers might not realize that DR is valuable, regardless of the stage in a persons career. Furthermore, members thinking about not renewing might want to consider these benefits.

Students: Contacts and information for launching a research career

The lifeblood of the Division is our students. Because of our focus on research, most of our student members are probably doctoral students, although master's students, especially enrolled in research-intensive programs, can also benefit. The first benefit is the opportunity to meet or communicate with, in other ways, researchers - some of whom are even famous! If you define fame as showing up in the journals and texts that students are forced to read. Some people, like Steve Graham (one of our members), even show up in Newsweek, which of course makes him fodder for cocktail chat. Students can use the DR website (www.cecdr.org) to contact any of the officers or committee chairs by e-mail. We'll be happy to help you find people you are looking for.

The second benefit for student members, as for all members, is the Journal of Special Education, which, through a special arrangement with the Hammill Institute, is the official publication of the Division for Research. This journal can give students ideas for studies and models for writing articles.

The third benefit is to meet people (i.e., "network") by joining a committee. Committee chairs are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers with good ideas.

Beginning faculty: Contacts and information for building a research career

The researcher in his or her first job can get to know people and their research through DR. This can help build a research career. Division members can mentor beginning faculty members about such things as study ideas, appropriate design, and suitable analyses. Committee membership, again, is a good way to get to know researchers. Beginning researchers can retrieve important information from our website, the journal, and the Practice Alerts. As faculty members build their research to establish their careers, connection with other researchers through DR can be rewarding and tenure promoting (no guarantees!).

The Division supports faculty early in their careers with two awards, one for achievements in research in general and one specifically for a publication. Some stellar researchers have won these awards. In many cases, I have been surprised that they are still recent enough post-Ph.D. to qualify, considering their achievements.

Midlevel faculty: Ideas and information for focusing research

DR can be of advantage also to researchers who have recently achieved tenure. By this time, researchers have studied one or more topics in sufficient depth to achieve tenure, and, for some, tenure was the goal. Once that albatross is no longer around your neck, you can narrow the scope of your studies or explore new methods. Membership in the Division for Research can give you access to ideas and information on how to make these alterations to your research portfolio. At the CEC conference, for example, we are assigned slots that we fill mostly with proposals from the field. We also invite a few sessions, such as one from the winner of the previous year's Early Career Research Award. For midlevel faculty, participation on our committees is a way to have fellowship with other researchers, which strengthens the network that can be helpful when seeking inspiration for where to take your research next.

Senior faculty: Giving back to the field, fostering younger researchers, and ensuring research in special education is healthy, relevant, and excellent.

What's in it for the seasoned researcher? By this time, we know people, we have more ideas than our brains can handle (we are largely the premultitasking generation), and our college-age children are reading our names in their boring education or psychology assignments. Truthfully, senior faculty are usually lifelong learners, like most adults, and there are never enough people, ideas, or studies to be done. But it's also a time to care about the field. Membership in DR lets junior researchers and students know that professional affiliation as a special education researcher, in addition to other professional affiliations perhaps tied to the disability you study, is important. We are very fortunate to have a number of senior faculty members who give of themselves, through the Division, for the benefit of younger researchers. They serve on the Board, in committees, reviewing conference proposals, and when we ask them for special activities. Participation in the Division for Research is one way the big shots can foster the health, relevance, and quality of special education research.

It turns out, then, that people at all stages of their careers can get something out of DR membership. Speaking for the Board of Directors, the Division certainly gets a lot out of our members at different stages of their careers. Please spread the word to all special education researchers (direct them to the website, www.cecdr.org, click on Membership) and e-mail me (Robin.McWilliam@Vanderbilt.edu) if you would like to increase your own involvement in the Division for Research, perhaps through participation on a committee.