Fork in the Road | Mark Shinn

Dr. Mark Shinn could be considered one of the Founding Fathers of special education. He led the way in research to find ways to measure progress for children with disabilities.  His work on developing CBMs lead to the development of DIBELS and AIMSweb, both of which are widely used in schools today.  Together with other pioneer researchers, he and others helped influence the federal IDEA and its revision in 2004. He sees interventions as the tool to closing the gaps between the haves and the have nots, but he feels like strict adherence to giving IQ tests stands in the way of the adoption of intervention practices and therefor our ability to truly realize social justice through education.