Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, educational researchers from Iceland and the US joined each other for a focused discussion of issues in research in special education 23 August 2026. The meeting was called “Intervention Adaptation in Novel Contexts,” and they focused on what is needed to create successful implementations of evidence-based interventions.
After meeting with the Icelandic Directorate of Education and School Services and then visiting Arnarskoli, a specialized school, they heard a keynote presentation entitled “The Icelandic PALS Adaptation Journey,” by Anna-Lind Pétursdóttir, Auður Björgvinsdóttir, and Amelia Jara Larimer, all affiliated with the University of Iceland School of Education.
The group then formed three teams to develop products that could guide implementation of evidence-based interventions in novel circumstances. The products should be useful for
Practitioners who are wondering what they should (and shouldn’t) do if they need to adapt an intervention to fit their context,
Researchers who would want to study an intervention in a novel context, and
Researchers as they design interventions so that they are easier to adapt and more likely to be adapted when they are disseminated.
The team from University of Iceland included Anna Lind G. Pétursdóttir, professor in the School of Education at the University of Iceland, Auður Soffíu Björgvinsdóttir, assistant professor, Faculty of Education and Pedagogy University of Iceland, and Amelia Jara Larimer, Ph.D. student at University of Iceland, and others from the Directorate of Education. From the US, the leaders included (reverse alphabetical) Jessica Toste (University of Texas), Kirsten McMaster (University of Minnesota), Chris Lemons of Stanford University, and Erica Lembke (University of Missouri).
As this photo from the meeting shows, there were some other familiar folks—in addition to SET’s Kristen McM., SET pals Sarah P. and Michael K.—there, too.
The Iceland meeting was the second produced by the Pacific Coast Research Conference. PCRC is a long-running conference devoted to research about education of individuals with high-incidence disabilities, especially learning disabilities, autism, emotional and behavioral disorders, and intellectual disabilities. PCRC began international meetings with an inaugural session in Seoul, South Korea, in 2025.
Thanks to Kirsten McMaster and Chris Lemons for help with this post.
Wow! What a neat opportunity!