Following recent legislative initiatives in education requiring evidence-based practices, schools have implemented various instructional programs characterized as "evidence-based." However, it is important to question whether these methods are truly effective. One example of a methodology currently promoted and used in schools is an educational kinesiology program called Brain Gym®. Brain Gym® is reported to improve various education related skills. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Brain Gym® on academic engagement for children with developmental disabilities. In this study, Brain Gym® was compared to an alternate intervention, simple physical activity, which did not conform to Brain Gym® guidelines. Neither intervention produced consistently positive effects for academic engagement. Based on these findings, it is questionable whether Brain Gym® can successfully be used with children with developmental disabilities to improve engagement. These results can inform the decision-making process of selecting evidence-based practices in education.