research studies

Research Wars

Weeks before the fact, a Sept. 29 forum sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center has sparked some interesting debate over at the National Journal. The event, centered around the recent book, Think Tank Research Quality: Lessons for Policy Makers, the Media and the Public, is an effort to separate "the junk research from the science."

The crux of the debate is whether the recent explosion of self-published reports by various educational think tanks has helped or hindered the effort to improve the quality of educational research. (Full disclosure: The Albert Shanker Institute is often called a "think tank" and we frequently self-publish.) The push and pull of dueling experts and conflicting reports, say some, has turned education research into a political football—moved down the field by one faction, only to be punted all the way to the other end by a rival faction—each citing "research" as their guide.

"My research says this works and that doesn’t," can always be countered by, "Oh yeah, well my research says that works and this doesn’t." There are even arguments about what "what works" means because, except for performance on standardized tests, our goals remain diverse, decentralized and subject to local control. As a result, public education is plagued by trial and error policies that rise and fall, district by district and state by state, like some sort of crazed popularity contest.

Teachers Matter, But So Do Words

The following quote comes from the Obama Administration’s education "blueprint," which is its plan for reauthorizing ESEA, placing a heavy emphasis, among many other things, on overhauling teacher human capital policies:

Of all the work that occurs at every level of our education system, the interaction between teacher and student is the primary determinant of student success.

Specific wordings vary, but if you follow education even casually, you hear some version of this argument with incredible frequency. In fact, most Americans are hearing it – I’d be surprised if many days pass when some approximation of it isn’t made in a newspaper, magazine, or high-traffic blog. It is the shorthand justification – the talking point, if you will – for the current efforts to base teachers’ hiring, firing, evaluation, and compensation on students’ test scores and other "performance” measures.