The changing educational landscape presents opportunities and challenges, and more than a few quandaries for educators. Today, we are barraged by a cacophony of ideas about how to improve public education in the United States. Opinions are great, but they are not something we want the lives of children to hinge on. Consequently, much work needs to be done to distill the nuggets of enduring value from this cacophony and to implement scientifically based research across educational programs.
At a recent institute on leadership and policy, Harvard professor Richard Elmore noted that "American schools know how to change. What they don't know is how to improve." So, what directions must schooling take over the long term?
Increasingly, educational research has become an issue in which society has a converging interest. The Congress and President Bush have overwhelmingly supported a new emphasis on what works in U.S. classrooms. The newly reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) calls for the use of scientifically based research as the underpinning for many programs and initiatives. Make no mistake, the Leave No Child Behind Act is clear—what educators do in the classrooms must be proven effective in serving our children.
To preserve a free and open democracy, U.S. educators need to be able to make informed, rational decisions on the complex issues facing our schools. Therefore, educators require solid information from the researchers and must use the data to drive decisions that affect the lives of children. In addressing this challenge, Assistant Secretary Susan B. Neuman notes that the U.S. Department of Education will provide the tools, information, research, and training to support the development of evidence-based education.
But how do educators support the translation of research to practice? Lisa Towne, senior program officer at the National Research Council's Center for Education, advises educators to encourage the research community to provide useful evidence and to base their decisions about practice on the best evidence available. She suggests that these principles for scientific inquiry have clear implications for educators: (1) pose significant questions that can be investigated empirically; (2) link research to theory; (3) use methods that permit direct investigation of the question; (4) provide a coherent chain of rigorous reasoning; (5) replicate and generalize; and (6) ensure transparency and scholarly debate.
The message is clear—we need to do more impact studies. But we also must have good ideas to take to field trials—connecting these trials with what works. Let's also make sure we have a balanced view—to improve the quality of educational research and the link between science and educational practice. In the end, results should inform our policy decisions.