School Information System: How can you know if it's *really* "research-based?"

July 19, 2012

How can you know if it's really "research-based?"

My new book, When Can You Trust the Experts: How to Tell Good Science from Bad in Education is now available. (There's a link for a free download of Chapter 1 on this page.) EDIT (7:17 pm 7/18) I just saw that it's listed as "Recommended," with a micro-review on the Scientific American website.

I wrote the book out of frustration with a particular problem: the word "research" has become meaningless in education. Every product is claimed to be research-based. But we all know that can't be the case. How are teachers and administrators supposed to know which claims are valid?

It's notable that this problem exists in many other fields. However good your training, research doesn't stand still. So how does a pediatrician who has been in practice 10 years know that what she learned in medical school as the optimal treatment for, say, croup, is still the best treatment?

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 19, 2012 3:42 AM
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Comments

This looks like a worthwhile read. It annoys me to no end when everyone just repeats, "research-based", and then expects it to be clear that it is THE answer. As one of the commenters on the blog linked to puts it, I usually hear "reeesearch-baaased" in the same voice zombies are said to chant, "braaiiinnss". It was a funny image of an underlying difficulty that is not too funny...

Posted by: Millie at July 22, 2012 2:56 PM