Professional Development part of the Education Reform Network

Research Rationale

Download: Research.doc

The charisma of a speaker or the attachment of an educational leader to an unproven innovation drives staff development in far too many schools. Staff development in these situations is often subject to the fad du jour and does not live up to its promise of improved teaching and higher student achievement. Consequently, it is essential that teachers and administrators become informed consumers of educational research when selecting both the content and professional learning processes of staff development efforts.

A problem in the use of the term "research-based" is that it is applied equally to practices that vary considerably in the scientific rigor used in their investigation. For instance, a person who reads an article in a professional journal in which the author advocates the use of a particular practice without providing any supporting evidence for that assertion may later carelessly describe that practice to others as "research-based." Other studies may cite only teachers' reports of changes in their own teaching practice and improved student learning as sufficient evidence for the value of the innovation. Still other studies may have methodologies that include pretests and post-tests of students and teachers, classroom observation of teachers' instructional practice, and random assignment of students to control and experimental groups. To further add to the confusion, popular educational journals frequently publish articles in which a researcher critiques the work of another researcher in a way that often produces more heat than light, perplexity rather than clarity.

While widely varied in their scientific and intellectual rigor, these and many other examples add to the confusion teachers and administrators feel when asked to select research-based improvement strategies. Consequently, it is critical that teams of teachers and administrators take the time to study methodically the research that supports the claims made by advocates of a particular approach to instructional improvement or whole-school reform. Such study often extends for several months and includes reading research reports (particularly those that have been published in peer-reviewed journals), talking with researchers on the telephone or inviting them to the school, and visiting schools that have adopted this approach. During this review, school leaders compare the students on whom the research was conducted with the students in their school, examine the research methodology, and determine if the researcher's conclusions reflect the evidence that was provided. It may also be helpful for the team to contrast the research with that of others who make competing claims.

Because teachers and administrators often seek improvements in areas in which there is little research or in which researchers present contradictory findings, it is important that they design pilot studies to determine the effectiveness of new approaches before proceeding with large-scale implementation. While such studies (sometimes called action research) do not require the scientific rigor of more formal research, it is critical that they clearly stipulate the program's goals, methods, and the types of evidence that will be accepted as indicators of success. Such evidence often includes student gains on teacher-made tests and improvements on appropriate performance tasks.

• Cataloged: Sep-28-2003
• Country: USA
• Author/Creator: NSDC

This resource is cataloged under:

• Network/channel: Professional Development

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