Evidence-Based Reform in Education: Promise and Pitfalls

In this keynote address presented at the Mid-western Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in October, 2004, the author discusses the increasing interest of federal policy-makers in scientifically- based research. A comparison between education and other disciplines is offered, and a proposal for increased rigor in educational research is proposed

Evidence-based reform in education

This article proposes an approach to education reform in which government encourages schools to use programs and practices proven to be effective in rigorous evaluations. In this system, teachers and school leaders would be able to select among a variety of proven methods, and could receive funds to help them adopt and implement these programs. Government would help build up a set of proven programs for all grade levels and many subjects, and would provide support to help schools choose and implement proven programs, but schools would have freedom to choose whatever works for their students. This policy, it is argued, would promote innovation and reform without top-down mandates, building knowledge as it increases effective teaching and improved outcomes for students

Cooperative Learning, Success for All, and Evidence-based Reform in education

This article argues that educational practice and policy should be based on evidence from rigorous experiments. Examples of cooperative learning and Success For All are given to illustrate how proven programs have been evaluated and broadly disseminated. Policy initiatives in the U.S. to promote use of proven programs are described. Evidence-based reform is possible in education, but it demands strong research and clear guidance for educators

Evidence-Based Practice Meets Improvement Science

Anthony Bryk is one of the most thoughtful and articulate theorists of education improvement anywhere. In his 2014 AERA Distinguished Lecture, published in the Educational Researcher (Bryk, 2015), he lays out his critique of current strategies for improving schools at scale. His purpose is to propose a “third paradigm” for school improvement. The first, often called standards-based reform, consists of the use of standards, assessments, and central reg..

Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk: Report #41

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) was established in 1994 and continued until 2004. It was a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Howard University. CRESPAR’s mission was to conduct research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of replicable strategies designed to transform schooling for students who were placed at risk due to inadequate institutional responses to such factors as poverty, ethnic minority status, and non-English-speaking home background.The purpose of this review is to describe the current state of research on the achievement outcomes of Success for All, a program built around the idea that every child can and must succeed in the early grades, no matter what this takes.Grant (No. R117-D40005) from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES, formerly OERI), U.S. Department of Education (R-117-40005

Effective Programs in Elementary Mathematics: A Meta-Analysis

This article reviews research on the achievement outcomes of elementary mathematics programs. 87 rigorous experimental studies evaluated 66 programs in grades K-5. Programs were organized in 6 categories. Particularly positive outcomes were found for tutoring programs (ES=+0.20, k=22). Positive outcomes were also seen in studies focused on professional development for classroom organization and management (e.g., cooperative learning) (ES=+0.19, k=7). Professional development approaches focused on helping teachers gain in understanding of mathematics content and pedagogy had little impact on student achievement. Professional development intended to help in the adoption of new curricula had a small but significant impact for traditional (non-digital) curricula (ES=+0.12, k=7), but not for digital curricula. Traditional and digital curricula with limited professional development, as well as benchmark assessment programs, found few positive effects

Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk: Report #66

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) was established in 1994 and continued until 2004. It was a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Howard University. CRESPAR’s mission was to conduct research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of replicable strategies designed to transform schooling for students who were placed at risk due to inadequate institutional responses to such factors as poverty, ethnic minority status, and non-English-speaking home background.This report reviews experimental studies of reading programs for English language learners, focusing both on comparisons of bilingual and English-only programs and on specific, replicable models that have been evaluated with English language learners. The review method is best-evidence synthesis, which uses a systematic literature search, quantification of outcomes as effect sizes, and extensive discussion of individual studies that meet inclusion standards. The review concludes that while the number of high-quality studies is small, existing evidence favors bilingual approaches, especially paired bilingual strategies that teach reading in the native language and English at the same time. Whether taught in their native language or English, English language learners have been found to benefit from instruction in comprehensive reform programs using systematic phonics, one-to-one or small group tutoring programs, cooperative learning programs, and programs emphasizing extensive reading.Grant (No. R117-D40005) from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES, formerly OERI), U.S. Department of Educatio