Being an Informed Consumer of Quantitative Educational Research

Abstract

Before schools and districts invest their scarce resources in the products that educational researchers have developed, teachers, administrators, and community members need to become informed consumers of educational research. ALTHOUGH WE like to think of the United States as the land of equal opportunity, we recognize that not all children receive the same quality of education or exhibit the same level of academic achievement -- despite the fact that public schooling is available to all students. Research has found that a passing grade in one school may be a failing grade in another, depending on several factors, including the socioeconomic status of the student, the location of the school, and the demographic characteristics of the school's students.1 As long as such disparities remain, we will continue to invest substantial resources in the search for works in educating our students. This question is at the very core of some of the research evaluating school reform programs, but it is not being asked by the people who need answers the most: the consumers of those programs. Exploring works involves identifying the programs and practices that provide the clearest evidence of positive, significant effects on school and student performance. Researchers have at various times recommended homogenous grouping, heterogeneous grouping, drills, no drills, mastery teaching, mastery learning, remediation, and early intervention. The list that provides often contradictory answers to works already seems infinite. Yet we continue to pour resources into the search for successful approaches. Although we should continuously strive to find innovative ways to improve our education systems, we should not ignore evidence of the effectiveness of existing programs. Rather we should foster effective communication between researchers, teachers, administrators, policy makers, and other stakeholders. As a consequence of the communication gap between educational researchers and practitioners, the why of turning positive research results into practice is often missed by those who most need to understand it -- teachers and administrators. This article strives to bridge this gap between researchers and practitioners by exploring how to become an informed consumer of educational research. Over the years it has become clear that there is no panacea for what ails our education system. Before we can determine what works, when, and where, we must understand the conditions that individual schools or districts are facing. The challenges affecting troubled schools are numerous and varied, and solutions must be tailored to meet specific needs.2 A challenge for both researchers and practitioners is that a solution that effectively addresses one problem in one setting may not necessarily prove to be successful in another. For example, a program that is successful in improving the reading scores of School A may have no effect on the reading scores of School B because of differences between the schools or their students. With this knowledge, is it possible to ensure that the results obtained in pilot studies will also be obtained when programs are implemented in different school settings? Being an informed consumer of educational research requires an understanding of a district's or school's capacity, needs, and goals and, more important, an understanding of the barriers to meeting these needs and attaining these goals. Being an informed consumer also requires an understanding of the components of solutions that may address specific needs. For example, if a school's third- and fourth- grade students exhibit weak reading skills, then that school would need to find a program that is designed to improve the reading of students in these grades and that provides the training, materials, and technical assistance needed for success. In addition, the school should select a program that has demonstrated effectiveness with students with similar needs and in similar contexts. …