Abstract
Globally, there is a demand for basing education policy decisions and practice on solid evidence. While the same applies in Iceland, some have claimed that there is a dearth of evidence-based publications targeted at education. This article considers this claim by examining the availability and nature of evidencebased publications with a focus on upper secondary education in Iceland. In total, the main characteristics of 316 publications were studied over the period 2003–2012. These publications included peer-reviewed articles, non-reviewed scholarly work (articles and reports), master’s and doctoral theses, external evaluation reports, and innovation reports. The findings reveal a hidden treasure of a number of publications targeted at upper secondary education in Iceland. Some educational fields are still weakly represented in the evidence spectrum, such as vocational studies, and the data collection methods are relatively few. Furthermore, the main stakeholders are isolated from one another to a degree. Such isolation is problematic, as evidence-based publications are intended to inform both policy and practice. Thus, the study suggests an increased need for cooperation among the main stakeholders in upper secondary education.
Highlights
The emphasis of the 21st century academic world in the field of education is on publishing research articles in peer-reviewed journals (Bornmann & Mutz 2014; Larsen & von Ins 2010)
We used the following criteria as tools in the search: names of known universitybased researchers, names of PhD candidates focusing on upper secondary education,2 university webpages, keywords linked to the upper secondary school level, and publications on websites known to focus on this school level
3.1 The availability of publications targeted at upper secondary education in Iceland Over the ten-year period, the frequency of publications related to upper secondary education in Iceland increased from 18 in 2003 to 62 in 2012 (Figure 2)
Summary
The emphasis of the 21st century academic world in the field of education is on publishing research articles in peer-reviewed journals (Bornmann & Mutz 2014; Larsen & von Ins 2010). The global growth of such publications has been considerable. The same applies to the growth of a variety of other data-driven publications. Associated materials are available at the international level, for instance, PISA data, in various domestic external evaluation reports (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture 2010), and in innovation reports from the Innovation Fund (Sprotasjóður n.d.). We will refer to this kind of material as evidence-based publications. The demand to inform both education policy and practice through available data and solid evidence has increased; this is relevant concerning decisions related to educational change and general school improvement (Cooper, Levin, & Campbell 2009; Hammersley 2005; Lingard & Gale 2010; Morrison 2007; Sleeter 2014; Yates 2004)
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