The Role of Relevance in Education Research, as Viewed by Former Presidents

Abstract

American Educational Research Association presidents’ presidential addresses have only intermittently considered relevance as a criterion of quality for education research. A few, though, argued that education research could only distinguish itself from research in the disciplines through attention to improving educational outcomes. David Krathwohl (1969) called for a coherent community encompassing practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. Philip Jackson (1990) urged that local research knowledge, rather than research-based dictates, be communicated. Alan Schoenfeld (1999) challenged education researchers simultaneously to build knowledge and offer solutions to practical problems. He anticipated current research-practice partnerships and shifts toward practice-embedded research supports. But only if the larger education research enterprise supports these efforts will the shift be radical and robust enough to persist and survive.