Forging a National Agenda in Education Research

By Michael Kirst, Thomas James, and Lee Shulman

Myron Lieberman's Commentary on a pre-publication draft of the National Academy of Education's Research and the Renewal of Education was filled with errors and distortions (" 'Research and the Renewal of Education': A Critical Review," June 19, 1991). Moreover, it did not address most of the major points made in the report. Rather than attempt a point-by-point refutation of Mr. Lieberman's claims, we seek to offer instead a balanced summary of the analysis and recommendations contained in the report, and we invite our colleagues in the education community to judge its value.

As Americans strive to reform and restructure schools and design programs that prepare young people for a new century, education policy and practice must be guided by the best that is known about education and all areas of inquiry related to learning, schooling, and young people. Research and the Renewal of Education warns that current efforts to implement broad-based school reforms without adequate research to guide the direction of change will fail. "Pushing for change without continuing to deepen our understanding of what we are doing," the study says, "will only intensify the problems we seek to solve."

The academy suggests ways that the organization and character of research could be changed to improve its application to policy and practice. It presents in this report a national research agenda focusing on five priority areas expected to spark positive changes...