‘Scientific Research’ and Policymaking

A Tool, Not a Crutch

By Frederick M. Hess & Jeffrey R. Henig

These are heady times for education researchers. The No Child Left Behind Act famously endorses the use of “scientifically based research,” the federal Institute of Education Sciences has elevated the profile of rigorous scholarship, and presidential candidates tout studies on teacher quality, testing, and school choice. Advocates market favorable social science evidence and enlist sympathetic researchers as spokespersons. This attention can tempt researchers to oversell their findings and policymakers to overinterpret them—confusing our understanding of what “scientific research” can and cannot teach us when it comes to education policy.

We write as two individuals housed in very different institutions and frequently on opposing sides in polarized policy debates, both having just published books plumbing the impact of research on education policy. One sits in a school of education; the other in a Washington think tank typically described as “conservative.” Despite our differences, we share the concern that undisciplined claims about the power of research can stand in for careful thinking, foster cynicism, and undermine the long-term contribution of the research community.

There is a natural desire for education scholars to resolve complex questions by providing definitive answers, as their brethren have done in biology or chemistry. In practice, the hope that a “killer study” will settle vexing policy questions regarding merit pay or charter schooling gives rise to heated, anxious, and very public cycles of attack and counterattack. The result is good theater and a potent fundraising opportunity for advocates, but also a diminished appetite for findings that muddy partisan debates, and less opportunity for autonomous researchers to serve as a credible check on...