School & District Management

Definition of ‘Research’ Raises Concerns

By Debra Viadero — May 24, 2000 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A strict definition of research inserted last month into a bill for the reauthorization of the major federal law on precollegiate education has raised strong objections from education researchers.

The $15 billion federal Elementary and Secondary Act is scheduled to be reauthorized later this year. The research definition is one of many issues involved in the current debates in Congress over the ESEA, and the future of the renewal legislation was uncertain last week. In an amendment to the version of the bill in the House of Representatives, scientific research is defined as “randomized experiments” that use comparison and control groups to gauge the effects of the treatment being studied.

But education researchers, whose ranks include sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and historians, are concerned that the definition leaves out a lot of other important work they do.

“Randomization is a powerful tool, and we should be doing more of it,” said Gerald R. Sroufe, the director of government relations for the American Educational Research Association, a Washington-based group representing 23,000 education researchers. “But it’s a very narrow part of the scientific method.”

Concerns About Quality

Research that is more descriptive, such as case studies, can give more of a ground-level view of classroom workings, experts in the field say. Such studies also provide clues for formulating hypotheses that researchers can test with larger, quantitative studies. What’s more, researchers say, the costs of randomized experiments often exceed the budgets they have to work with.

In its opposition to the new language, the AERA is being joined by a host of other Washington-based social science groups, including the Consortium of Social Science Associations and the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences.

For education researchers, the controversy smacks of déjà vu. The Reading Excellence Act, a $520 million grant program passed by Congress two years ago, stipulates that grants may go only to reading programs that use “scientifically based research.” That language was widely considered a slap in the face to education researchers at the time and a feather in the cap for the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, which uses more of a medical model in its own reading research.

Since then, lawmakers have slid the “scientifically based research” wording into several education bills. But the ESEA language, which was proposed by Rep. Bob Schaffer, a Colorado Republican, ratchets up the standards for educational research even further with its call for randomized studies.

At the center of the debate are long-standing concerns about the quality of education research. (“What Is (and Isn’t) Research?,” June 23, 1999.)

A chorus of critics in recent years has suggested that much of education research is shoddy, vulnerable to political manipulation, and too small-scale to be of any consequence. And a small contingent of prominent academics, such as Harvard University researchers Paul E. Peterson, Frederick J. Mosteller, and Tom Loveless, are suggesting that one way to improve education research is to conduct rigorous, randomized studies. The model they often point to is a wide-scale experiment on the effects of smaller classes that was launched across Tennessee beginning in the late 1970s.

Douglas Mesecar, a legislative analyst for Mr. Schaffer, said he was responding to that group’s call when he drafted the language added to the ESEA bill.”

If it’s something the federal government is paying for, this is a great way to really get a hard look at the services or the programs that are provided,” he said. “Whatever we’re doing for our kids, we want to make sure we get the best.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the May 24, 2000 edition of Education Week as Definition of ‘Research’ Raises Concerns

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Teaching Students to Use Artificial Intelligence Ethically
Ready to embrace AI in your classroom? Join our master class to learn how to use AI as a tool for learning, not a replacement.
Content provided by Solution Tree
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Empowering Students Using Computational Thinking Skills
Empower your students with computational thinking. Learn how to integrate these skills into your teaching and boost student engagement.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
IT Infrastructure & Management Webinar
The Reality of Change: How Embracing and Planning for Change Can Shape Your Edtech Strategy
Promethean edtech experts delve into the reality of tech change and explore how embracing and planning for it can be your most powerful strategy for maximizing ROI.
Content provided by Promethean

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion I Invited Students to Help Hire a New Assistant Principal. Here’s What Happened
What began as an opportunity for the students turned into a gift for our administrative team.
3 min read
Centering students in the school community.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Opinion 5 Education Leadership Lessons From Chef Ina Garten
"Less is more," "quality is everything," and more tips inspired by the art of cooking to build trust, connection in your school community.
4 min read
Screen Shot 2024 11 29 at 1.11.40 PM
Canva
School & District Management Elon Musk Is Opening a School for Young Students. Here’s What We Know About It
The tech billionaire has claimed that the current Education Department is "basically paying people to hate America."
4 min read
Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference on Nov. 13 in Washington.
Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington.
Allison Robbert/AP
School & District Management A Principal Was Put on Leave for Her Election Message. What Leaders Need to Know
Principals have to tread a fine line to avoid getting too political in their role as public school leaders.
7 min read
Illustration of two people confined within red and blue circles.
iStock