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In the News
A new lesson plan for education shakes things up
See article on the Medill Reports - Washington web site
Medill Reports - Washington
By Chloe Wiley
November 20, 2008
WASHINGTON--Creating change can be a slippery slope, especially in the tough territory of education.
“Researchers often complain that they haven’t had enough impact on policy and policy makers complain they haven’t seen enough evidence from researchers, “ Jack Jennings, CEO of the Center on Education Policy, said.
The bottom line is we just don’t know enough about the best way to approach reform and should embrace a more evidence-based, data drive approach, researchers and policy makers agree.
“We have a habit of embracing something just because it’s new and shiny and not basing our love of that thing on any kind of evidence,” Suzanne Wilson, chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, said.
Wilson is also part of a team of top education researchers who are working on the National Academy of Education’s white papers project. The goal: help policymakers better understand key education issues in order to design more effective policies.
The papers address six key areas of concern in education policy including equal access to excellent education and more time for learning.
Teacher quality and standards accountability were among the most highly debated.
President-elect Barack Obama’s educational transitional team also stressed the importance of bridging the gap between research and policy.
“[Obama] has been very clear that he is committed to making social policy based on what we know and what works and continually striving to evaluate, examine and learn more,” Linda Darling-Hammond, education transition team head, said.
But there is a fine line between roles the federal government and the states play in education. Some researchers are even calling for more guidance on a federal level in setting curriculum standards.
Sounds like a lot of work, but with a healthy partnership between education researchers and policy makers, Darling-Hammond says it’s doable.
Currently, 30 percent of America’s schools have not met their adequate yearly progress, a measurement based on standardized test scores used by the Department of Education to monitor school success.
Is that high or low? Experts suggest we really don’t know, and some have a different way of looking at the situation.
That means 70 percent may not be achieving anything that is particularly meaningful in terms of preparing students for life after school, Andrew Rotherham, co-director of Education Sector, said.
Many teachers are excited at the prospect of a more data-driven approach to policy, but worry their voices may be lost in the process.
“As an educator, I need to know that the policies I’m having to implement everyday, whether or not I agree with them, are being made by people who have been in my shoes before,” said Lisa Muller, a Falls Church ,Virginia teacher.
Transforming education and community
Professional basketball player and community activist Kevin Johnson poses with students from his St. HOPE program, which currently educates around 2000 students in the Sacramento area. The program also includes a cultural center and an after-school facility.
Photo: Shams Shaikh (Stanford Daily)
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