Issues

Our children's education is too important to wager on unproven practices and policies. Research-grounded knowledge is essential to developing and implementing sound policies and to enhancing professional practice. Too often, policy makers, even those that herald the importance of research and data driven decision-making, grasp at "silver bullet" policies and trendy reforms trumpeted by the media and popular opinion. Michigan students deserve practices that are backed by educational research.

Action Steps

Research should inform educational policy.

Research Based Reform: As other states have implemented reform initiatives, strong bodies of research have illuminated the strengths and weaknesses of such policies. We must learn from these lessons. Only policies supported by evidence should be adopted. This means questioning policies that emerge simply based on public belief or political agenda.

Comprehensive and Relevant Data: We can certainly learn a lot about educational quality through student achievement data. But in too many places student learning has become a euphemism for "test scores." Evaluating the merits of a school or a reform practice calls for mixed research methods that examine more then one type of data. This is the only way to provide a clear picture of whether educational practices are benefiting students.

Quality Research and Accurate Conclusions: There is a growing body of educational research. In order to draw sound conclusions, research must be methodologically sound. Similarly, policy makers sometimes distort research findings and conclusions to support personal opinions. This requires decision makers to be scrupulous.

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