Towards 2014: Education Research on the Leading Edge of School Improvement?

Amid the many ideas and initiatives that have emerged in K–12 school improvement over the past 30 years, one of the most self-evident, but least understood notions is the use of research-based knowledge in improving teaching and learning. With the heavy emphasis placed on scientifically based research by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) it is now almost a cliché that data, scientific evidence and research-based knowledge can and should shape policy and practice in education as is done in other sectors like medicine and agriculture.

The National Research Council's seminal report in 2002 on scientific inquiry in education emphasized that the nation cannot expect "reform efforts in education to have significant effects without research-based knowledge to guide them." But it is clear that education still has a long way to go before data and evidence are used systematically and effectively to develop policies, programs, and practices that have a significant, wide-scale, and long-lasting impact on students.

Through two interactive panel discussions with leading thinkers and experts, this timely forum will probe the many questions surrounding the connection between scientific research and school improvement—past, present, and future. Key questions will include:

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Education Sciences Reform Act in 2002 …

• How has high quality education research been defined? Has the quality improved?
• Has there been an increase in the use of research-based knowledge in shaping practice and policy?
• Has research-based knowledge had a significant effect on school improvement?
• In what issue areas has education research been used most and least effectively?

In looking ahead over the next five to six years…

• What are the challenges and opportunities for expanding the use of research-based knowledge?
• What is the appropriate federal role in the research and school improvement enterprise?
• What should be the primary focus of education research?
• What are the policy implications for the reauthorizations of ESEA and ESRA?

This forum featured:

Denise Borders, Academy for Educational Development

Gina Burkhardt, Learning Point Associates

Chester E. Finn, Jr.,  Thomas B. Fordham Foundation

Steve Fleischman, American Institutes for Research

Frederick Hess, American Enterprise Institute

Jim Kohlmoos, Knowledge Alliance

Andrew J. Rotherham, Education Sector

Marshall (Mike) Smith, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Jason Snipes, Council of the Great City Schools

Lisa Towne, National Academies

Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst, Institute of Education Sciences

This forum is jointly hosted by Education Sector, Academy for Educational Development, American Institutes of Research, and Knowledge Alliance/Center for Knowledge Use, with support from the W.T. Grant Foundation.