Thinking (& Writing) About Education Research & Policy Implications
Posted on July 12, 2013
0
Education reporters out there… here are a few thoughts for you as you embark on whatever may be your next article pertaining to an education research study.
FIRST, do a Google Scholar (easiest lit search around!) search on the topic in question to see what other peer reviewed an non-peer reviewed stuff has been written on the same topic? And more specifically, if you are reporting on a “work in progress,” or non-peer reviewed recent release, compare the a) methods used and b) phrasing of major conclusions, to those used in the peer reviewed stuff. While peer review isn’t a be all and end all for research quality, methods do tend to get refined in the process, and junky methods often (though not always) get filtered out or substantively improved (it’s all relative)! More complicated methods aren’t always better. Good authors can explain more complicated methods in reasonable terms.
These next two are perhaps even more important… and require somewhat less technical background…
SECOND, stop, take a breath and revisit your basic knowledge of how schools work – how they are set up – etc. How classrooms are organized – how kids and teachers are sorted across classrooms,