Sunday, March 25, 2012

Jersey Jazzman: Schools Need Real Research

Jersey Jazzman: Schools Need Real Research:


Schools Need Real Research

Yesterday, I pointed out that Newark superintendent Cami Anderson's piece in the Star-Ledger referred to all sorts of "research" without giving us any citations. I can't say for sure whether that's the fault of Anderson or theS-L; I can say that Anderson is making some very controversial assertions, and she should back them up with actual citations from the literature.

A good role model for both her and the S-L is Matt DiCarlo of shankerblog.org. Matt is a real researcher who reaches his conclusions through careful study of high-quality studies, and not through ideology. Matt pointed me to some real research that contradicts some of Anderson's claims. For example:

Anderson: "Some research shows that we lose our best teachers to charter schools and other professions because they feel they are not growing and they become disheartened seeing students in ineffective