The authors of the study "The Long-Term Impact of Teachers" claim that their study shows that increases in teacher value-added lead to significant and lasting increases in test scores and significant increases in income that will last throughout adulthood. Instead, I show that these claims are false because they are contradicted by the…

This exchange represents a follow-up to an article on the effects of state high school exit examinations that previously appeared in this journal (Warren, Grodsky, & Kalogrides 2009). That 2009 article was featured prominently in a report by the National Research Council (NRC) that evaluated the efficacy of test-based accountability systems.…

In arts-based research, the mode of inquiry through an art form generates new insights that would not have been revealed through a traditional written format. Three sets of criteria for evaluating arts-based research are presented that privilege the written word. Additional criteria are offered for visual arts-based research. (Contains 22…

Education statistics are rarely neutral; those who collect and analyze them have different purposes. In this article, Bracey discusses several principles of data interpretation to help educators avoid falling into statistical traps. For example, because such reports as A Nation At Risk contain many "selected, spun, distorted, and even manufactured…

A discourse on methodology in teaching research is given and a call is made for researchers to pay more attention to the subjectivity of experience, social problems, the empowerment of students and teachers, and alternatives to the empirical-analytical research paradigm. (JL)

Responds to an article that questioned the authors' previous attempts to define "subject difficulty" and compare subjects based on their level of difficulty. Argues that "subject difficulty" is a reasonable term and is important to the interpretation of examination data. Questions arguments that only qualitative judgments of…

Menges identifies four areas of educational research in which data is substantial but much less useful than it could be: faculty behaviors and intentions; technology-mediated instruction; effective evaluative decisions and context-specific research. He suggests some directions for future research. (JM)

Three goals must be met in order for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to improve the quality and utility of its data collection: (1) the choice of what to collect must be driven by the questions of interest to decisionmakers and the public; (2) procedures must insure validity and reliability of the data; and (3) the data must be…

Curriculum scholarship involves "reading for meaning" perhaps more than any other professional competence except observing. Deconstruction ventilates this activity by asking what reading for meaning means, exposing some habits normally governing it, and proposing a way of reading that is radically open to diversity. (MLH)

This paper examines the art of Rene Magritte to illustrate how artworks provide a number of dimensions for realizing experience, for creating knowledge, and for a changed role of interpretation in educational research. The paper argues that works of art provide new gestalts and new grounds for confidence. (JB)

Addresses the problems related to research design and the improper interpretation of survey results at the institutional level. Analyzes the validity of student opinion surveys. Discusses the importance of response rates. Encourages developmental educators to question results of surveys when outcomes are contrary to the findings of research…

Presents an opinion on the appropriate use of significance tests, especially in the context of regression analysis, the most commonly encountered statistical technique in education and related disciplines. Briefly discusses the appropriate use of power analysis. Contains 47 references. (Author/SV)

A major focus for research in preparation programs should be on the practice of administration. For some time, the preparation of educational administrators has been rooted in the traditional liberal arts approach--the approach of a discipline--as a model for preparing the practitioner. Emphasis has shifted to the concept of the accurate…

Presents the author's perspective on the topic of educational intervention for students with learning disabilities through a discussion of using validated, curriculum-based measurement as a determinant of effective instruction. Also examines the optimal characteristics and ethics of intervention research and the dissemination and implementation of…

A consideration of ethics is necessary in the development of guidelines for conducting and reporting research. A brief description of the history of ethical guidelines in research is presented followed by suggestions for development of ethical guidelines, both those that can be legislated and those that cannot. (SI)