In playing with the concept of 'credibility', this article presents a critical examination of the discourse of evidence and the programming of upbringing in early intervention policy and practice. The truth claims of the evidence discourse in policy are explored through a single complex case study of an early intervention city in Northern Ireland.…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 requires that K-12 educational agencies invest federal education funds in evidence-based practices. We estimated what percentage of Title I funds at a large school district are invested in practices supported by a single study meeting one of the top three tiers of evidence as defined by ESSA. Over 95%…

This article seeks to provide a new paradigm for questioning how quality and excellence in teaching practices are understood and evaluated. By combining ideas from complexity theory and Michel Foucault's conception of polymorphous correlations, I argue that a shift away from the forms of thought that engender reductionist evaluations can become a…

Replication studies in education are relatively rare. Of the few which are conducted, many are conceptual rather than direct replications. With so few replication studies, and many of those that are attempted producing null results, the scientific status of the evidence base for educational policy and practice is in question. Replicating Makel and…

This paper seeks to raise awareness among educational researchers and practitioners of some significant weaknesses and internal contradictions of randomised control trials (RCTs). Although critiques throughout the years from education scholars have pointed to the detrimental effects of this experimental approach on education practice and values,…

This paper introduces a literature from outside the field of education research and policy that we argue has potential to enhance both policy and practice. This field, behavioral genetics, has amassed highly replicable findings spanning more than half a century. Although no necessary policy implications follow from the evidence we review here,…

After decades of frustration that education research is irrelevant to practice and that educators do not use research to inform their work, there is reason to believe that the relationship between research and practice is improving. Elizabeth Farley-Ripple describes the how the conversation about research and practice is becoming broader, how…

This essay is a commentary on Brighouse, Ladd, Loeb and Swift's "Educational Goods: Values, Evidence, and Decision-Making." It discusses the book's conceptualisation of childhood goods, and it comments at length on its place within the larger philosophical enterprise of promoting normatively and evidentially sound decision-making in…

This chapter explores how the Wisconsin Technical College System Student Success Center and the Success Center for Ohio Community Colleges provided support that encouraged data-informed decision-making among 2-year college stakeholders. A case study for each Center is presented to illustrate data-related strategies and lessons learned. The…

Schools should be safe places for young people, educators, school staff, and community members, and policies and practices can help create learning environments where kids thrive. Gun violence in U.S. schools has prompted calls for increased school safety measures; however, which policies contribute to safe school environments is often a topic of…

The rise in the use of scientific evidence as a basis for educational policymaking has been a noticeable feature globally. In this study, we describe and discuss how educational research is used to make policy and governing evidence-based. To illustrate this, we use the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) as a case and focus on two of the processes…

Successful higher education systems are student centered and constantly improving. They also are committed to addressing long-standing policies, perspectives, and practices that--intentionally or not--marginalize Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or People of Color (BILPOC) students, students from under-resourced families, and others who were not…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that can affect a person's ability to manage the complexities of varied social and environmental situations. This is particularly evident in the dynamic context of a school classroom. To assist students with ASD to navigate the complexities of Australian primary and secondary…

Across the OECD, enormous effort and investment has been made to reinforce the quality, production and use of education research in policy and practice. Despite this, using research in education remains a challenge for many countries and systems. The OECD launched the Strengthening the Impact of Education Research project to respond to this…

Gifted education policies vary across the United States. Previous studies have demonstrated a disconnect between these policies at state and district levels, but alignment of school-level practices with state and/or district policies is unknown. To further examine these relationships, we examined via qualitative document analysis state and…