In recent years, the rigor and quality of educational research have drawn much attention. This increased interest has been driven by state efforts to collect student achievement data, the creation of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the explicit call for"scientifically based research" written into the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act,…

Argues that social scientists convey the impression of rational behavior by means of self-serving research techniques. Concludes that their artificially constructed order masks the disorder of everyday existence and that they should have tolerance for human frailties. (Author/WD)

An examination of debilitating conflicts among researchers, reformers, and practitioners and the ethnics with which they deal in the school decentralization/community control arena. (Author)

Paul Ciotti's monograph "Money and School Performance" exposing the "desegregation debacle" in Kansas City (Missouri) Public Schools is an improperly aimed salvo in the "money matters" debate. Actually, money should not be thrown at politically dysfunctional schools with incompetent teachers, administrators, and board…

Mountains of data over 10 years show that the educational sky is not falling. This article deplores critics' disregard of the Sandia Report, American policymakers' test-craziness and education/economic productivity obsessions, the overrated "Texas Miracle," National Education Goals, and weighty student backpacks. (MLH)

Responding to a critique of their earlier article, authors Levin and Meister, joined by Glass, attempt to clarify some of the issues and to correct implicit misunderstandings in the critique, while detailing the application of cost-effectiveness to educational interventions. Twenty footnotes are appended. (IW)

Symbolic interaction is a useful perspective, a viable theoretical approach to getting at answers to many important questions related to educational technology. Participant observation is a useful methodology for rooting answers out of the research setting. (Author)

A dialog between two fictional teachers provides some basic examples of how research that uses approved methodology may provide results that are significant statistically but not significant practically. (PGD)

The second half of a dialogue between two fictional teachers examines the significance of statistical significance in research and considers the factors affecting the extent to which research results provide important or useful information. (PGD)

Although the vast majority of articles cited by Jeanne Chall and Marie Carbo fit the patched-up program evaluation category, the outcomes of nine randomized field experiments are the best evidence available in the research literature. Systematic phonics is an example of the weak instructional treatments presently plaguing education. Includes 16…

In this same "Kappan" Issue, Walberg and Greenberg mistakenly allege that Success for All was developed for ulterior (financial) motives, is based on questionable research, and has had poor results. Literacy achievement has not risen for 70 years. Success for All is no panacea but is tackling this problem. (10 references) (MLH)

Success for All, evaluated highly in several cities, has received unfair criticism. Opposing the process for developing, evaluating, and disseminating effective programs to high-poverty schools (particularly highlighting flaws in a tiny subset of studies) merely sows doubt and misinformation about a most promising reform development. (Contains 44…

While the Department of Education boasts lower of school dropout rates, graduation rates are also decreasing in some areas. Although the percentage of students graduating on time has remained unchanged, the percentage of noncompleters who eventually get a high school diploma (through a GED or alternative program) increases yearly. Inadequate…

Because many school funding studies are seriously flawed, valid conclusions cannot be reached concerning the effects of school funding in the United States. New evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and two international achievement tests shows that differences among U.S. public school districts (and states) in funding and…

Continues the discussion about the Third International Mathematics and Science Study results. American eighth-grade students are on a par with science students in New Zealand, China, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Meanwhile, one researcher found that all of the top six countries in TIMSS math had centralized curricula. None relies heavily on tests. (MLH)