Proof, Policy, and Practice : Understanding the Role of Evidence in Improving Education.
- 1st ed.
- 1 online resource (283 pages)
Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1: Proof and Policy -- Usable Knowledge in Everyday Life-The Modest Role of Science -- Scientific "Proof " from the Perspective of a "Hard" Scientist -- Can We Find Proof in Policy and Practice? -- What About the Potential of Big Data? -- Challenges in Applying Scientific Knowledge to Practice -- Research for Fundamental Understanding and Research for Use -- Utility Without Proof: Scholarship for Policy and Practice -- Notes -- 2: Experimentation and Program Evaluation -- Evidence-Based Policy Using the Experimental Method -- Campbell and Stanley on Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research -- Experimental Program Evaluation, Evaluated -- The What Works Clearinghouse -- MDRC -- Why Isn't Experimentation More Conclusive and Productive? -- A Realist Approach for Evaluating Interventions -- Observations from the Case of Success for All -- Turning Gold into Lead? -- Notes -- 3: Measurement -- Measuring Up: State Performance in Postsecondary Education -- Measuring Up's Theory of Change -- The Strategy and Its Implementation -- Testing the Theory of Change -- Policy-Makers' Responses to Measuring Up -- Data Quality, Data Standards, Data Systems -- Measuring Student Learning: Fundamental Concepts and Issues -- Common Core State Standards for College and Career Readiness -- The Impetus for the Common Core -- Development and Implementation Thus Far -- Reflections on the Historical Context of the Common Core -- Assessing Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) -- Can Postsecondary Knowledge and Skill Be Assessed on an International Scale? -- Can Student Performance Be Directly Assessed at a Global Level with Valid Results Across Diverse Cultures, Languages, and Different Types of Institution?. Can a "Low-Stakes" Voluntary International Comparative Assessment Provide Higher Education Institutions with Feedback They Can Use to Foster Improvement in Student Learning Outcomes? -- Notes -- 4: Measurement: Fit for Which Purposes? -- The Educational Data Movement -- The Controversial Postsecondary Student Unit-Record System -- Data Ownership and the Right to Privacy for Individuals and Institutions -- Differentiating Policy and Practice -- Data and Measurement Guidelines: For Policy, Public Use, and Practice -- Fitness for Purpose: Legitimate and Effective Uses of Measurement -- Measuring Up -- Expansive Student-Level Data Systems and Common Education Data Standards -- Common Core State Standards for College and Career Readiness -- Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) -- Concluding Thoughts on the Assessment of Learning -- Notes -- 5: Getting Better: The Use of Evidence in Practice -- Technical Rationality and Reflective Practice -- Qualitative Research -- Improvement Science in Medicine -- Networked Improvement Communities: Improvement Science in Education -- Understanding the Problem in Systemic Terms -- Establishing Clear, Measurable Goals for Improvement -- Developing and Testing Theories of Action to Generate Improvement -- Analyzing Results to Guide Subsequent Action -- A Continuous Cycle of Learning and Improved Performance -- What is Evidence-Based Practice? How Can It Improve Outcomes? -- The Complexity of the Situation -- The Relevance of Evidence to the Situation -- The Quality of Evidence and Measurement -- The Ability of the Practitioner to Use Evidence -- Concluding Thoughts on Using Evidence to Improve Practice -- Notes -- 6: Research and Evidence in Government and Organizations -- Influence, Interests, Views, Information, Negotiation, Knowledge -- Influence -- Interests -- Views -- Information -- Negotiation. Knowledge -- The Essential Role of Measurement -- The Politicization of Educational Policy -- The Culture Wars -- Markets, Hierarchy, Bureaucracy, and Pluralism -- Conflict Among Special Interests -- Social Justice: Income, Class, Opportunity, and Privilege -- What Education Studies are Influential in Political Environments? -- Consequential and Less-Consequential Research -- Resistance to Dissonant Information -- Sorting Through Elusive Connections Between Cause and Effect -- Tailoring Inquiry to the Decision-Making System -- Realistic, Operational Decision Options. -- Focus on Salient, Significant Issues. -- Reasonable Accessibility. -- Locally Focused Data and Analysis. -- Focus on Nontrivial Effects. -- Concluding Thoughts on Research, Evidence, and the Politicization of Education -- Notes -- 7: What Works, When, and How: Reflections, Observations, and Opinions -- Shaping Policy and Practice-Not Changing Worldviews -- Undesirable Variation: The Core Issue in Most Complex Social Problems -- Measuring for Improvement, Despite the Land Mines -- Uses of Measurement in Educational Policy -- Uses of Measurement in Educational Practice -- Understanding the System: the Case of Research on Chicago Schools -- Comparable, Valid Measurement of Crucial Outcome Variables -- Probing to Discover the Drivers of Improvement -- The Utility of Research Findings -- Harnessing, Not Fighting, Human Agency in Accountability for Improvement -- Balancing Measurement for Improvement and Accountability -- Illuminating Fundamental Issues of Practice -- Using Data Analytics to Improve Performance -- Employing Financial Supports, Incentives, and Sanctions -- Supporting Existing Capabilities and Developing Capabilities -- Motivating with Incentives and Enabling with Necessary Financial Resources -- Avoiding Perverse Incentives and Unproductive Expenditures. Monitoring Outcomes and Adapting Policy to Improve -- Aligning Policy and Practice in Partnership -- In Conclusion -- Pitfalls to Avoid -- Unlocking the Potential of Evidence for Improvement -- Notes -- Bibliography -- About the Author -- Index.
This book bridges the divide. It argues that unrealistic expectations lead to both unproductive research and impossible standards for "evidence-based" policy and practice, and it offers promising ways for evidence to contribute to improvement.