Did you know about What Works Clearinghouse? I didn’t until Dr. Goldring showed us. Apparently it was started in 2002 by the US Department of Education to help educators sift through research. Follow the link to explore the web site.
Anyway, I discovered that the math program that I was a huge advocate for has been shown by research to have a negative effect on student achievement. That means kids who receive the math program perform less well than those receiving the base program the school was already offering. That is not good. So, I looked up a competing math program that a colleague of mine was suggesting – one that I had immediately dismissed as not being good – only to discover that it was the only math program with positive gains.
Huh! This is why we as educators need to have the ability to understand and learn from research. Until that time, I was SURE that one program was better than the other, just based on what I thought about teaching from my 10 years of experience.
I am a thankful convert to What Works Clearinghouse. They don’t have all the information that I want right now because they are being careful to only include research studies that meet a rigorous set of criteria. However, there is enough information on there to get you thinking.
-Ted Murcray
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