In Review
George Demetrion
Independent Scholar
August 22, 2003
George.Demetrion@msn.com

Stanovich, P.J. and Stanovich, K.E. (2003). Using Research and Reason in Education : How Teachers Can Use Scientifically Based Research to Make Curricular & Instructional Decisions. Partnership for Reading http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/pdf/Stanovich_Color.pdf

I n working through this text, three things stand out: (a) an array of reasonable and useful statements about science as applicable to education; (b) an unfortunate antiscientific polemic as a rhetorical form of dismissing arguments and schools of thought that do not fit into the authors’ framework; (c) a limited view of science. My commentary follows these points.

What I Find Reasonable Even as I Would Qualify Some of the Following Statements

A good portion (but not all) of the Introduction (pp. 1-2) such as the following quotes:

1. “[L]earning outcomes will serve as the basis of assessment instruments” (p. 1).

2. “Instructional methods should be appropriate for the designed curriculum.” (p. 1).

3. “While testing seems the most straightforward [way of evaluating student learning], it is not necessarily the clear indicator of good educational practice that the public seems to think it is” (p. 2).

4. “[C]omparing averages or other indicators of overall performance from tests across classrooms, schools, or school districts takes no account of the resources and support provided to a school, school district, or individual professional” (p. 2).

Additional Statements Like the Following

5. “Education is informed by formal scientific research through the use of archival research-based knowledge such as found in peer-review journals” (p. 4). As a non-exclusive statement, that is fine.

6. “Scientific thinking in practice is what characterizes reflective teachers—those who inquire into their own practice and who examine their own classrooms to find out what works best for them and their students” (p. 4).

7. “We need tools for evaluating the credibility of these many and varied sources [about education]; the ability to recognize research-based conclusions is especially important” (p. 6).