Evidence-based education
Evidence-based education is the principle that education practices should be based on the best available scientific evidence, with randomised trials as the gold standard of evidence, rather than tradition, personal judgement, or other influences. Evidence-based education is related to evidence-based teaching, evidence-based learning, and school effectiveness research.
The evidence-based education movement has its roots in the larger movement towards evidence-based practices, and has been the subject of considerable debate since the late 1990s. However, research published in 2020 showed that, despite absence of empirical evidence, belief is high amongst educators in teaching techniques such as matching instruction to a few supposed learning styles and the cone of learning.
History
The English author and academic David H. Hargreaves presented a lecture in 1996 in which he stated "Teaching is not at present a research-based profession. I have no doubt that if it were it would be more effective and satisfying". He compared the fields of medicine and teaching, saying that physicians are expected to keep up to date on medical research, whereas many teachers may not even be aware of the importance of research to their profession. In order for teaching to become more research-based, he suggested, educational research would require a "radical change" and teachers would have to become more involved in the creation and application of research.Following that lecture, English policy makers in education tried to bring theory and practice closer together. At the same time, existing education research faced criticism for its quality, reliability, impartiality and accessibility.
In 2000 and 2001 two international, evidence-based, studies were created to analyze and report on the effectiveness of school education throughout the world: the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2000 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study in 2001.
Also, around the same time three major evidence-based studies about reading were released highlighting the value of evidence in education: the US National Reading Panel in 2000, the Australian report on Teaching reading in 2005, and the Independent review of the teaching of early reading, England. Approximately a year before the Rose Report, the Scottish Executive Education Department published the results of a study entitled A Seven Year Study of the Effects of Synthetic Phonics Teaching on Reading and Spelling Attainment, comparing synthetic phonics with analytic phonics.
Scientifically based research first appeared in United States Federal legislation in the Reading Excellence Act and subsequently in the Comprehensive School Reform program. However, it came into prominence in the U.S. under the No child left behind act of 2001, intended to help students in kindergarten through grade 3 who are reading below grade level. Federal funding was made available for education programs and teacher training that are "based on scientifically based reading research". NCLB was replaced in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act.
In 2002 the U.S. Department of Education founded the Institute of Education Sciences to provide scientific evidence to guide education practice and policy.
The State driven Common Core State Standards Initiative was developed in the United States in 2009 in an attempt to standardize education principles and practices. There appears to have been some attempt to incorporate evidence-based practices. For example, the core standards website has a comprehensive description of the specific details of the English Language Arts Standards that include the areas of the alphabetic principle, print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. However, it is up to the individual States and school districts to develop plans to implement the standards, and the National Governors Guide to Early Literacy appears to lack details. As of 2020, 41 States had adopted the standards, and in most cases it has taken three or more years to have them implemented. For example, Wisconsin adopted the standards in 2010 and implemented them in the 2014–2015 school year, yet in 2020 the state Department of Public Instruction was in the process of developing materials to support the standards in teaching phonics.
According to reports, the Common Core State Standards Initiative does not appear to have led to a significant national improvement in students' performance. The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning there is moderately high buy-in for the standards among teachers, principals, and superintendents, but buy-in was significantly lower for teachers, b) there is wide variation in teachers' alignment to the standards by content area and grade level, c) specificity is desired by some educators, however states and districts are reluctant to provide too much specificity, d) State officials generally agree that accountability changes under ESSA have allowed them to adopt a "smart power" message that is less punitive and more supportive.
Subsequently, in England the Education Endowment Foundation of London was established in 2011 by The Sutton Trust, as the lead charity of the government-designated What Works Centre for high quality evidence in UK Education.
In 2012 the Department for Education in England introduced an evidence-based "phonics reading check" to help support primary students with reading.
Evidence-based education in England received a boost from the 2013 briefing paper by Dr. Ben Goldacre. It advocated for systemic change and more randomized controlled trials to assess the effects of educational interventions. He said this was not about telling teachers what to do, but rather "empowering teachers to make independent, informed decisions about what works". Following that a U.K. based non-profit, researchED, was founded to offer a forum for researchers and educationalists to discuss the role of evidence in education.
Discussion and criticism ensued. Some said research methods that are useful in medicine can be entirely inappropriate in the sphere of education.
In 2014 the National Foundation for Educational Research, Berkshire, England published a report entitled Using Evidence in the Classroom: What Works and Why.
The review synthesises effective approaches to school and teacher engagement with evidence and discusses challenges, areas for attention and action. It is intended to help the teaching profession to make the best use of evidence about what works in improving educational outcomes.
In 2014 the British Educational Research Association and the Royal Society of Arts conducted an inquiry into the role of research in teacher education in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The final report made it clear that research and teacher inquiry were of paramount importance in developing self-improving schools. It advocated for a closer working partnership between teacher-researchers and the wider academic research community.
The 2015 Carter Review of Initial Teaching Training in the UK suggested that teacher trainees should have access and skills in using research evidence to support their teaching. However, they do not receive training in utilizing research.
NCLB in the US was replaced in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act that replaced "scientifically based research" with "evidence-based interventions". ESSA has four tiers of evidence that some say gives schools and policy makers greater control because they can choose the desired tier of evidence. The evidence tiers are as follows:
- Tier 1 – Strong Evidence: supported by one or more well-designed and well-implemented randomized controlled experimental studies.
- Tier 2 – Moderate Evidence: supported by one or more well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental studies.
- Tier 3 – Promising Evidence: supported by one or more well-designed and well-implemented correlational studies.
- Tier 4 – Demonstrates a Rationale: practices that have a well-defined logic model or theory of action, are supported by research, and have some effort underway by state educational agencies, local educational agencies, or outside research organization to determine their effectiveness.
concluded this was necessary, but not sufficient. It said that the main challenge for policy makers and researchers was the level of leadership capacity and commitment to make it happen. In other words, the attitudes and actions of school leaders influence how classroom teachers are supported and held accountable for using evidence informed practices.
In 2017 the British Educational Research Association examined the role of universities in professional development, focusing especially on teacher education and medical education.
Critics continue, saying "Education research is great but never forget teaching is a complex art form." In 2018, Dylan Wiliam, emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at University College London, speaking at researchED stated that "Educational research will never tell teachers what to do; their classrooms are too complex for this ever to be possible." Instead, he suggests, teachers should become critical users of educational research and "aware of when even well-established research findings are likely to fail to apply in a particular setting".