Research and Reference Tools
Educational leaders must be able to model valid, reliable, and appropriate methods of data gathering.
Time is a valuable resource in our schools and wasting what little we have on some new flavor of the month educational strategy, without first determining that it's supported by research is troubling in many ways. As one example, look at the idea about Learning Styles in education.
The following are a sampling of educational research sites that provide reliable and valid information.
You should try and use these educational databases and citation tools to improve your access to relevant information. In addition, you should avoid using general search engines when looking for academic research, as their broad nature may lead less than accurate results. This section will help you save time, locate useful information, and help you build robustness into your resources.
Aligned to the NETS-A: 2.b, 3.d, 4.a, 5.a, 5.b
What Works and What Doesn't
Let's start out by looking at some research on the things that actually make a difference in our teaching and learning practices. We're certain that you have come across the new, flavor of the month, strategy that is to be implemented in your district. How do you know that it's effective? Is this new thing based in research, or was it something that someone heard at a conference and was drawn in by the style of the presentation and pseudo-academic jargon more than the substance?
First, we'd like you to take a look at the work by John Hattie. He performed a 15-year long meta-analysis on which teaching and learning strategies have the greatest effects. His works are available in a book: Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement
Please review this website, which does a good job of synthesizing Hattie's work. Pay careful attention to the super factors in student achievement.
In addition, Hattie has a newer website that gives a nice overview of the rankings through a graph. Please review the rankings there. If you need a glossary of the terminology used, please look here.
As you read the findings, be prepared to describe two or three strategies that have surprised you or challenge your thinking on teaching and learning. As a teacher leader, how can you use this research to help your colleagues and students?
Next, visit the IES What Works Clearinghouse. Use the Find What Works link and choose something that interests you from the topic/outcome domains Again, reflect on what reinforced your thinking or surprised you in the research.
Finally, visit the Research and Reference Tools forum and write your reactions to both the Hattie research questions and also what you found in the IES research.
