From Research to Policy
Frederick M. Hess, Juliet Squire | American School Board Journal
July 29, 2008
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Resident Scholar
Frederick M. Hess
When using education research, school board members, superintendents, and district leaders are in a sometimes frustrating position. They are implored, or even required by law, to make "scientifically based" decisions. They are inundated with research findings; a Google search on merit pay, for instance, yields more than a half-million hits. But they do not have the resources to sift through various studies and determine which are most promising for their districts.

Making matters especially difficult is talk of "data-driven decision making" and "scientifically based research." These phrases imply that translating research into policy and practice is a relatively straightforward matter of latching onto the right solutions and making them work.

If only it were that simple.

Being smart about education research requires thinking about what it actually shows, when and where the findings apply, and how the implications are being explained and promoted. The hard truth is that research is produced and disseminated by researchers, public officials, education groups, journalists, and advocacy organizations--all of whom inevitably have their own views, incentives, and biases. Even well-intentioned efforts to promote the use of rigorous research may flounder if officials pay insufficient regard to the way these forces affect the marketing of findings and recommendations. . . .

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Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and director of education policy studies at AEI. Juliet Squire is a research assistant at AEI.

About the Author

 

Frederick M.
Hess
  • An educator, political scientist, and author, Frederick M. Hess studies a range of K-12 and higher education issues. He is the author of influential books on education including The Same Thing Over and Over, Education Unbound, Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, and Spinning Wheels, and pens the Education Week blog "Rick Hess Straight Up."  His work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets such as Teachers College Record, Harvard Education Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, American Politics Quarterly, Chronicle of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, New York Times and National Review. He has edited widely-cited volumes on education philanthropy, stretching the school dollar, the impact of education research, and No Child Left Behind.  He serves as executive editor of Education Next, as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, on the Review Board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, and on the Boards of Directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, 4.0 SCHOOLS, and the American Board for the Certification of Teaching Excellence. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University, and Harvard University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University as well as an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum.

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  • Email: rhess@aei.org

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    Name: Rebecca King
    Phone: 202-862-5904
    Email: Rebecca.King@aei.org
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