Special Interest Group on Research Use

AERA SIGRU Annual Meeting 2004

Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel: Annie Room, Section A

Congress and the President recently enacted two pieces of legislation designed to raise the profile and perceived quality of education research:

• Through No Child Left Behind, legislators wrote into law a definition of "scientifically based research," with a heavy emphasis on experimental randomized methodologies.
• The What Works Clearinghouse was established through the Institute for Education Sciences to apply scientifically based research requirements in the development of "standards for reviewing and synthesizing educational research...[to produce] Evidence Reports on the effectiveness of educational interventions and test instruments."

More recently, scientists and researchers have begun to question whether such mandates may create a system that encourages the manipulation of research findings, methodologies, and dissemination as activists attempt to control policy debates. This session will examine these issues, and ask specifically:

• How do SBR requirements impact the work of researchers, and the application of research?
• What are the key policy issues in this discussion?
• Does this debate necessarily pit the scientific community against the Federal government?
• What should SIGRU, and SIGRU members do in response to the issues raised in this session?

Speakers include:

Chair:

• Paul Hood, Director of Institutional Planning
  WestEd

Presenters:

• Bea Birman
  American Institutes for Research
• Dan Laitsch, Senior Policy Analyst
  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Discussant:

• Gerald Srouffe, Senior Advisor and Director of Government Relations
  American Educational Research Association