Are more high quality education studies produced today as compared to thirty years ago?

High-Quality Education Research.

A recent article published in Best Evidence in Brief examines the issues of quantity and quality of education research. Robert Slavin highlights the progress made over the past 30 years in delivering the evidence that education practitioners need to make informed decisions. His conclusions are based on three studies: Effective Programs for Struggling Readers: A Best-Evidence Synthesis; A Synthesis of Quantitative Research on Reading Programs for Secondary Students; and Effective Programs in Elementary Mathematics: A Best-Evidence Synthesis. The research found that the number of rigorous randomized or quasi-experimental studies in elementary reading for struggling readers, secondary reading, and elementary math rose significantly over the past 20 years. Despite the important gains, the trend may be going in the wrong direction. Given the importance of research in developing an effective evidence-based culture in education, educators need to diligently support the production of the types of research (including replication studies) essential to building a robust evidence base.

Citations:

Slavin, R. (2019). Replication. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://robertslavinsblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/replication/

Baye, A., Inns, A., Lake, C., & Slavin, R. E. (2018). A synthesis of quantitative research on reading programs for secondary students. Reading Research Quarterly.

Inns, A., Lake, C., Pellegrini, M., & Slavin, R. (2018). Effective programs for struggling readers: A best-evidence synthesis.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.

Pellegrini, M., Inns, A., & Slavin, R. (2018). Effective programs in elementary mathematics: A best-evidence synthesis.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.

Link: For copies of the papers presented at the annual meeting, please contact sdavis@SuccessForAll.org, and for the Baye article, go to https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rrq.229