School systems often rely on education research. Check out this piece from The Hechinger Report on the widespread bias in education research. As a literacy leader, how will you let the sunshine in?
1 thought on “Bias in Education Research”
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I agree that education research can be biased, but how does one know for sure that the research is reliable, or at least not so one-sided? Personally speaking, I go to the research’s sources and skim through them to see if the sources used are biased or balanced. Then, if I am not convinced or I really want to believe the research, I try it. For example, for years I taught grammar in isolation, including diagramming sentences and Daily Oral Language. I never questioned whether the practice was effective. I just taught it because that is how I was taught it, and I loved grammar. Then, I read a book that “proved” teaching grammar in isolation was ineffective. I was heartbroken. I could not believe it! I did more research and found a couple of old National Reading Panel reports that supported this book’s claim. Reluctantly, I overhauled my practices for teaching grammar. Now, I use the whole-part-whole approach to teaching it which, I must admit, is more effective than my old practices. Therefore, doing a little extra work on my part has helped me to discern which research is more or less biased.