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August 11, 2004
Follow-up: Not all kudos for the 'What Works Clearinghouse'
We recently told you about the U.S. Department of Education's new "What Works Clearinghouse" website that intends to help users discern reliable education research from studies that don't make the grade. While the goal is a noble one, some early visitors to the site have been less than effusive in their praise, says the new issue of Education Week (Note: free registration required).
"When I looked at it, I was just kind of appalled," G. Michael Pressley, the director of doctoral programs in teacher education at Michigan State University in East Lansing, told the newspaper. His criticism is not a case of sour grapes though; his study on reciprocal teaching received a positive review. The criticism from researchers centers on how some of the studies have been categorized, lack of explanations for why many are deemed unreliable, and the clearinghouse's strict methodological criteria for judging reliable and unreliable studies.
In fairness to the Department, what it is attempting to do with the clearinghouse isn't easy, and there are bound to be critics—some from the research side, some from the political side, and some from the education advocacy side—no matter what. Still, the early reviews suggest that there is a long way to go before educators and policy makers rely on the site as education's version of Consumer Reports.
Posted August 11, 2004 12:00 AM
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