NCLB: Act II: Washington Movers Chart Big Changes for K-12 Policy
David Hoff of NCLB: Act II reported:
… Kati Haycock of the Education Trust is looking to create education’s version of the National Institutes of Health. "What passes for evidence [in education] is pathetic," she said. She’s also trying to find ways to get teachers the curricula and materials they say they need, citing their desire for clear definition of what to teach. What they really want is national standards, she said.
IES is aspiring to be the NIH of education, at least as far as granting goes. I would, of course, welcome more money in education research, but a single-minded pursuit of the "gold standard" of evidence concerns me. It also amazes me, as we watch what might be the last season of NCLB, that people still believe that direct policy intervention is the right kind of tool to improve education. Yes, politicians have to have faith in that, or else they go out of job. But what was the last time direct Federal (or state) regulations on instruction did more good than bad, and is that piece of legislation still alive?