FED-DOCS Y 4.SCI 2:106-65 EDUCATION RESEARCH: IS WHAT WE DON'T 63-310 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON BASIC RESEARCH OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-060681-0 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., Wisconsin, Chairman SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland KEN CALVERT, California ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota CHRIS CANNON, Utah KEVIN BRADY, Texas MERRILL COOK, Utah FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma RALPH M. HALL, Texas BART GORDON, Tennessee EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut DAVID WU, Oregon GEORGE R. NETHERCUTT, JR., Washington ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York MARK GREEN, Wisconsin STEVEN T. KUYKENDALL, California GARY G. MILLER, California JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois MARSHALL “MARK” SANFORD, South JACK METCALF, Washington MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania Vacancy (II) CONTENTS Page Dr. G. Reid Lyon, Chief, Child Development and Behavior Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes Dr. Alexandra K. Wigdor, Associate Executive Director, Commission on Be- havioral and Social Sciences Education, National Research Council: 14 Written Statement by Representative Nick Smith, Chairman, Subcommittee on Basic Research, U.S. House of Representatives Written Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Minor- Dr. G. Reid Lyon, Chief, Child Development and Behavior Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes Dr. Alexandra K. Wigdor, Associate Executive Director, Commission on Be- havioral and Social Sciences Education, National Research Council: Dr. Alexandra K. Wigdor, Associate Executive Director, Commission on Be- havioral and Social Sciences Education, National Research Council-Con- APPENDIX 3: MATERIAL FOR THE RECORD Dr. Maris A. Vinovskis, "Missing in Practice? Systematic Development and Rigorous Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Education," Paper prepared for Conference on Evaluation of Educational Policies, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA, May 13-14, 1999 Dr. Maris A. Vinovskis, "Restructuring the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) and Enhancing the Federal Rise in Educational Research and Development," Paper prepared for the Brookings Institution's Conference on Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education HEARING ON EDUCATION RESEARCH: IS OUR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1999 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON BASIC RESEARCH, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Nick Smith (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. Chairman SMITH. The Subcommittee on Basic Research will come to order for the purpose of having a hearing on education research. After 2000-plus years of experience, we still do not know the best way to raise and teach our kids. I see the goal of today's hearing to maybe be two-fold. First, how can the estimated $300 million a year that we spend on educational research be better utilized to help assure that each student learns to their maximum potential? Secondly, I would like an evaluation of whether taxpayers are getting their money's worth in terms of the quality of the research, the dissemination of the research, and the utilization of that research in our school systems. I doubt there are many people who would argue against basing education practices-what we teach our children and how it gets taught on methods that work. So, how are we discovering the methods that work, and how do we get that information to school systems that can utilize it? New teaching methods often get introduced into classrooms with little data proving that they are actually the right teaching methods that have a positive effect. The studies that are done are too often not done in a scientific way it would seem and with adequate control groups or other methods that minimize bias. Too often we end up with popular theories favored by education community leaders maybe rather than the proven methods. We find ourselves in a situation where some experts tell us one thing, that reducing class size, for example, to 15 or 17 students makes a big difference, and other experts say it is the quality of the teachers. And so a lot of different information. Is the research really moving us towards the proposition that we are coming closer to allowing every student to maximize their learning to their fullest potential? Is there definitive research? And assuming it exists, how do we recognize it? |