Educational Research: Why ‘What Works’ Doesn't Work

Smeyers, Paul; Depaepe, Marc

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-5308-5

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our proposal resembles some others that suggest diversifying research approaches and incorporating educators’ local knowledge, judgment, and expertise into the decision-making process (e.g., Bridges, Smeyers, & Smith, 2009; C. Brown et al, 2017; Bryk, 2015; Hammersley, 2013; McIntyre, 2005; Smeyers & Depaepe, 2007). But none focus on the source of the research-practice gap that we identify: unwarranted effectiveness claims.…”

Section: Complementary Calls For Expanding the Research Agenda In Ebementioning

confidence: 86%

“…Instead of attempting to navigate this familiar, fraught landscape, we articulate the specific problems underlying the research-practice gap without relying on controversial terminology or attempting to identify their ideological origins. Still, readers will find that our arguments reflect and address some of the prevalent criticisms of EBE driving these debates—namely, the tendency to neglect the importance of context, of professional judgment, and of what teachers, students, and parents can contribute (Biesta, 2007; Smeyers & Depaepe, 2007).…”

Section: Framing Our Projectmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…We acknowledge that debates about education research methodologies often stem from fundamental disagreements about the epistemology and ontology underpinning various approaches (e.g., Bridges, 2017; Bridges & Watts, 2008; Crotty, 1998; Howe, 2009; Phillips, 2007; Smeyers & Depaepe, 2007). In particular, many critics of EBE target the positivist approach they take it to represent.…”

Section: Framing Our Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We start from their assumption that research can help improve students’ educational outcomes and experiences and hunt for ways to build and improve on the widespread efforts in this direction that are already in place. As we understand it, this assumption need not imply that social phenomena yield to the same study methods as natural phenomena, nor does it entail an instrumentalized view of education, a narrow conception of causality as deterministic, or denying that education involves agents who engage in socially developed normative and cultural processes (Bridges & Watts, 2008; Biesta, 2007, 2010; Smeyers & Depaepe, 2007). On the contrary, we hold that effects issue from a plurality of context-local causal factors that contribute to them, including the actions, attitudes, norms, and habits of students, teachers, parents, school administration, and the wider neighborhoods in which these are embedded.…”

Section: Framing Our Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite efforts to bridge the gap, primarily by more effective dissemination of results from high-quality experimental research, interventions adopted on the basis of recommendations often fail to be effective in practice. Many respond by rejecting EBE in its current form or by denouncing the entire enterprise (e.g., Archibald, 2015; Biesta, 2007, 2010; Hammersley, 2002, 2013; Smeyers & Depaepe, 2007). Rather than opposing the dominant model, in which vast resources have been invested, we propose ways to shift and expand it to improve its performance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally

Joyce

Cartwright

2019

American Educational Research Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article addresses the gap between what works in research and what works in practice. Currently, research in evidence-based education policy and practice focuses on randomized controlled trials. These can support causal ascriptions (“It worked”) but provide little basis for local effectiveness predictions (“It will work here”), which are what matter for practice. We argue that moving from ascription to prediction by way of causal generalization (“It works”) is unrealistic and urge focusing research efforts directly on how to build local effectiveness predictions. We outline various kinds of information that can improve predictions and encourage using methods better equipped for acquiring that information. We compare our proposal with others advocating a better mix of methods, like implementation science, improvement science, and practice-based evidence.

show abstract

Section: Complementary Calls For Expanding the Research Agenda In Ebementioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Framing Our Projectmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Framing Our Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Framing Our Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally

Joyce

Cartwright

2019

American Educational Research Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Trends of amenable deaths due to healthcare within the European Union countries. Exploring the association with the economic crisis and education

Costa

Santana

2021

SSM - Population Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study of premature deaths from causes that are generally preventable given the current availability of healthcare – called amenable deaths due to healthcare – provides information on the quality of services. However, they are not only impacted by healthcare characteristics: other factors are also likely to influence. Therefore, identifying the association between amenable deaths due to healthcare and health determinants, such as education, might be the key to preventing these deaths in the future. Still unclear however, is how this works and how amenable deaths due to healthcare are distributed and evolve within the European Union (EU) below the national level. We therefore studied the geographical and temporal patterns of amenable deaths due to healthcare in the 259 EU regions from 1999 to 2016, including the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the post-2008 economic downturn, and identified whether any association with education exists. A cross-sectional ecological study was carried out. Using a hierarchical Bayesian model, we estimated the average smoothed Standardized Mortality Ratios (sSMR). A regression model was also applied to measure the relative risks (RR) at 95% credible intervals for cause-specific mortality association with education. Results show that amenable deaths due to healthcare decreased globally. Nevertheless, the decrease is not the same across all regions, and inequalities within countries do persist, with lower mortality ratios seen in regions from Central European countries and higher mortality ratios in regions from Eastern European countries. Also, the evolution trend reveals that after the financial crisis, the number of these deaths increased in regions across almost all EU countries. Moreover, educational disparities in mortality emerged, and a statistical association was found between amenable deaths due to healthcare and early exit from education and training. These results confirm that identifying and understanding the background of regional differences may lead to a better understanding of the amenable deaths due to healthcare and allow for the application of more effective policies.

show abstract

Understanding Education and Educational Research

Smeyers

Smith

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Educational research is widely believed to be essentially empirical, consisting mainly of collecting and analysing data, with randomised control trials as the 'gold standard'. This book argues that good educational research is often philosophical in nature. Offering a critical overview of the current state of educational research, the authors argue that there are two factors in particular that distort it. One is that throughout the world it is expected to serve the interests of the state in securing educational improvements, as measured by standardised examination results, and to demonstrate 'scientific' credentials sufficient to guarantee absence of ideological bias and carry conviction. The other is that learning to do educational research is generally seen as a matter of being trained in empirical 'research methods'. The authors demonstrate, by contrast, that good educational research needs the rigorous thinking characteristic of philosophy, and that philosophical treatments themselves sometimes constitute such research.

show abstract

Educational Research: Why ‘What Works’ Doesn't Work

Cited by 12 publications

References 39 publications

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally

Trends of amenable deaths due to healthcare within the European Union countries. Exploring the association with the economic crisis and education

Understanding Education and Educational Research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About