Mind The Gap – Between Research And Rhetoric

Yesterday I asked on Twitter, on what educations issues is the gap between the research base and how an issue is commonly discussed greatest?  The answers are here.  Others that came in other ways include retention, when students should start learning languages, selectivity at teachers colleges and classroom effectiveness, and one person listed half a dozen before asking if it’s not easier to compile what wouldn’t be on the list.  Your take?

3 Replies to “Mind The Gap – Between Research And Rhetoric”

  1. My favorite research versus rhetoric gap centers on TFA. We have known for years that TFA does a good job of teaching middle and high school math and not a particularly good job of teaching anything else. The latest study just confirms what earlier studies have found.

    The sensible reaction would be to ramp up TFA for upper grade math teachers and phase it out for other grades and subjects. But people are so wedded to their preconceptions that almost no one points this out. Instead pro TFA pundits call for more TFA involvement even in areas in which TFA does a poor job (reading and writing instruction) while anti TFA fanatics ignore the good that TFA could do if it focused on math instruction.

  2. There doesn’t seem to be enough emphasis on the importance of ECE. If ECE were made more available to the public, we could focus more on development and assessment. This could level the learning field for students instead of just assuming that every child infiltrating into kindergarten will/should have the same knowledge and skill level.

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