Unit 1 - Introduction to Education Research

Unit 1 - Introduction to Education Research

I was shocked to read in the journal written by R.B. Johnson, that in the New York public education system only half of the students in public school finish high school in 4 years! I guess it’s time for a reform plan; some ideas coming from the New York mayor were:

-          Establish a corporate board

Really? I giggled a bit when that was his reform idea, to implement a corporate board to provide management decisions, oversight and expertise. How about appealing to the audience to which the curriculum should be tailored to, the article does go on to say, “A uniform core curriculum should be established that focuses on basic skills.” (p.2)

“We contend that policymakers will benefit if they examine the findings of educational research studies comparing the outcomes resulting from implementing different ideas and approaches.” (p.2) When I read this line did it ever resonate with me working with my target audience in the industry that I am in. For any change there is so much red tape and policies/legislation to go through prior to any implementation. I am a true believer in any revamping of curriculum should be more concerned with what works best for the target audience without including any personal biases or vested interests in particular approaches.

I had to learn how to write effective proposals and I learned quickly how to design and conduct a defensible study as this journal states how important these skills are when conducting educational research. In addition, an evaluation or questionnaire, if done correctly enable you to “not have to accept something as true just because someone said it was true.” (p.5)

Evaluation Research:

This includes Needs assessments, Theory Assessment s, Implementation Assessments, Impact Assessments, and Efficiency Assessments. All of these assessments provide the client and researcher with important information like; is there a need for a change in the program, is this program conceptualized in a way that it should work, was the program implemented properly, what is the impact on the target audience, and is the program cost-effective.

References:

Johnson, R.B., Christensen, L. (2014). Chapter 1: Introduction to Educational Research. In Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches.(pp. 1-28) Sage Publishing.