Some concerns about research on methods' effectiveness
What might a horse race require—and cost?
Horse races. What a great way to determine a winner!
So there’s been a lot of talk lately about the relative effectiveness of different curricula, particularly in the area of early instruction (often decoding). I’ve even heard calls for research comparing different curricula or models. Music to the ears of this old, wanta-be, washed-up, empiricist who likes studies of instruction!
But I’m a little wary about the idea of comparing methods of teaching kids to be competent with some specific, reasonably well defined skills. I think research evaluating the effects of instructional curricula and methods is actually pretty dang challenging and very costly.
