The importance of education research

[Warrigal]

A lot has been said and written about falling education standards and what to do about this problem.

One thing not often mentioned is the quality of the available teaching resources, especially textbooks.
Little research has bee applied to this aspect of teaching/learning but a study has found that good textbooks can be a cost effective way to raise educational outcomes.

From the Brooking Institute

Executive Summary
Textbooks are one of the most widely used educational inputs, but remarkably little is known about their effects on student learning. This report uses data collected from elementary schools in California to estimate the impacts of mathematics textbook choices on student achievement. We study four of the most popular books in the state from 2008-2013 and find that one—Houghton Mifflin California Math—consistently outperforms the other three. The superior performance of California Math persists up to four years after adoption and shows up in grades 3, 4, and 5.

The textbook impacts we identify are educationally meaningful and come at an extremely low cost. With regard to cost, textbooks are relatively inexpensive and tend to be similarly priced. The implication is that the marginal cost of choosing a more effective textbook over a less effective alternative is essentially zero. In terms of achievement impacts, our findings suggest non-trivial gains in student achievement are attainable simply by choosing more effective curriculum materials.

The effect sizes we document are on par with what one could expect from a hypothetical policy that substantially increases the quality of the teaching workforce. But whereas there is much uncertainty about whether commensurate increases in teacher quality are attainable, and how they might be attained—at least in the near term—choosing a more effective textbook is a seemingly straightforward policy option for raising student achievement.

For a fuller analysis see here: https://www.brookings.edu/research/...s-the-impact-of-math-textbooks-in-california/

 

[Butterfly]

From my experience in school, I strongly believe that the most important thing is the skill and ability of the teacher to bring the subject to life, make it relevant, and encourage the students to want to learn. Textbooks are dry as toast at best and I don't think most students get much out of just reading the textbook -- it's the skill of the teacher that matters. At least that was the case when I was in school. The classes out of which I got the most had teachers who really cared about their subject, cared about teaching, and made their classes interesting and alive. The textbooks were just something to haul around and refer to.

 

[Ralphy1]

Butterfly is right. A book by Tracy Kidder, Among Schoolchildren, did a wonderful job of pointing this out...

 

[aeron]

People are NOT equal, some people benefit from education, many more can only be trained. Some simply want to be predators on the rest.

As for teachers and educators I've seen politisation adversely affect what takes place today based on what I see and hear from our grandkids. Pandering to minority groups when what should be happening is ignoring "cultural norms" and enforcing OUR culture, concentrating on not offending any group with the result that no group, and especially we the indigenous people of OUR homeland being the most offended of all, while the priority should be education, training, and control as best fits the different groups of kids.

And most of all a return to strictly defined rules strongly enforced and the use of corporal punishment when nothing else works.

It is well said " spare the roid and spoil the child".

 

[Capt Lightning]

My elder daughter is a senior university lecturer in Education. She has a lot of contact with schools in "deprived areas" and can tell a lot of stories.

I get the impression that it's not so much about books but the lack of a supportive family environment. Unfortunately, this is all too often amongst the 'indigenous people'.

 

[WhatInThe]

....choosing more effective curriculum materials....

Absolutely. Sometimes seeing the same subject from a different approach or person can work wonders. 60 Minutes did a report years ago actually on students using youtube videos from a Khan I think it was for math/algebra. The results were dramatic. It just wasn't technology but his method or approach helped. Too many teachers can't trouble shoot a student's issues with a particular subject partly because they only know one way to do the subject they are teaching.

 

[Debby]

And then there are the Fins(Finnish?) with their almost non-existent homework load, lots of 'play-time' and especially for the little ones, distinct focus on making learning fun instead of memorizing of facts...I was reading an article and it was so different than I remember school or my kids school......good article here in case anyone is interested.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/

'...Teachers in Finland spend fewer hours at school each day and spend less time in classrooms than American teachers. Teachers use the extra time to build curriculums and assess their students. Children spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal. Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7. “We have no hurry,” said Louhivuori. “Children learn better when they are ready. Why stress them out?”It’s almost unheard of for a child to show up hungry or homeless. Finland provides three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all 5-year-olds, where the emphasis is on play and socializing. In addition, the state subsidizes parents, paying them around 150 euros per month for every child until he or she turns 17. Ninety-seven percent of 6-year-olds attend public preschool, where children begin some academics. Schools provide food, medical care, counseling and taxi service if needed. Stu*dent health care is free.....'

Apparently too, on global testing standards, they are right up at the top with their scores. It sounds like much greater relaxation in the educational environment results in better learning. Mind you, in reading through it, it sounds as though in Finland, teachers are highly respected (like doctors and lawyers), highly educated and highly personally motivated to make sure every child succeeds.

 

[Warrigal]

Finland is probably the gold standard for education and all Finnish teachers are highly qualified as educators.

It also helps that Finland is fairly monocultural. A very multicultural population can present extra problems that need to be addressed and even though very good education is being delivered, scores on global tests may be lower than countries with a more uniform population.

 

[Debby]

The article that I linked seemed to suggest that they've become much more multicultural in recent years. I would think that the kind of education that the children receive would go a long way towards integrating those kids and their families.

I think what we all need to be doing whether at the personal individual level or the national or even international level, is to be willing to look around the world and see what others are doing and what works and what doesn't. I've always felt that we humans have a strong tendency to want to 'do it ourself' or come up with our own innovations. Even in children, you can see that tendency at work when our little ones push our hands away as they inform us 'I can do it myself'. Tying shoes is one thing but solving societal problems is often another. Someone, somewhere else may have thought up the perfect solution, but we won't know if we aren't open to looking.