Flying (Partially) Blind: School Leaders' Use of Research in Decision Making

Abstract

EDUCATORS are frequently criticized for not using to improve schooling. Critics assert that educators seem research averse and point out that business, the military, and even such public sector organizations the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Postal Service have applied research-based best practices to improve organizational performance. The stubborn persistence of the achievement gap between whites and minorities and the failure of many education reforms to improve schooling give the appearance that school leaders are simply resistant to organizational learning. Are schools, currently operated, learning organizations? At first blush, the answer is obvious: of course they are; that's what they are supposed to do. Well, yes, that is at least partially true; students learn, albeit unevenly, but it is much less clear whether adults in schools, particularly teachers and school leaders, also learn (and whether what they learn are research-based best practices or survival skills). It is assumed that educational leaders use in making decisions about school improvement and that they don't reinvent the wheel every time they make a decision about curricula or programs. Denis Doyle asserts that this way of operating is so obvious and commonsensical it is hard to imagine why it is not the norm. Is there any other way to make decisions? Unhappily, the answer is yes. (1) For example, a scathing report on problems in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest district, sharply criticized school officials for their failure to implement the recommendations of evaluations of programs and system performance and their failure to replicate successful programs throughout the district. Unfortunately, Los Angeles may not be atypical. Surprisingly little exists to the extent to which educators use in decision making. Undoubtedly, some school leaders use research, and many incorporate it into their professional practice. (2) In interviews with superintendents, Gary Huang and his colleagues found that nearly all of them reported that they reports of studies and program evaluations at least occasionally. (3) Unfortunately, with some exceptions, instances of how has informed decision making or improved schooling are relatively rare. (4) This raises the question: Why hasn't been used more often by school leaders to improve educational practice? BARRIERS TO USING RESEARCH IN EDUCATION Several barriers--some institutional and structural, others personal--have impeded the use of in educational decision making. First, the community rarely reaches consensus about which education policies work best and rarely conducts on the practical problems faced by school leaders. (5) School leaders are thus faced with a confounding mass of often conflicting research. A veteran superintendent remarked, Honestly, nobody really knows what's going on in the area .... Today, you read reports about this and this, next day you read reports about just the opposite. There is no consistency. That's frustrating. (6) This situation makes it difficult for superintendents and principals to learn and leads to confusion and mistrust among educators. Learning is difficult, if not impossible, when the lessons themselves are unclear. Educational advocacy.Many school leaders view educational with skepticism, particularly when they are constantly lobbied by companies promising the latest magic bullet that will eliminate the achievement gap (at least according to the company's own research). Superintendents and principals are busy enough without having to sift through spin and marketing hype. This leads some school leaders to mistrust statistics, research, and slick marketing gimmicks, viewing them as blatant attempts to distort or manipulate an audience. (7) Others distrust because it is frequently used to promote political agendas. …

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