Dive Summary:
- In order to gather data about what really works when it comes to learning science or math, the U.S. Department of Education is using randomized clinical trials, in which subjects are assigned to an experimental method, a standard method, a placebo or nothing.
- One conclusion from the new research: A poor choice of textbooks or classroom material is at least as bad as a lousy teacher, and good material can help offset a bad teacher.
- One of the biggest obstacles in the program is that many educators do not know that the data exist.
From the article:
... So far, the office — the Institute of Education Sciences — has supported 175 randomized studies. Some have already concluded; among the findings are that one popular math textbook was demonstrably superior to three competitors, and that a highly touted computer-aided math-instruction program had no effect on how much students learned. ...
