Quality Research in Literacy and Science Education : International Perspectives and Gold Standards

This book addresses implications for "Gold Standards" of education research—especially in science education and literacy. These standards are meant to provide evidence-based educational outcomes found effective in randomized controlled trials, following patterns of evidence used in medical research. Similar expectations have emerged in other countries—from education ministries, for researchers working with U.S. colleagues, and for researchers with multinational and non-profit support. The current "Gold Standard" policy, developed in the United States through the 2001 "No Child Left Behind" [NCLB] Act and the 2002 Education Sciences Reform Act, attempts to improve the effects of schooling and enhance educational research. The contributions to this book explore perspectives on how best to implement multiple standards of education research. Front Matter....Pages i-xxix Education Research Meets the “Gold Standard”: Evaluation, Research Methods, and Statistics after No Child Left Behind....Pages 3-15 Why “Gold Standard” Needs Another “s”: Results from the Gold Standard(s) in Science and Literacy Education Research Conference....Pages 19-39 Research and Practice: A Complex Relationship?....Pages 41-61 Moving Beyond the Gold Standard: Epistemological and Ontological Considerations of Research in Science Literacy....Pages 63-81 Longitudinal Studies into Science Learning: Methodological Issues....Pages 83-105 An International Perspective of Monitoring Educational Research Quality: Commonalities and Differences....Pages 107-137 Considering Research Quality and Applicability Through the Eyes of Stakeholders....Pages 139-148 Researching Effective Pedagogies for Developing the Literacies of Science: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations....Pages 151-168 Pedagogy, Implementation, and Professional Development for Teaching Science Literacy: How Students and Teachers Know and Learn....Pages 169-187 Approaching Classroom Realities: The Use of Mixed Methods and Structural Equation Modeling in Science Education Research....Pages 189-211 Mixed-methodology Research in Science Education: Opportunities and Challenges in Exploring and Enhancing Thinking Dispositions....Pages 213-243 New Directions in Science Literacy Education....Pages 245-260 Multilevel Modeling with HLM: Taking a Second Look at PISA....Pages 263-286 Methods from Item Response Theory: Going Beyond Traditional Validity and Reliability in Standardizing Assessments....Pages 287-301 Confounding in Observational Studies using Standardized Test Data: Careful Disentanglement of Statistical Interpretations and Explanations....Pages 303-322 Predicting Group Membership using National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Mathematics Data....Pages 323-335 Incorporating Exploratory Methods using Dynamic Graphics into Multivariate Statistics Classes: Curriculum Development....Pages 337-355 Approaches to Broadening the Statistics Curricula....Pages 357-381 Dr. Fox Rocks: Using Data-mining Techniques to Examine Student Ratings of Instruction....Pages 383-398 Process Execution of Writing and Reading: Considering Text Quality, Learner and Task Characteristics....Pages 399-425 Can We Make a Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear?....Pages 427-439 Speaking Truth to Power with Powerful Results: Impacting Public Awareness and Public Policy....Pages 443-466 Funding Patterns and Priorities: An International Perspective....Pages 467-509 Research Ethics Boards and the Gold Standard(s) in Literacy and Science Education Research....Pages 511-557 Data Sharing: Disclosure, Confidentiality, and Security....Pages 559-573 Stitching the Pieces Together to Reveal the Generalized Patterns: Systematic Research Reviews, Secondary Reanalyses, Case-to-case Comparisons, and Metasyntheses of Qualitative Research Studies....Pages 575-601 The Gold Standard and Knowing What to Do....Pages 603-620 Reflections on Beyond the Gold Standards Era and Ways of Promoting Compelling Arguments about Science Literacy for All....Pages 623-649 Back Matter....Pages 651-666 Statistical models attempt to describe and quantify relationships between variables. In the models presented in this chapter, there is a response variable (sometimes called dependent variable) and at least one predictor variable (sometimes called independent or explanatory variable). When investigating a possible cause-and-effect type of relationship, the response variable is the putative effect and the predictors are the hypothesized causes. Typically, there is a main predictor variable of interest; other predictors in the model are called covariates. Unknown covariates or other independent variables not controlled in an experiment or analysis can affect the dependent or outcome variable and mislead the conclusions made from the inquiry (Bock, Velleman, & De Veaux, 2009). A p value (p) measures the statistical significance of the observed relationship; given the model, p is the probability that a relationship is seen by mere chance. The smaller the p value, the more confident we can be that the pattern seen in the data 2 is not random. In the type of models examined here, the R measures the prop- tion of the variation in the response variable that is explained by the predictors 2 specified in the model; if R is close to 1, then almost all the variation in the response variable has been explained. This measure is also known as the multiple correlation coefficient. Statistical studies can be grouped into two types: experimental and observational.

This book addresses implications for Gold Standards of education research—especially in science education and literacy. These standards are meant to provide evidence-based educational outcomes found effective in randomized controlled trials, following patterns of evidence used in medical research. Similar expectations have emerged in other countries—from education ministries, for researchers working with U.S. colleagues, and for researchers with multinational and non-profit support.

The current Gold Standard policy, developed in the United States through the 2001 No Child Left Behind [NCLB] Act and the 2002 Education Sciences Reform Act, attempts to improve the effects of schooling and enhance educational research. The contributions to this book explore perspectives on how best to implement multiple standards of education research.

Addresses implications for 'Gold Standards' of education research - especially in science education and literacy. This book explores perspectives on how best to implement multiple standards of education research