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Programs and practices grounded in scientifically-based
research are not fads But just what is evidence-based education as it relates to safe and drug-free schools? What scientific knowledge do we have regarding school violence and substance abuse prevention and how can we use that knowledge to produce progress in the future? Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst, director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), recently addressed those questions at the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) 2003 National Conference. What is evidenced-based education? According to Dr. Whitehurst, evidence-based education is education that uses the best available empirical evidence in making decisions. One type of empirical evidence is evidence from
scientifically-based research in fields such as psychology, sociology,
economics, criminal justice, neuroscience, and especially in educational
settings. It is evidence from research that uses conceptual models,
re- The second type of empirical evidence is performance data—reliable and systematically collected observations and assess- ments of student, teacher, or administrator performance with respect to established goals and objectives—to compare, evaluate, and monitor progress. This type of evidence is typically collected and used by schools. Both types of empirical evidence are critical to evidence-based education: Scientifically- based research identifies programs and practices that can be effective when delivered well to the appropriate students. Performance data indicates whether those programs and practices are working as intended when delivered in particular education settings. “People need to have a clear understanding of what scientifically-based research is and what it is not,” explained Dr. Whitehurst. “It is not research based on anecdotes, inappropriate generalizations, or flawed comparison group studies.” Flawed comparison group studies include those in which students who volunteer for a program are compared to students who did not volunteer, or in which students who are required to participate are compared to those who are not required. With these less rigorous types of studies, it is very difficult to disentangle what appear to be program effects from pre-existing differences between the students in the treatment and non-treatment groups. Instead, Dr. Whitehurst explained, scientifically-based
research that supports the strongest conclusions about program effectiveness
typically uses rigorously designed and appropriately analyzed randomized
controlled trials—studies that randomly assign students, classrooms,
or schools to either an intervention group or a control group by
lottery or chance, in order to measure the effects of the intervention.
It also uses replication to find out if initial research results
hold up in Of course, in the context of education and the constraints of the classroom, such research is not always possible. “Sometimes, in education, randomized controlled trials just aren’t possible,” Dr. Whitehurst said. “Quasi-experimental designs and interrupted time series are weaker in terms of the ability to support the strongest conclusions about what works, but are sometimes the best that can be done.” One area of education that has made progress in carrying out scientifically-based research is safe and drug-free schools. According to Dr. Whitehurst, compared to other education fields, the field of safe and drug-free schools has an "embarrassment of riches" because the safe and drug-free schools community has made a concerted effort to conduct scientifically-based research to improve the educational environment. What works to decrease safety and drug problems? Just what do we know about which school violence and substance abuse prevention programs have a strong base of scientific research to support their claims of effectiveness? <continued on the next page: Decrease Safety and Drug Problems>
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