Response to Arnetha Ball's Request for Comment on "Non Satis Scire"

• In Event: To Know Is Not Enough: Commissioned Essay Writers—Monday (Coffee)

Abstract

I am responding to Dr. Ball’s request for comments on an aspect of AERA’s stated mission that has received insufficient attention in the past: the section directing the organization to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. I make these comments with the understanding that we are all in this together in the education research community, and all of us—not just AERA—are obligated to promote the use of research to serve the public good.
As the leader of a national membership organization, I orient my comments to a broad public-policy perspective on serving the public good. For readers who may not be looking through this same lens, I preface my remarks with a view of reality from where I sit in Washington. Then I suggest some solutions.
It is clear that policy makers, including members of Congress, are inconsistent in their use of findings from education research to craft policy proposals and legislation. (I should note, however, that this situation is improving. Particularly, data from very large-scale national recurring surveys, such as NAEP, SASS, IPEDS,
etc., are quite often referenced in policy statements.) But why is it that our research results are not routinely used as the basis for public policy in education?

Author

• Sharon P. Robinson, American Association of Colleges for Teachers of Education