Rigorous Evidence of Effectiveness
October 26, 2017
Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, writes on Huff Post that, while ESSA evidence standards “provide clearer definitions of ‘strong,’ ‘moderate,’ and ‘promising’ levels of evidence” than were the case in previous laws and regulations, they “still leave room for interpretation.” While Slavin would “love to see federal programs of all kinds encouraging use of programs with rigorous evidence of effectiveness,” he would rather “see a few programs that meet a strict definition of “proven” than to see a lot of programs that only meet a loose definition. 20 good apples are much better than applesauce of dubious origins.”