By Mary Murrin
VP Marketing, Carnegie Learning

Last week, three executives of Carnegie Learning were on Capitol Hill to meet with staff for eight Congressional Offices integral to the House Education and Labor Committee; Senate Caucus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education; and the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Among our agenda items was to recommend that the U. S. Department of Education continue to set the bar high when evaluating educational solutions and that criteria used to determine the definition of research-based curricula remain rigorous.

We are concerned by recent discussions among some education publishers that the Department of Ed loosen the definition of scientifically based research.  The existence of a definitive source for qualifying and validating research-based curricula is critical to practitioners in the field, and we believe that diluting sound scientifically based research practice encourages school districts to spend money carelessly on unproven curricula.  The truth is that while many curricula vendors claim to offer "research-based" programs, careless claims and false credentials abound. Under pressure, schools have neither the time nor the hard data to understand which curricula are truly proven in practical applications.  Despite declining test scores, vendors would rather sell – and in many cases, teachers would rather teach – tired old solutions, instead of investing in better approaches based on new research and proven, quantifiable results.

The job of defining the parameters of scientifically based research is best left to the experts in the form of an independent organization called the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) established the WWC in 2002 to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a trusted, unbiased source of scientific evidence of what works in education.

Having created NCLB, the federal government is obligated to provide a "best practices" clearinghouse to educators, and the WWC-approved solutions are the best way for schools to meet NCLB standards. The alternative is for schools to blindly pump money at the problem of educating the next generation of working citizens. Our children deserve the best possible education, not only because we wish for them rich, satisfying futures but because, as a nation, we hope to compete in global economy in the decades ahead. There is much at stake in determining what really works in education.

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