Designing Learning Technology

Thu, 08 May 2003

Technology Counts 2003
Ed Week has released their latest survey of technology use in K-12 education, Technology Counts 2003. The focus this year is on the role of computer-based testing to meet the accountability demands of NCLB.

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Research and the Media: Do Vouchers Work?
The NY Times has a fascinating article about how one flawed study about vouchers was seized by the media during the 2000 presidential campaign as evidence that vouchers work. The final quote in the piece, which is set up as the 'bad guy quote,' nevertheless has a ring of truth. "It's not appropriate," he said, "to talk about complex methodologies in the news media." The issue isn't whether it is appropriate, but that the field of education is still searching for effective ways to talk about methodologies and the applicability of ed research to public policy with the media and the public. Until we nail this down, we're left with the following conclusion from the article. It is scary how many prominent thinkers in this nation of 290 million were ready to make new policy from a single study that appears to have gone from meaningful to meaningless based on whether 292 children's test scores are discounted or included.

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