How Principals Use Research

Claims that education research is flawed and that it has little or no impact on school practices have been circulating for at least 75 years, and this chorus of criticism has intensified in the past three decades. Yet the validity of such claims has not been investigated, write Biddle and Saha. The authors interviewed 120 school principals (81 in the United States and 39 in Australia) to find out whether these educators value and use education research. Their findings indicated that most principals held positive opinions about education research, were actively interested in research that was relevant to their professional needs, were at least minimally familiar with important education research topics, learned about education research from a wide variety of sources, and applied research knowledge in their schools. The authors recommend that educators work to dispel the myth that education research has no impact--but at the same time, that schools enhance educators' ability to apply research through improved professional training. (Contains 1 figure.)