Are we "following the research" in education?

Does class size matter? Is homework effective? What's the best way to help kids learn to read?  Why do some teachers (and schools) succeed while others fail? Dr. John Hattie attempted to answer these questions in his meta-analysis, published in his book, Visible Learning. This meta-analysis has been widely cited and used in teacher preparation programs all over the world, and has also been used to make decisions regarding educational policy and funding. But are the conclusions accurate? In this episode I dig in to that question as I share some critical reviews of Dr. Hattie's work. Specifically, I share the problems that come when using statistics like effect size (used in Hattie's meta-analysis) to make practical decisions in education. Additionally, I share one specific place where I disagree with Hattie's conclusions, plus some additional research that supports my point of view; specifically when it comes to sentence-combining, language processing, and comprehension. You can find Dr. John Hattie's site here. You can find some critical review of his work here and  here. I also mentioned that research supports the use of sentence-combining with certain students. You can find several studies that support this  here,  here, and  here. I also share some additional support for sentence-combining and explicit work on syntax in my Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, which you can download here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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