New Online "Primer" Helps Policymakers Evaluate Education Research
Thursday, March 11, 2004
The Education Commission of the States (ECS)

Denver -- The Education Commission of the States (ECS) and Mid- continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) have launched a new online tool to help policymakers, education leaders, reporters and others better understand and evaluate education research. Called "A Policymaker's Primer on Education Research: How To Understand, Evaluate and Use It," the interactive, online document is a first-of-its kind effort.

The primer helps policymakers and other interested individuals answer three questions: 1. What does the research say? 2. Is the research trustworthy? 3. How can the research be used to guide policy?

"We're trying to bridge what has too long been a gulf between education research and education policy," added ECS President Ted Sanders. "The Primer is the most painless way I know for everyone who works in education to acquire a basic understanding of important concepts of statistics and research methods."

The Primer provides an overview of research methods and statistics. It is highly interactive, with flash animation and hot links to examples, additional discussions, pop-up definitions of technical terms and a lengthy education research glossary. It also features tools to guide users through an assessment of research studies. There's a special "Understanding Statistics Tutorial" and another tutorial on searching the ERIC database. For users who want an abbreviated, quick-and-dirty version of the material in the Primer, there is an "Applied Quick Primer" keyed to the most basic sections.

The Primer is available online only at http://www.ecs.org/ResearchPrimer or http://www.mcrel.org/primer . It was written by McREL Principal Researcher Patricia Lauer and funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

For more information on the Primer, contact Michael Allen at ECS, 303.299.3669 or mallen@ecs.org .

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The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is a national, nonprofit organization that helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. A nonpartisan organization, ECS was formed in 1965 and is located in Denver, Colorado.