The New York Times has published an article on the work of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the rise of evidence-based education. The article covers the history of the IES and considers the difficulties of translating the Institute’s research into practical change.

A quote from the article in the New York Times.

“The findings could be transformative, researchers say. For example, one conclusion from the new research is that the choice of instructional materials — textbooks, curriculum guides, homework, quizzes — can affect achievement as profoundly as teachers themselves; a poor choice of materials is at least as bad as a terrible teacher, and a good choice can help offset a bad teacher’s deficiencies.

So far, the office — the Institute of Education Sciences — has supported 175 randomized studies. Some have already concluded; among the findings are that one popular math textbook was demonstrably superior to three competitors, and that a highly toutedcomputer-aided math-instruction program had no effect on how much students learned.”