First of all, he is only ONE person doing research. Second, the EDIE
(Institute for Evidence-Based Decision-Making in Education) was created by
Myles Friedman (did a background check on the website using the same
techniques that I teach freshmen in determining a website's point of view,
etc.), so perhaps the research is biased---and since you've been sent the
email from EDIE about the book, this makes it more likely to be a
small-publication house promoting its few titles. (You can only purchase it
through EDIE---from what I've discovered by searching the ISBN online---so
perhaps it's a minor publication done by one individual who did his own
research with a myopic view of the entire educational process.)
By the way, you can call Dr. Friedman at his home in South Carolina at
803-782-8966 ...I'll send a Google Earth image of his home too, if you'd
like! :)
~Shonda
On 11/2/06, Bettie Fisher <fisherbet@charter.net> wrote:
>
> Dear Colleagues,
> I received an ad through my school e-mail for a book entitled
> Effective Instruction: a Handbook of Evidence-Based Strategies by Myles
> Friedman, Diane H. Harwell and Katherine C. Schnepel. The title
> intrigued me so I went to the website to look into it further. This
> link ( http://www.edieinstitute.net/toc_ei.html ) takes you to the
> Table of Contents. When I saw that libraries were not included in the
> strategies, I e-mailed the EDIE, the Institute for Evidence-Based
> Decision-Making in Education to suggest they should consider looking at
> the library research for inclusion in future publications. I included a
> link to Library Research Services so he could see the accumulated
> studies connecting libraries to academic achievement. Seemed to me to
> be a good way for our research to get out beyond us. I received a
> response from Dr. Friedman stating that while they appreciate and
> support libraries, their research does not support our assertion that
> good libraries and qualified librarians make a positive difference in
> student achievement. They require "50 rigorously conducted research
> studies" that any strategy works. He also asserts that while there are
> lots of studies, they aren't rigorous and that only a few show a small
> connection between libraries and academic achievement.
> In looking at his website, it would appear that Dr. Friedman is a
> legitimate researcher. If so, and if his assertions are correct, what
> does that say about the research we use and depend on concerning the
> value of libraries and librarians to academic achievement? How can we
> ever hope to reach a broader community than ourselves if our research
> isn't respected? I frequently share our research with other teachers
> and administrators trying to educate them on the importance of our
> contribution. If it's not true, I need to stop.
> I have been thinking a lot lately that administrators often seem to
> make decisions based on finances and that what any school community
> should be doing is looking at the research and basing decisions first
> on what is best for student achievement. It seems to me that schools
> bear a responsibility to be the example that does that. But what if
> the research is faulty? I'm opening this up to our LM_NET community
> for discussion, and hopefully, to ultimately learn that our research is
> sound.
>
> Thanks everyone.
>
>
> Bettie Fisher
> Media Specialist
> fisherb@aaps.k12.mi.us
> Eberwhite Elementary School
> Ann Arbor, MI 48103
>
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--
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
Technology Librarian /
Independent Library Consultant
Fort Worth, Texas
sbrisco@gmail.com
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