I considered that he is only one person, and while I checked his
credentials enough to see what is educational and work background are,
all that tells me is he appears to be a legitimate researcher. Yes,
EDIE is his organization, but again, I don't think that is enough to
make a judgment one way or another. If the strategies in his book are
valid by his definition of rigor and number of studies, and if our
research doesn't meet his requirements, then are ours insufficiently
rigorous? If not, can we improve them? Or, if his work isn't valued
by the educational community, why? I just think there are lots of
questions here that cast doubt on the research I've depended on. I'd
be happy to be proven unjustified in my concerns.
Bettie Fisher
Media Specialist
fisherb@aaps.k12.mi.us
Eberwhite Elementary School
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
On Nov 2, 2006, at 1:04 PM, Shonda Brisco wrote:
> 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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