Category Archives: research

A Critique of Rick Hess’ Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0

Rick Hess just released the 2013 version of his Edu-scholar Public Presence Rankings. He claims that these rankings are “…designed to recognize those university-based academics who are contributing most substantially to public debates about K-12 and higher education. The rankings offer a useful, if imperfect, gauge of the public impact edu-scholars had in 2012.” I’m [...] Read more »

communication, data, dissemination, Ed. Research, eduscholars, Hess, higher ed., public presence, research, RHSU, scholarship, social media

Data + both/and

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0

Nate Silver has received LOTS of attention in the mainstream media and among those I follow on Twitter. Forget the pre-election bashing of Silver, the post-election range of opinions on Silver’s work is unbelievably dramatic. Either “America’s Chief Wizard Nate Silver Had the Best Election Night of Anybody…” or “Obama’s big win does not mean [...] Read more »

data, decision-making, Leadership, Nate Silver, Obama, research

Modern scholarly communication in education: An Example

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0

I’ve written a bit about scholarly communication in education, and our need to modernize our modes and systems (see e.g. THIS and THIS and THIS and THIS…). This post offers an example of modern scholarly communication. At the heart of this “story” is Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology at the University [...] Read more »

AERA, digital, Ed. Research, modern scholarly communication, research, scholarship, social media, Storify, twitter

Conflicts of Interest in Research – HeLa Cells

Posted on September 13, 2012 by andy wolfenbarger | Permalink 0

I found our class discussion about HeLa cells last night fascinating.  I wondered if a person or their family should be compensated because others profited from the person’s discarded tissue.  Anyone unfamiliar with the Henrietta Lacks story and HeLa cells … Continue reading →
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research

What would you want to know about educational research?

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0

I have an opportunity to teach a course that I’ve never taught before, but that I’ve coveted teaching for awhile. The course is called “Research Methods in Education,” and the university bulletin describes it as: Designed to provide an introductory understanding of educational research and evaluation studies. Emphasizes fundamental concepts, procedures and processes appropriate for [...] Read more »

research, teaching

“Academic blogging” qua peer review

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


Unless you live under a rock (or if you don’t track education policy matters through social media – same thing), you know about the “big” study about teacher effects that was conducted by Chetty, Friedman and Rockoff, disseminated through NBER and reported in multiple outlets, most notably the New York Times. This is an important [...] Read more »

Blogging, Ed. Research, peer-review, research, scholarly communication, scholarship

A critique of the NEPC report on K-12 online learning

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


I have great respect for the folks at the National Educational Policy Center. In particular, I hold Gene Glass and Kevin Welner in very high regard; they are genuine, world-class scholars. But, I think they fouled up their newest policy brief, Online K-12 Schooling in the U.S.: Uncertain Private Ventures in Need of Public Regulation. [...] Read more »

critique, distance learning, Glass, NEPC, online learning, policy, research, Welner

To everything there is a season…except learning

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon it destroys our democracy. – John Dewey (1900, p. 3) I am by no means the best or wisest parent. However, lately, [...] Read more »

blog4reform, community, Ed. Policy, Ed. Research, education, equity, Equity / Discrimination, Learning, parenting, research, seasons, summer learning

There’s something here…

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


I just don’t know what exactly. So, mostly as stream of consciousness and in chronological order… *This started when Lisa Thumann tweeted about a keynote speaker at BLC ’10 who referred to the so-called “10,000 hour rule” for mastery or expertise. *I asked her if the speaker had a warrant for that knowledge claim beyond [...] Read more »

crap detection, expertise, Gladwell, keynotes, presentations, research, scholarship