There are certain phrases that make me cringe as soon as I hear them, a visceral response to advanced calculations my sub-conscious must be doing in there somewhere.

A few off the top of my head:

‘Let’s agree to disagree‘  (on important matters this means ‘You have a point I can’t refute,  so let’s appear equal on the issue’.  Of course if it’s whether Thai food or Korean Barbecue is better it takes on a different meaning altogether–that this disagreement is trivial and not worth further discussion).

‘Extended Warrantee‘  (Um, it just always seems to translate to me losing more money and time).  This is where salespeople make their biggest commission, which may be why they are so concerned that your new electronic device does not cause you grief by breaking down in the next three years.

‘No Child Left Behind‘.  Somehow I felt right off the bat that this would mean most children left behind, or ‘behind’ would be redefined to mean ‘ahead’, so that bureaucrats could claim it worked.  I can’t explain how I knew, but I wished at the time it were a stock I could bet against.  Right now I’d be up there with Gates and Buffett.

‘Research-Based‘  Every time I hear the phrase ‘research-based’ in a teachers’ meeting,  I hear ‘this worked in a land far far away under lab conditions that have nothing to do with your situation but help us sell educational books and give a false air of legitimacy’.  It’s cynical, I know, but I am stereotyping my experience with the phrase and the disparity between the promised research and the visible results.

It is worth noting that research with students (sociological) is not a hard science like physics.  A Hydrogen Atom will have the same amount of electrons whether it is in Antarctica or Chicago.  Students will not act the same in all classes in all schools.

Here’s the thing:  I’m all for research, but this phrase is often used in too vague a manner.  True research tries to prove itself wrong by testing it in various environments with all variables considered, or as many as possible, and to use other explanations to challenge the results, not just the ones desired.  It often seems to be used in teachers’ meetings so that the ensuing information will not get challenged.  By broad definition, everything is research-based, so specifics must be given to make it meaningful.  Reminds me of the old ’4 out of 5 dentists surveyed’  and ‘scientifically proven’ in commercials.  Out of context these things are only meant to impress.

All I’m advocating here is that if you hear the phrase ‘research-based’ in a context that leaves you doubtful, challenge the research:

‘What research was done where and to what extent?’  for starters.

‘Were alternative explanations offered for the results?  Did the researchers try to disprove their findings?’

Okay, Craig, we are not children, we are teachers who know how to challenge ideas.  Okay, but I think in twenty years of meetings and professional developments I never heard the term ‘research-based’ challenged once by other staff.   So I encourage you to trust your own judgment and challenge ideas whether they are mine, someone else’s or your own.

In a meeting at my last High School I had to (once again) leave my students for an in-service on how the gap between students writing at 6th Grade Level and meeting the standards in their 10th Grade classes could be achieved.  For those of you who understand this is logically impossible you may be excused.  Of course this was research-based information. I foolishly pointed out that this was logically impossible, and when the presenter replied that it wasn’t, informed all of the good news:  We can now eliminate 7th, 8th and 9th Grade–they are unnecessary because when students get to the 10th Grade the gap can be closed with these techniques, saving us all a bunch of time and money.

Of course the presenter is not here to defend himself, so you’ll have to take my word for it that he had no real counter-argument, but was unused to being challenged.  In matters that matter to our students, let’s challenge the specifics of ‘research-based’ and agree we must disagree until the side with the most or only merit succeeds.