Using Research and Reason In Education: How Teachers Can Use scientifically based Research to Make Curricular & Instructional Decisions

In the recent move toward standards-based reform in public education, many educational
reform efforts require schools to demonstrate that they are achieving educational outcomes
with students performing at a required level of achievement. Federal and state legislation, in
particular, has codified this standards-based movement and tied funding and other incentives
to student achievement.
At first, demonstrating student learning may seem like a simple task, but reflection reveals that
it is a complex challenge requiring educators to use specific knowledge and skills. Standardsbased
reform has many curricular and instructional prerequisites. The curriculum must
represent the most important knowledge, skills, and attributes that schools want their students
to acquire because these learning outcomes will serve as the basis of assessment instruments.
Likewise, instructional methods should be appropriate for the designed curriculum. Teaching
methods should lead to students learning the outcomes that are the focus of the assessment
standards.