False Equivalency: Think Tank References on Education in the News Media

This study explores the use and presentation of information and research on education by the news media. Using content analysis, this study compares four types of think tanks—contract research, academic, advocacy, and mixed academic and advocacy—and shows how the news media represented each one as a source of research, facts, and figures on education. The findings from this study show that the news media presented all the think tanks as credible sources of research, facts, and figures on education, regardless of the extent to which each think tank emphasized policy and political advocacy over the professional norms of academic research.     

Uses and Abuses of Achievement Test Scores

Are variations in test-preparation practices from school to school undermining the meaningfulness of achievement test results? Is there pressure to raise achievement test scores by the use of educationally unsound practices? What uses of achievement test scores are most common? Do teachers and administrators have reasonably accurate views of test score uses?