In April 1998 the newspaper Education Week published an article by Herbert J. Walberg, a distinguished education researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He trashed the reading program Success for All, used in 1,500 American elementary schools, as a failure posing as a success. I know, I know. Stories about education research are rarely entertaining. When I suggest one to my editors, their noses twitch as if they have detected a slightly unpleasant odor.
Most readers are drowsy by the second paragraph.
Still, parents like me want to deepen our understanding of what will help our schools. We know that research can be controversial. The extraordinary disagreement about Success for All, which is run by a rapidly growing nonprofit foundation in Towson, Md., involves some of the most respected scholars in the country. The program has some controversial features, such as having librarians and PE teachers conduct some classes and requiring that each instructor follow a script. But the sharp disagreement over its effectiveness confirms that, when it comes to our schools, even knowledgeable experts are incapable of giving consistent advice on what works, and what doesn't.