In response to Bulterman-Bos (2008), this article discusses three kinds of research needed in education: problem-finding research, which helps frame good research questions; problem-solving research, which helps illuminate educational problems; and translational work, which transforms the findings of research into tools that practitioners and…

In this article, three theoretical perspectives are used to extend Bulterman-Bos's (2008) argument regarding a clinical approach to education research. First, three intellectual virtues identified by Aristotle--"episteme," "techne," and "phronesis"--are related to the requirements of the "pure" education researcher, the skilled practitioner, and…

Slavin's call for evidence-based research on the effectiveness of treatments is criticized for its unreflective concept of a "treatment." It is argued that treatments cannot be defined objectively but only relative to the beliefs, goals, and intentions of those supposedly affected by the treatments. An alternative approach to the study of…

In the April 2006 issue of "Educational Researcher," Shulman, Golde, Bueschel, and Garabedian offered their response to the recent outpouring of criticism calling for reform of doctoral education degrees in the United States. The centerpiece of their proposal was the development of a new practitioner-oriented doctoral degree to replace the Ed.D.…

In a response to comments by Rodney Evans on an earlier "Educational Researcher" (ER) article that the author cowrote with three colleagues at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the author shows that Evans' critique is based largely on a misreading or misrepresentation of their argument, its rationale, and associated…

This article presents the author's response to comments on her article, "Will a Clinical Approach Make Education Research More Relevant for Practice?", which focused on the question of whether a clinical research practice might make education research more relevant for practice. The characteristics of a clinical approach are: (1) an overlap in the…

Three issues emanating from the Bulterman-Bos article (2008) form the core of this commentary. First, the issue of relevancy is addressed from the standpoint of action research and other forms of practitioner inquiry. From this perspective, the divisions between the cultures of university and school are addressed both ways: Each can potentially be…

This essay examines critically the conceptual and normative underpinnings of various views about educational quality, emphasizing the centrality of different assumptions about educational aims. Two distinctions play a key role in the first part of the paper: that between transcendent justifications of educational aims, versus socio-cultural…

Critical social theory is a multidisciplinary knowledge base with the implicit goal of advancing the emancipatory function of knowledge. It approaches this goal by promoting the role of criticism in the search for quality education. Through critical social theory in education, quality is proportional to the depth of analysis that students have at…

In a number of personal communications and now in her article in "Educational Researcher", Mary Juzwik repeatedly observes that some elaborations may be needed for fuller understanding of the notion of "identity-as-narrative", introduced in the article this author co-wrote with Anna Prusak "Telling Identities: In Search of an Analytic Tool for…

In response to the critique of Gredler and Shields (2004) of Glassman's article "Dewey and Vygotsky: Society, Experience, and Inquiry in Educational Practice" (2001) we suggest that interpretation of theory is dynamic and based very much on the use of that theory as an instrument. Gredler and Shields argue that Glassman misinterprets Vygotsky…

Replies to J. P. Smith III's (1997) and R. Prawat's (1997) criticism of problematizing mathematics. The basic notion of problematizing is clarified and differences in interpretation between the authors are identified. Hiebert et al. assert that, although the principle of problematizing mathematics has unresolved difficulties, it should still be…

Provides a rebuttal to critical comments on the author's earlier article concerning the concept of epistemological rationality. Main disagreements center on the view that the use of terms with evaluative connotations about cognitive functions have a potential for abuse and that one cannot make judgments about the relative efficacy of the…

Provides a critical analysis of K. E. Stanovich's argument for the use of the concept of dysrationalia in educational research. It argues that the concept of dysrationalia must be better conceptualized and elaborated, encompass a theory, be operationalized, have convergent and discriminant validation, and have safeguards against misuse. (GLR)

In a response (in this issue of "Educational Researcher," p14-16) to this author's previous essay, "Rethinking Domination and Resistance: Challenging Postmodernism" ("Educational Researcher," Jan-Feb 2004), Samantha Caughlan argues that Aaron Schutz was incorrect in his description of the workings of oppression. In this article, Schutz responds to…