1. Education Research: The Fourth “R”

2. Hollyyettick.com Introduction
Denise-Marie Ordway, Research Reporter & Editor, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard
Holly Yettick, Director, Education Week Research Center
All resources mentioned during this presentation can be found at:
Hollyyettick.com

3. Agenda Denise: Resources &Reasons to Use Research in Reporting
Holly: Overview: Reporting on Research
Work Shop: News Release Activity
Conclusion: Group Discussion of News Release Activity

4. Why Cover Research? Breaks news Breaks LOCAL news
Holds public officials accountable
Adds REAL context
Un-named conference; how many of you would be interested in learning about the longterm effects of a local test cheating scandal on the students whose scores were falsely inflated? What about finding out what really happened to kids who attended a school that was shut down for poor academic performance?

5. Where is the Research?
Mentioned Ed Research

6. Two Main Ways to Cover Research
Enriching Stories
“Lone Ranger” Studies

7. Using Research to Enrich Stories

8. Using Research to Enrich Stories
Nearly nothing in education is truly new
Without research, we re-invent the wheel, over and over again

9. The Tour Guide Approach
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Universities
EWA Resources
List-servs
Public editor
Organizations for researchers
American Educational Research Organization
Special Interest Groups: Officers can be a source of academic expertise
American Psychological Association
American Sociological Association

10. More Resources: Shorenstein Center, Harvard
sheets/research/statistics-for-journalists
sheets/research/interpreting-academic-studies-primer- media
back-school-story-ideas-new-angles-helpful-research

11. “Tourist Traps” The Eduttutante The Nihilist
Sometimes I hear people talking about A LIST OR ONE LIST of experts to consult when covering ed research. The reality is no one is an expert on everything. If you have someone who claims to be or comes close, who never refers you to other experts because it’s not her area-that is a red flag.

12. The DIY Approach “Do”s & “Don’t”s Types of Reviews
DON’T: Focus on a single study to get the lay of the land!
DO: Read research reviews
Types of Reviews
Meta-analyses
Qualitative Reviews/Syntheses
Some Sources of Reviews
EWA Reporter Guides
National Academy of Education
Review of Educational Research: Free Subscriptions available for journalists via AERA media relations

13. Lone Ranger Studies

14. Two Main Ways to Cover Research
Enriching Stories
“Lone Ranger” Studies
Pros
Cons

15. Reckoning with Lone Rangers
Go medical:
Cover standalone lit reviews and meta-analyses!
While teen dating violence prevention programs increased knowledge and changed student attitudes to be less supportive of such behavior, they did not actually reduce dating violence, according to this meta- analysis of research on middle- and high school intervention programs.
Prioritize Peer Review
More like a seatbelt than a magic bullet

16. What about the real world?
PRACTICE WITH A PRESS RELEASE

17. Supplemental slides

18. Statistical significance

19. What is a p value?
P Value
What are the odds that I can REJECT the idea that the researcher got a result at least as this strong [i.e., did the equivalent of telling a man he’s pregnant] due to some kind of chance process that was part of the study-like randomly selecting the people who participated in the study?
Frequently-used thresholds of statistical significance
p < .01
p < .05
p < .10

20. Statistical significance
Not applicable if no chance process involved
Large numbers of study participants can lead to highly statistically significant findings that are meaninglessly small

21. The Best Academic Conference You’ve Never Heard of
Association for Education Finance and Policy annual conference

22. Contact info
Denise-Marie Ordway
@DeniseOrdway
@JournoResource
Holly Yettick
@HollyYettick