Daniel T. Willingham - When Can You Trust the Experts: How to Tell Good Science from Bad in Education

Contents

More Praise For When Can You Trust the Experts?

As a parent, when it was time for my daughter to start school I was overwhelmed by all the claims made about education and then appalled by the level of pseudoscience in the various claims and theories about the best educational method. I didnt know where to turn because the experts seemed to contradict one another. I wish I had Daniel Willinghams guide for the educationally perplexed When Can You Trust the Experts? when I was trying to sort through the maze of ideas. He has succinctly cut through the obfuscating jargon to reveal what we know and do not know about education. A must-read for parents, educators, and policy makers alike.Michael Shermer, publisher, Skeptic magazine; monthly columnist for Scientific American ; author, The Believing Brain

There are a lot of proposals on how to improve education, but too often the current heated debate is fueled by preconceived opinions rather than hard evidence about what actually works. Dan Willingham is determined to change that. In this carefully reasoned, important book, he teaches us how to thoughtfully evaluate educational research in the sincere belief that the debate will benefit from more light and less heat.Joel Klein, CEO Education Division, News Corporation; former chancellor, NYC public schools

The phrase the research says... gets used to justify just about every practice in contemporary education, including those for which theres very little real empirical evidence. So those who want classroom practice to be informed and improved by data may find themselves asking, What does the best research really tell us? and, How do you differentiate the real thing from pseudo-science? Fortunately, Dan Willinghamfor my money the most insightful and readable cognitive scientist in the fieldhas written a book that can help teachers, and just about everyone, understand the difference.Doug Lemov, author, Teach Like a Champion

Willinghams latest book offers a vital contribution to our stale school debates. In a clear, step-by-step fashion, he teaches us how to use evidence and reason to understand what is good educational research, how to spot the snake-oil salesmen, and ways to separate fact from fantasy. It is a must-read for policy makers, practitioners, and parents.Tony Wagner, author, The Global Achievement Gap and Creating Innovators

This is a wise, engagingly written book on an important topic. If you see education as an evidence-based field, it would be worthwhile for you to read it. If you see education as an art not amenable to science, it is essential that you read it. Russ Whitehurst, director, Brown Center on Education Policy, The Brookings Institution

Copyright 2012 by Daniel T. Willingham. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Willingham, Daniel T.

When can you trust the experts? : how to tell good science from bad in education / Daniel T. Willingham. First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-13027-8 (hardcover); ISBN 978-1-118-22569-1 (ebk.); ISBN 9781-1-182-3327-6 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-26310-5 (ebk.)

1. EducationResearch. I. Title.

LB1028.W519175 2012

370.72dc23 2012010764

first edition

This book is dedicated to my children.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

Francis Bacon

About the Author

Daniel T. Willingham earned his B.A. degree in psychology from Duke University in 1983 and his Ph.D. degree in cognitive psychology from Harvard University in 1990. He is currently professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. Until about 2000, his research focused solely on the brain basis of learning and memory. Today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K12 education. He writes the Ask the Cognitive Scientist column for American Educator magazine and is the author of Why Dont Students Like School? (Jossey-Bass, 2009). His writing on education has been translated into ten languages. His website is http://www.danielwillingham.com .

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Dimi Berkner, Wendy Fisher, Tracy Gallagher, Jonathan Haidt, Lisa Hansel, Joe Hartley, Robin Lloyd, Margie McAneny, Jason Millard, Brian Nosek, Denny Proffitt, Samantha Rubenstein, Abe Witonsky, and three anonymous reviewers. My particular thanks to Esmond Harmsworth.

Introduction: What Are You to Believe?

Before obtaining certainty we must often be satisfied with a more or less plausible guess.

George Polya

Try this sometime. Ask a friend, Why do you believe what you believe? What sort of evidence persuades you that someone is right or that a product is good? This question seldom elicits a careful, thoughtful response. Rather, it elicits silence and narrowed eyes. Most people think that their beliefs are shaped by logic and reason. Your friend will likely detect a whiff of insult in the question.