教育行政領域における実証的研究の権威性の正当性に関する研究 : No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 を事例とした第一次的検討

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the legitimacy of the standard of "scientifically based research". The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act seeks to improve the quality of public education by requiring educators to use programs and practices that are based on scientific research. The term "scientifically based research" appears 111 times in the NCLB Act. For all other programs under NCLB except for the Reading First program and the Comprehensive School Reform program, the law contains a highly specific definition of scientifically based research. The term "scientifically based research" includes research that is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which individuals, entities, programs, or activities are assigned to different conditions and with appropriate controls to evaluate the effects of the condition of interest, with a preference for random-assignment experiments. The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidance about implementing scientifically based research in the Reading First program and the Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program. The definition of scientifically based research that applies only to the Reading First program as well as the definition of "strong evidence" in the CSR program is different from, and less rigorous than the definition that applies to all other programs in the NCLB Act.