The role of context in educational RCT findings: A call to redefine “evidence-based practice”
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Post-printDate
2020-05-20Department
Psychological Studies in EducationBiology
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/498
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https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0013189X20921862Abstract
In this commentary, we complement other constructive critiques of educational randomized control trials (RCTs) by calling attention to the commonly ignored role of context in causal mechanisms undergirding educational phenomena. We argue that evidence for the central role of context in causal mechanisms challenges the assumption that RCT findings can be uncritically generalized across settings. Anchoring our argument with an example from our own multistudy RCT project, we argue that the scientific pursuit of causal explanation should involve the rich description of contextualized causal effects. We further call for incorporating the evidence of the integral role of context in causal mechanisms into the meaning of “evidence-based practice,” with the implication that effective implementation of practice in a new setting must involve context-oriented, evidence-focused, design-based research that attends to the emergent, complex, and dynamic nature of educational contexts.Citation
Kaplan A, Cromley J, Perez T, Dai T, Mara K, Balsai M. The Role of Context in Educational RCT Findings: A Call to Redefine “Evidence-Based Practice.” Educational Researcher, 2020 (49, 4) pp. 285-288. Copyright © 2020 (AERA). DOI: 10.3102/0013189X20921862.Citation to related work
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Educational Researcher, 2020, Vol. 49, Issue 4ADA compliance
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/480