There are many studies when it comes to education and just as many opposing opinions on these studies. Two examples of different views on the same study can be found here: (Globe and Mail) and (Ottawa Citizen)
I'll dig a bit deeper when looking at data as a trustee. We can not just accept one interpretation of data but we also must not blindly accept the data as accurate. Alberta Education recently conducted the second part of "Tell Them From Me Survey" . In this research, they ask questions of school children about their education, their home life and how they feel about both. Perception is reality, BUT when you look at the psychology of children, you quickly realize that their understanding of questions and more importantly how quickly that perception changes, you realize that the data is merely a snap shot of one moment in time and that answers may not be truthful, just what the child perceives at the time. We can't read a lot into the data. We must tread carefully when making decisions based on this data.
In my experience designing survey's and conducting them, bias can make a survey almost irrelevant. The order the questions are in, the wording of the questions and most importantly the person who conduct the survey can all add bias.
I'll use a question my son told me was on this survey. He is 12 and in grade 7. The question was, do you have 100 books? Do you think a 12 year old counts, or cares how many books he may have? I can tell you as an adult, that he does have 100 books, but he said no. Why? Because at his age and his reading level there are only a few books he now reads. So in his perception, those are the books he "has". He reads quite often on the internet and many of his textbooks are online. Add to that, the teacher bias. This survey took 50 minutes in his class and the teacher was often asked to help if the student didn't understand the question. The minute you have a person interpret a question, you have bias. When I administered survey's we were told to simply repeat the question as stated. I am fairly certain, that teachers use this as a teaching moment and may explain the question.
So when this data comes forward to the board, it is important to understand how the data was collected and for what purpose.
I'll dig a bit deeper when looking at data as a trustee. We can not just accept one interpretation of data but we also must not blindly accept the data as accurate. Alberta Education recently conducted the second part of "Tell Them From Me Survey" . In this research, they ask questions of school children about their education, their home life and how they feel about both. Perception is reality, BUT when you look at the psychology of children, you quickly realize that their understanding of questions and more importantly how quickly that perception changes, you realize that the data is merely a snap shot of one moment in time and that answers may not be truthful, just what the child perceives at the time. We can't read a lot into the data. We must tread carefully when making decisions based on this data.
In my experience designing survey's and conducting them, bias can make a survey almost irrelevant. The order the questions are in, the wording of the questions and most importantly the person who conduct the survey can all add bias.
I'll use a question my son told me was on this survey. He is 12 and in grade 7. The question was, do you have 100 books? Do you think a 12 year old counts, or cares how many books he may have? I can tell you as an adult, that he does have 100 books, but he said no. Why? Because at his age and his reading level there are only a few books he now reads. So in his perception, those are the books he "has". He reads quite often on the internet and many of his textbooks are online. Add to that, the teacher bias. This survey took 50 minutes in his class and the teacher was often asked to help if the student didn't understand the question. The minute you have a person interpret a question, you have bias. When I administered survey's we were told to simply repeat the question as stated. I am fairly certain, that teachers use this as a teaching moment and may explain the question.
So when this data comes forward to the board, it is important to understand how the data was collected and for what purpose.
