When Can You Trust the Experts? : How to Tell Good Science from Bad in Education

Each year, teachers, administrators, and parents face a barrage of new education software, games, workbooks, and professional development programs purporting to be based on the latest research. While some of these products are indeed based on solid science, the truth is that the research underlying many others is grossly exaggerated. How can everyday teachers, administrators, and family memberswho dont have years of statistics courses under their beltsseparate the wheat from the chaff and determine which new piece of research is worth adopting? When Can You Trust the Experts? solves this knowledge gap for educators and parents by stressing clear, easy principles that differentiate reliable research from junk science.   ** CONTENTS ** Introduction: What Are You To Believe? PART ONE: WHY WE SO EASILY BELIEVE BAD SCIENCE 1          Why Smart People Believe Dumb Things 2          Science and Belief: A Nervous Romance 3          What Scientists Call Good Science 4          How to Use Science PART TWO: THE SHORT CUT SOLUTION: FOUR STEPS TO EVALUATING NEW SCIENCE 5          Step One: Strip It and Flip It 6          Step Two: Trace It 7          Step Three: Analyze It 8          Step Four: Should I Do It?