The field of educational policy research has
undergone a dramatic transformation. Just a
few decades ago, policy analyses were
almost exclusively conducted by
government agencies themselves. Academic
researchers slowly entered the field, but the
relationship between academically-inspired
policy research and policymakers was
tenuous and haphazard (Sundquist, 1978;
Weiss, 1995). Over the past twenty years,
though, the rapid growth of
nongovernmental and nonacademic
organizations dedicated to educational
policy reform has shifted the policymaking
landscape. Advocacy groups, nonprofits,
think tanks, consultants, and interests groups
produce copious amounts of research with
varying degrees of rigor and varying degrees
of bias. The influx of research from these
sources has been coupled with a
simultaneous increase in the amount of
policy research produced by academics and
governmental bodies, and the sheer quantity
of research is all the more overwhelming as
the complexity and sophistication of policy
analysis as a field continues to grow.
Ironically, then, policymakers concerned
with education find themselves in a notable
predicament: they work in an environment
where they have access to more research
than ever before, but it may be more
difficult than ever to find high quality and
trustworthy research.
In 2006, the 79th Texas Legislature, 3
rd
Called Session, devised an innovative
solution to this problem by providing for the
development of independent Education
Research Centers (ERCs). Regarded by the
US Department of Education as “a model
approach for the conduct of independent
educational research in accordance with
FERPA requirements,” the ERCs can be an
invaluable asset to educational policymakers.
Unfortunately, some stakeholders would
prefer to see these centers disappear to ensure
that evidence contrary to their ideological
positions does not surface. This would be bad
for informed policymaking but even worse
for the nearly five million children in the
state. The continued support of the ERCs is
crucial to maintaining our state‟s goal of
academic excellence for all students.