Extending the prospects of evidence-based education

Currently, physicians are drawing on the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) in choosing the most effective treatments for their patients. In EBM, findings from the latest medical research with the greatest application are disseminated to practitioners as quickly as possible. Checking with the best available evidence before making a critical decision is hardly a new idea in itself. What has changed in medicine over the last three decades is the concerted effort to make medical research that speaks directly to what works best in clinical practice readily accessible and comprehensible for physicians. The potential parallel with education almost leaps out. Why shouldn't teachers be similarly assisted with the relevant research for the educational choices they face in their efforts to improve the schools? In this paper, the author describes the practice of EBM and its application to education.