Preliminary Material / Ralf St. Clair -- Institute of Education Sciences –Putting Science Back into Education Research / Lynn Okagaki , Elizabeth R. Albro and Jacquelyn A. Buckley -- Taking Stock of Educational Research and the Impact of the UK Teaching and Learning Research Program / Donald Christie and Andrew Pollard -- An Uneasy Relationship? Teacher Education Research and Education Science / Ian Menter -- Systematic Reviews of Research on Educational Programs: Methodological and Substantive Issues / Robert E. Slavin -- Randomized Controlled Trials in Education Research / Carole J. Torgerson and David J. Torgerson -- The Future is Random – Why the RCT should often be The Method of Evaluation / Ben Styles -- What is Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice? / Martyn Hammersley -- Scientism and Scientificity in the Rage for Accountability / Patti Lather -- Meager Knowledge and Knowing Mess: “The Odor of Elephants after Rain” / Alison Phipps -- To Infinity and Beyond: On the Social Surrounding Science / Ralf St. Clair -- Author Biographies / Ralf St. Clair -- Index / Ralf St. Clair.

Educational research is not what it was fifteen years ago. In this discipline the changes have been dramatic, far-reaching and rapid. Out of the criticisms of the 1990s and the calls for greater accountability of the early 2000s one idea has come to the fore—education science. There are two main components to education science. The first is the principle that research in education must model itself more closely on disciplines seen as highly credible and successful, mainly the natural sciences and medicine. The second part is that educators must build their practice upon the insights developed through this scientific research process. Overall, education science has the potential to change how we think about education, how we build knowledge about it, and how we know when it is successful. This volume brings together some of the most active proponents of education science and some of the most committed critics. Within it the idea of education science is explored in depth, randomized controlled trials (considered the “gold standard” of education science) are discussed in detail, and the philosophical difficulties of knowledge in education are explored. Established thinkers are brought alongside newly emerging analysts, and detailed accounts of the institutions driving education science are included. Each contribution is thoughtful and balanced, engaging with the issues of the field and how they might be addressed. As a body of work, this collection of essays provides a well-rounded, critical discussion of the potential—and the problems—of the education science movement.

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