US education policy research is dominated by copiously funded ‘strategic authors’ who utilize methods that showcase their work and suppress the work of others. Dismissive literature reviews declare that previous research is either nonexistent or no good and is not referenced. Citation cartels reference the research conducted among cartel members and ignore that conducted by others. Education journalists, the federal government, and wealthy foundations support this effort in information reduction. Adoption of the Common Core Standards serves as a case study of information narrowing on a grand scale.
“In normal science, a theory whose assumptions and predictions have been repeatedly contradicted by data will be discarded,” (Mark) Seidenberg, the cognitive neuroscientist, writes in his book “Language at the Speed of Sight.” “But in education they are theoretical zombies that cannot be stopped by conventional weapons such as empirical disconfirmation, leaving them free to roam the educational landscape.”
– Dyslexia and the Reading Wars: Proven methods for teaching the readers who struggle most have been known for decades. Why do we often fail to use them? by David Owen.