On ideology, causal inference and the reification of statistical methods: Reflections on "Examining instruction, achievement and equity with NAEP mathematics data."

Authors

  • Harold Wenglinsky Academy for Educational Development, Regional Educational Laboratory of the Southeast

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v14n17.2006

Keywords:

equity, mathematics achievement, mathematics instruction, NAEP.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to comment on the prior article entitled "Examining Instruction, Achievement and Equity with NAEP mathematics data," by Sarah Theule Lubienski. That article claims that a prior article by the author suffered from three weaknesses: (1) An attempt to justify No Child Left Behind (NCLB); (2) drawing causal inferences from cross-sectional data; (3) and various statistical quibbles. The author responds to the first claim, by indicating that any mention of NCLB was intended purely to make the article relevant to a policy journal; to the second claim, by noting his own reservations about using cross-sectional data to draw causal inferences; and to the third claim by noting potential issues of quantitative methodology in the Lubienski article. He concludes that studies that use advanced statistical methods are often so opaque as to be difficult to compare, and suggests some advantages to the quantitative transparency that comes from the findings of randomly controlled field trials.

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Author Biography

Harold Wenglinsky, Academy for Educational Development, Regional Educational Laboratory of the Southeast

Harold Wenglinsky is a program officer at the Academy for Educational Development and the Co-investigator of a randomized controlled trial of a state-level intervention, the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative. He still enjoys analyzing NAEP data.

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Published

2006-06-30

How to Cite

Wenglinsky, H. (2006). On ideology, causal inference and the reification of statistical methods: Reflections on "Examining instruction, achievement and equity with NAEP mathematics data.". Education Policy Analysis Archives, 14, 17. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v14n17.2006

Issue

Section

Articles