Evidence-based decisions in a post-truth era: Sign-posts that point us in the right direction

I think we need to have a Wikipedia-like website where people can easily find evidence-based, research-informed articles on the "hot topics" in education today.

Part of the challenge in a "post-truth" era is finding "good" evidence. To me, good evidence is that which is thorough and consistent. In the research world we would call this reliable and valid.

It's important to acknowledge that it's difficult to "prove" an educational issue. Indeed, science that involves humans is rarely perfect. As well, sometimes we have a tendency to "cherry pick" evidence that meets our needs. Click here to read a good article on this.

However, if we think of evidence as a sign-post it may help. Sign-posts point us in the right direction. The more sign-posts we see, the more confidence we have that we are moving in the right direction and that we are getting closer to the right destination.

Signposts at Bellingshausen Station Research Base King George Island
Source: https://havecamerawilltravel.photoshelter.com/image/I0000XZZrYPSJsUU

So in an effort to provide sign-posts in the right direction here's a start. Is the evidence perfect? No. But I see this as an opportunity to engage in pointing in a valid and reliable direction. In other words, getting us to the point where we can make informed, helpful decisions based on evidence and not rhetoric.

• Want evidence about the effectiveness of early learning (e.g, full day kindergarten)? Click here.
• Want evidence about the importance of healthy human development education? Click here.
• Want evidence about the value of teaching our children about Indigenous peoples and the legacy of residential schools? Click here.
• Want evidence about the importance of system-wide and early interventions to support students with autism? Click here.
• Want evidence about the importance of maintaining small class sizes? Click here.

My motivation for this has been my disappointment in the way that our Ontario government is making decisions that effect children. These decisions appear to be more partisan than evidence-based. Over the past ten years, Ontario has been noted as one of the top-performing educational systems in the world. Want evidence? Click here.

I have offered my support to my local Member of Provincial Parliament to happily provide him with research on the key educational issues of the day. I'll be curious if my offer is accepted.