Funding Patterns and Priorities: An International Perspective

Research in literacy and science education converge onto science literacy for all found in many international reforms (Hand, Prain, & Yore, 2001) and the commonalities in targets (all students), goals (science literacy composed of fundamental literacy and understanding the big ideas in science), and pedagogy (constructivist approaches and authentic assessment) across English language arts and science (Ford, Yore, & Anthony, 1997; Yore, Pimm, & Tuan, 2007). Similar claims apply to mathematics literacy and technology literacy. This convergence and the international move to enhance research quality suggest potential relationships amongst research policy, practices, and funding for literacy and science education. Furthermore, such connections should be growing in importance and fiscal priority for funding agencies. In the United States, explicit connections can be seen for research policy and preferred research practice in federal laws—but are there similar connections between policy and practice with research funding of literacy and science education research? Do such relationships exist in other countries?

Two recent policies in the United States illustrate the potential connection. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) reauthorized a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performance of primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts, and schools as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend. The NCLB Act, which is open for renewal in 2008/09, requires states to develop assessments in language arts, mathematics, and science to be given to all students in certain grades—if those states are to receive federal funding for schools. The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA, 2002) reauthorized and strengthened the principal education research, statistics, and evaluation activities of the Department of Education. This act funds the national data collection system that allows federal agencies to oversee the entire national education system and promotes a strong, scientifically rigorous research capacity within education. It is believed that such legislation is critically important to the successful implementation of the education reforms and to transform education into an evidence-based field, commonly called the Gold Standard.