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Need to Address Evidence-Based Practice in Educational Administration

University of Dayton

Purpose: This article presents a case for addressing evidence-based practice (EBP) in educational administration. Content is arranged around four objectives: (a) summarizing the status of educational administration as a profession, (b) defining evidence and the model, (c) explaining EBP's social and professional merit, and (d) identifying barriers that may prevent the concept from being understood correctly, accepted philosophically, and implemented appropriately. Proposed Conceptual Argument: The need to consider EBP is framed by society's demand for greater accountability from professions, the realities of practice in an information-based society, and a proclivity to rely on the theory of legal accountability to improve schools. In the aftermath of the No Child Left Behind Act, critics have portrayed educational administration as a field lacking internal accountability, epistemological consistency, and a focused research agenda. The alleged deficiencies may be contributing to an erosion of state licensing laws for superintendents and principals and casting a cloud over the future of educational administration departments. Implications: Reliance on external accountability in the absence of internal accountability is unlikely to improve schools or to provide social authority for educational administration. Instead of continuing to agree to disagree over the most fundamental issues, scholars in this field need to define EBP in a manner that integrates empirical evidence, tacit knowledge, and values and then conduct research to determine the concept's effectiveness.

Key Words: decision making • evidence • epistemology • administration • knowledge base

This version was published on August 1, 2009

Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 3, 351-374 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0013161X09333623


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