The White-Coat Factor

As I noted in my previous post, I am a firm believer in the need for the federal government to invest in education research and data collection and dissemination.

One of my great frustrations (I have many!) is about how much is said about the importance of medical research and its impact on practice in the field of medicine, while there is comparatively little focus on the importance of research and its connection to practice in the field of education. People, doctors included, generally treat what they hear about medical research as being definitive, and the medical field is awash with journals read by practitioners that cover everything from head to toe, from baldness to plantar fasciitis. Unlike in education, little attention is generally paid to subsequent studies that contradict and even invalidate earlier work on the causes and treatment of diseases. Yet, somehow, medicine has a white-coat glow about it that eludes the field of education, even though more Americans are being educated each day than are treated in medical offices and facilities.

Why does this chasm exist? I would suggest that there are several reasons, the solutions to which most in the education field will not readily accept or implement.

• There is literally a "white-coat factor," a simple wardrobe component that visually separates medical professionals from those being treated.

• The education required in the medical field is long and rigorous and held to very high standards, as are accreditation processes within the field.

• In medicine, full licensure is not granted without significant time spent as an apprentice, whether as an intern and resident or as a trainee, and that work is integrated with teaching so that future practitioners are learning in the field and at the side of experts. While there are exceptions, most education training takes place primarily in a college classroom far from school classrooms filled with actual students. All too often, beginning teachers are shown their classrooms and wished "good luck."

• As noted, medical practitioners ranging from nurses to brain surgeons have a set of journals, as well as continuing education requirements, that are focused on improving practice. Though there are some bad continuing education programs, these are the exception. While educators also have a number of journals, the vast majority have an ideological bent or are heavily populated by work that is far below the standards used to judge papers in scientific and medical journals.

• Medical education and training prepares those in the field under an expectation that professionals will avail themselves of the best that the field has to offer, be it Medline from the National Library of Medicine or the New England Journal of Medicine. Teachers and school administrators are generally not trained to dissect data and apply research.

• Medicine has the AMA (American Medical Association), an organization whose vision is "From advocating on behalf of physicians and patients to addressing their day-to-day needs, the AMA is working to shape a healthier future." No comparable organization exists in the field of education. The NEA and AFT are unions dedicated to protecting their members. Other organizations – AERA, AASA, CCSSO – are trade groups for their members.

• In medicine, researchers are often practitioners, while in education, research is most often carried out by university-based faculty who are usually divorced from practice.

All of this is not to say that everything in medicine is perfect – far from it. However, the preponderance of evidence—as shown by the regard, the pay, and the deference that the public holds for each field—clearly exposes the gap that exists.

Meeting comparable standards in the field of education to those in field of medicine is costly in the short run but a bargain when measured by what it means for the success of students. The question is, how do we mobilize the public will to get it done? While, as a nation, we are passionately committed to local control, that does not mean that research and data should be parochial. We can and must learn from one another and do so in service of preparing children for success in life.

(My thanks to Jean-Claude Brizard for his thoughtful suggestions.)

Read more about the history and future of education policy in the second edition of my book Political Education: Setting the Course for State and Federal Education Policy.