Newsletter No. 435

12 No. 435, 4.4.2014 何謂實證為本的教育改革？ 教育和其他社會制度一樣，必須與時俱進，有所變化和改 革。任何教育發展的新方向，都必須以實證為依據，研究 人員、實踐者和政策制訂者都參與在內。為令政策制訂 者在實行和改進教育計劃時，能作出明智決定，除了比較 抽象的知識外，還必須以有組織的方式為他們提供確鑿 證據。 甚麼是Success for All（SFA）計劃？ SFA計劃由約翰霍普金斯大學的學者開發，是以研究為依 據的改革模式。目的是從幼年時期開始提高美國學生的讀 寫能力。計劃背後的思想是：閱讀技巧是兒童整體學業成 就的主要基礎。我與約翰霍普金斯、威斯康辛大學麥迪遜 分校、協和大學和英國約克大學的研究人員合作，探討此 計劃成效。我們發現，藉着歷時數年的循序漸進讀寫能力 教學，可以做到全面的學校層面改革，還能有針對地提高 學生成績。 你還做了哪些相關工作？ 我其後參與約翰霍普金斯大學Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education（CDDRE）的工作，這個中心創造 了地區層面的改革模式，為美國七個州內五十九個地區的 地方領袖擔任顧問，教導他們如何有策略地運用數據，並 選擇已證明有效的計劃。這項為期四年的大規模研究，證 實以下變化模式是有幫助的：這種包括初期諮詢和實施 基準評核的模式，可以促使學校領導採取有確鑿證據證明 其有成效的計劃。另有發現顯示，學校若選擇有確鑿證據 證明有效的閱讀計劃，學生的閱讀能力會優於沒採用這 類計劃的學校。 你為何設立「效證最佳教育計劃大全」網站？ 要實現實證為本的改革，有關教育介入手法和方案的研究 結合也十分關鍵，並且對於政策愈來愈重要。由於我在 SFA計劃和CDDRE做過相關研究，又對於實證為本的教 育改革一直興趣甚深，我與約翰霍普金斯和約克大學的 同事，在美國和英國設立了方便教育工作者使用的網站 （ www.bestevidence.org ； www.bestevidence.org.uk ） ， 把經研究證明有效的計劃加以推廣，並方便實踐者和教 育家獲取資訊。 為何想到把這個計劃搬到香港實行？ 我想知道香港是否能實行相同的閱讀計劃，使學習英語 的華人小學生受惠。因此我邀請約翰霍普金斯、香港浸會 大學和香港城市大學的學者合作，實行為期一年的先導 計劃，把計劃本地化，並評估其在香港的成效。 有何發現？ 雖然先導計劃的學生樣本比較小，但已見到可觀的結 果。SFA計劃本是為以英語為母語的學生設計，但結果顯 示，經過「本地化」的計劃對於母語非英語的學生同樣有 效。研究得出的數據證明，只要經過一些修改，這個計劃 可以轉用於不同的文化和語言環境。先導計劃也奠下了 基礎，有助日後進行質化和長期的縱觀研究，以使香港能 採用經過本地化的同類計劃，像美國一樣享受節省成本 的好處。 你認為該如何在香港推廣實證為本的教育改革？ 許多人以為實證為本的做法只是學者的事。其實，為了令 實證為本的改革能夠在香港實現，學者、業內和政策制訂 者必須同心合力，利用嚴謹的研究方法檢視現有做法的成 效，鼓勵開發嶄新的介入手段，並把經科學方法驗證的介 入方法，廣泛應用於教室之中。 教育行政與政策學系 張志強教授 Alan C.K. Cheung Department of Educational Administration and Policy What is evidence-based education reform? Like every other social institution, education must change, progress and reform itself with the times. Any new direction in the development of education must be based on evidence involving the collective efforts of researchers, practitioners and policy-makers. To facilitate policy- makers to make informed decisions in implementing or enhancing educational programmes, concrete evidence, in addition to intangible know-how, must be made available in a structured manner. What is the Success for All (SFA) programme? The SFA programme is a research-based reform model developed by scholars at Johns Hopkins University. It was designed to improve the literacy capacity of students from an early age in the US. The thinking behind the programme is that reading skills provide a critical part of the foundation for children’s overall academic success. I had collaborated with researchers at Johns Hopkins, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Concordia University and the University of York (UK) to study the effectiveness of the programme. We found that comprehensive school-level reform and targeted student-level achievement could be obtained through a multi-year sequencing of literacy instruction. What other related work did you do? I then took part in the work at the Centre for Data- Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE) at Johns Hopkins which had created a district-level reform model providing consultation to district leaders in 59 districts in seven states of the US on strategic use of data and selection of proven programmes. This large-scale four-year longitudinal study supports a model of change in which initial consultation and implementation of benchmark assessments motivate school leaders to adopt programmes with good evidence of effectiveness. The findings also reveal that reading effects were larger for schools that selected reading programmes with good evidence of effectiveness than for those that did not. Why did you create the Best-Evidence Encyclopedia website? For evidence-based reform to work, syntheses of research on educational interventions and programmes are also critical and have taken on increasing policy importance. Based on my research on SFA and at CDDRE and my continuing interest in evidence-based education reform, my colleagues at Johns Hopkins and York and I created an educator-friendly website in both the US and the UK ( www. bestevidence.org ; www.bestevidence.org.uk ) to promote the use of research proven programmes with strong evidence of effectiveness and to make the information more accessible to practitioners and educators. Why would you want to replicate the programme in Hong Kong? After my research in the US, I began to wonder if the same reading programme could be implemented in Hong Kong to benefit Chinese primary school students learning English. Therefore I invited my collaborators from Johns Hopkins, Hong Kong Baptist University and City University of Hong Kong to embark on a one-year pilot programme to localize the programme and evaluate its effectiveness in Hong Kong. What did you find? Although the pilot programme only involved a small sample of students it nevertheless produced significant results. While the SFA programme was designed for students whose mother-tongue was English, it was shown that the ‘localized’ programme worked equally well with students whose first language was not English. The data provided by the research proves that the programme can be transferred to different cultural and language contexts with some adaptations. The pilot project also paved the way for a more qualitative, longer term and longitudinal research so that Hong Kong can enjoy the same cost- saving benefits as the US through a localized similar programme. As you see it, how evidence-based reform in education can be promoted in Hong Kong? Many people believe that evidence-based practice is the concern of the academics only. However, in order to make evidence-based reform work in Hong Kong, academics, practitioners, and policy makers need to make a concerted effort to use rigorous research methods to examine the effectiveness of our current practices, to encourage the development of new innovative interventions, and to promote the use of scientifically proven interventions in our classrooms.