Special Events:
Special Debate: Evidence-Based Public Policy in an Era of Rapid Change: Is It Feasible? . . . Or Must We Turn to Reasoned Policy by Other Means?
Participants in this plenary will debate the ability of empirical evidence to reliably guide public policy in a rapidly changing world, versus other reasoned criteria for policy choice such as constituent views or civic values. Scrutinizing the case of K-12 education policy, the first speaker will argue that research on the effectiveness of educational interventions, if creatively designed and undertaken with alacrity, can supply policymakers with reliable and up-to-date information in a fast-paced world. The second speaker will argue that other, non-evidentiary ways of guiding education policy should be formulated to more quickly and completely reflect rapid changes and produce reliable direction to policy-makers. The audience will be invited to take sides, as the moderator asks: “Which of these perspectives do you find convincing—and why? Where you are not convinced, what’s the problem?”
Moderator: Irma Perez-Johnson, American Institutes for Research
Speakers: Stephen Bell, Westat and Brooks Bowden, University of Pennsylvania
