An Elusive Science: The Troubling History of Education Research

Since its beginnings at the start of the 20th century, educational scholarship has been a marginal field, criticized by public policy makers and relegated to the fringes of academe. An Elusive Science explains why, providing a critical history of the traditions, conflicts, and institutions that have shaped the study of education over the past century.

"[C]andid and incisive. . . . A stark yet enlightening look at American education."—Library Journal

"[A]n account of the search, over the past hundred or so years, to try and discover how educational research might provide reliable prescriptions for the improvement of education. Through extensive use of contemporary reference material, [Lagemann] shows that the search for ways of producing high-quality research has been, in effect, a search for secure disciplinary foundations."—Dylan William, Times Higher Education Supplement

• The Education Dissertation: A Guide for Practitioner Scholars
• Handbook of Educational Theories for Theoretical Frameworks
• Understanding Research Methods
• Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, Arts-Based, and Community-Based Participatory Research Approaches
• Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
• Thinking with Theory in Qualitative Research
• Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement
• The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
• Scientific Research in Education
• The Foundations of Social Research