Evidence-based practice has become the gold standard in educational research with clearinghouses on "what works" informing educational policy at nearly every level. Despite known inequities resulting from socioeconomic status, race, immigration status, geospatial location, and school funding, the field continues to search for common solutions to complex challenges in diverse settings. This talk will examine the limitations of evidence-based practice as the foundational philosophy undergirding educational policy, particularly for rural schools. The speaker will provide an overview of a longitudinal, experimental study on rural gifted education and the role place and context have played in every aspect of the research design. In so doing, the keynote will focus on practice-based evidence as a socially just alternative in rethinking evidence within diverse and unique boundaries.
Read presenters' biography