Some Schools of Education Should Abandon Research Doctorates, Report Says

Interesting article from the Chronicle:

"Research-oriented doctoral programs in education vary widely in quality, and a significant number of them should close up shop, according to a report released on Monday by the Education Schools Project." (for subscribers) 

The new report looks at how well the schools perform in training researchers. Mr. Levine and his colleagues conducted surveys of deans, faculty members, alumni, and school principals; scrutinized the research productivity and citation history of instructors in doctoral education programs; and analyzed the dissertations of more than 1,300 people who earned education doctorates in 2002.

The bottom line: While many institutions that offer doctoral education programs produce excellent researchers, Mr. Levine writes, many others "are not strong enough to sustain such programs in terms of their missions, hiring practices, faculty quantity and quality, research funding, and climate." [RJ]