'Economist Plaza plus camera' photo (c) 2009, Matt Brown - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

I’ve written a number of posts over the years skeptical of the central role research from many economists have played in “school reform” efforts. I certainly don’t dismiss their work. I just view it in the context of being data-informed and not being data-driven. In other words, the numbers and the models used in many studies don’t tell the whole story.

Here are my choices for The Best Posts & Articles About The Role Of Economists In Education:

I’ll start off with Rick Hess’ new piece, The Trouble With Economists.

Quote Of The Day: “Should We Trust Economists?”

Economists: Return Your Salaries for Producing Flawed Studies is by Barnett Berry.

“Muddled Models” — A View Of Economists From…The Economist Magazine

The pitfalls of putting economists in charge of education is by Diane Ravitch.

“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail” — Economists Go After Schools Again

Can’t Economists Stay Away From Schools? Don’t They Have Enough Other Things To Do?

Part Two Of “Can’t Economists Stay Away From Schools?” — My Worst Fears Realized

The Best Posts On “Loss Aversion” & Schools

The Best Posts On The NY Times-Featured Teacher Effectiveness Study

“Must-Read” NY Times Article On Recent Teacher-Effectiveness Study

Stephen Colbert Explains Why It’s Important To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven”

Laura H. Chapman: When Economic Language Corrupts Educational Practice is from Diane Ravitch’s blog.

Great News! Only 2 Of Top 308 New Economists Want To Study Schools

Quote Of The Day: “Economists are terrible at predictions”

Guest Post: Economists & Education

Peter Greene: What Do Economists Know About Teachers? is from Diane Ravitch’s blog.

Second Quote Of The Day: Economists Often Forget That “Context Matters”

Additional suggestions are welcome.

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You might also want to explore the over 1,150 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.