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STANFORD, Calif. — Education Next is the most influential journal in education, according to a study released last week by the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center. The study, Influence: A Study of the Factors Shaping Education Policy, was based on an extensive survey of the education field’s opinion-elite.

Education Next, published quarterly by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, was the sole journal, peer-reviewed or otherwise, listed among the top-ten information sources in the EPE survey, surpassed only by agencies of the U. S. government, Education Week, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the non-profit organization Education Trust.

“The other editors and I are very pleased to learn that this young journal, now in its sixth year of publication, has attained such prominence and recognition,” said Paul E. Peterson, editor-in-chief of Education Next and director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University. “The honor reminds us to keep focused on our central mission, namely to ‘present the facts as best they can be determined, giving voice (without fear or favor) to worthy research, sound ideas and responsible arguments.’”

EPE’s study also ranked most influential research in education as well as the most influential individuals. Research on school vouchers conducted by Peterson and his colleagues at Harvard was cited among the thirteen “blockbuster” studies of the past decade. A study of graduation rates by Jay Greene, an Education Next contributing editor, was also listed as one of the top thirteen. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, conducted under the auspices of the U. S. Department of Education, was listed as the most influential research study.

Education Next Senior Editor Chester E. Finn Jr., who also serves as chair of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, was named as one of the 20 most influential individuals in education. Microsoft founder Bill Gates held the top spot as the single most influential person in education in the last decade.

In a statement, EPE Director Christopher Swanson said the study provides “a unique look at the power-brokers in American education who have shaped much of what happens in our nation’s classrooms over the last 10 years. The influence rankings also shed some light on the movers and shakers to watch in the next decade.”

Education Next features and forums provide opportunities for experts and analysts to cover key issues in school reform. All items in its research section are subject to double-blind peer-review. The journal has garnered national and international attention in recent months with the publication of ground breaking research on such topics as the increased achievement of students when taught by teachers of the same gender, the failure of school phys-ed classes to fight obesity, and the hidden social costs for academically successful minority students in integrated public schools. Regular features of the journal, such as its annual report card on states’ proficiency standards and its “Check the Facts” column, which shines a spotlight on inaccurate and misleading research, are widely referenced by the media, policymakers, government officials, and education practitioners.

The current issue of Education Next (Winter 2007) headlines research that shows that state certification requirements that call for a specific course of study in education schools have little impact on student learning in the classroom. The issue also includes analyses of evidence and arguments used in education adequacy lawsuits and an assessment of the effectiveness of early childhood education. Other articles reveal the local barriers to charter school reform and the extent to which school restructuring is not taking place under No Child Left Behind.

Read the new issue of Education Next now online.

Education Next is a scholarly journal published by the Hoover Institution committed to looking at hard facts about school reform. Other sponsoring institutions are the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

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Introduction

Although educational researches have fundamental role in trimming and improving the education system difficulties, education decision-makers are in doubt about research position and role in compiling the policies and carrying these policies through. This is while roughly one thousand researches are conducted yearly in various levels of the research centers of the ministry of education across the country (The Research Councils of Provinces) and in a national level (The Education Research Center and the Research Centers of Vice-Minister of Ministry of Education). Despite all this, the question still remains, “Why is it that the difficulties and problems with the Education system are still not reduced even with the existence of all these conducted researches?” Most intellects believe that the answer should be seeked in the applicability of the research findings and its obstacles in the ministry.

The study findings by Lampert (1985), Wiresma (1991), and Borg and Gall (1996) have shown that teaching research in the education system and especially to teachers, is among the effective elements in applying the research findings through the learning-teaching process and in the class-room. The effective elements on applying educational researches are emphasized differently by different experts: Willinsky (2001) stresses having a applied plan in the research section of the Education system. Newer (2002) stresses on culture-building and setting up a scientific and research information system. Laatter (2004) considers three things with this regard: expansion and teaching of scientific researches, creating positive attitude in order to utilize scientific findings in education, and finally stabilization of the information system for educational researches and contact between researchers, universities, and the education system. Last but not least, Nicebet (2005) has recognized the effective elements to be in the two fields of 1. vocational expansion and teachers training in research methodology and research management expansion, and 2. governmental financial support for educational researches. Also Raid (2005) has pointed out 16 elements in applying educational researches, the most important of which include: The Education Systems collaboration with universities and research centers, conducting research courses for teachers, including lessons in the school curriculum for becoming familiar with research methodology and providing easy-access conditions for the Education system members to the researches and publications.

A collection of researches and considerable articles have also investigated solutions and the obstacles for utilizing education research findings in the country. Here we point to the most important ones:

One of the effective solutions in utilizing research-findings for decision-makings and educational plannings is research-management and structure-modification of the research-system of the Ministry of Education. This is the belief seen in the works of the following researchers: Mehrm-Mohammadi (1991, 1998), Mansouri (1991, 1994), Saadati (1998), Bakhshi (2003), Roumiani (2003), Mohammadi (2004), and Alaghe-mandan (2002).

The findings of these researches, and the studies by Bazargan (1993, 2001), Nami (1998), Saadati (1998), Matin (1990), and Hasan-Zadeh (2003) have shown that the establishment and expansion of the research information system in the ministry of Education and in the provinces are effective elements in utilizing research findings in the Education system.

Also, the results of researches by Saadati (1998), Nami (1998), Shariat-Zadeh (2001), Reshad-manesh (2001), Roumian (2003), Bakhshi (2003), and Mohammadi (2003) have shown that the expansion of research culture, and being research-centered, and research-report