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Mixing It Up About Methods

ROBERT G. CRONINGER is an associate professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at the University of Maryland, 2110D Benjamin Building, College Park, MD, 20742–1175; croninge{at}umd.edu. His research focuses on research methods, the social context of schooling, teaching, teacher qualifications, and the distribution of educational opportunities.

LINDA VALLI is the Jeffrey and David Mullan Professor in Teacher Education–Professional Development in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Maryland, 2311 Benjamin Building, College Park, MD, 20742–1175; lrv{at}umd.edu. Her research focuses on professional development, teacher learning, teaching practices, school improvement, and cultural diversity.

The authors respond to the commentaries (this issue of Educational Researcher) on a series of articles (in the March 2009 issue of Educational Researcher) that discuss the challenges associated with measuring reading instruction. The authors argue that the teaching of reading is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon best studied through a variety of overlapping and complementary methods, quantitative and qualitative. They describe how they put this belief into practice in their longitudinal study of reading and mathematics instruction, and they use other articles derived from that study to demonstrate how a mixed methods research design can enhance our understanding of instructional practices and aspects of the social and cultural contexts that influence those practices. They argue against a return to the paradigm wars that plagued education research during the 1980s.

Key Words: education research • mixed methods • reading instruction

Educational Researcher, Vol. 38, No. 7, 541-545 (2009)
DOI: 10.3102/0013189X09348787


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