For those who presume the centrality, if not the supremacy, of the scientific method as a given in the elaboration of America's educational objectives, readers of this report will be in for a surprise. This study, published by the National Academy Press, explores the role and status of the scientific method in the development of American education. In particular, the report focuses on attempts to establish a science of education, a formal method of testing, and proof of what does and doesn't work. Offering great historical perspective, the study clearly illustrates the difficulty that education theorists have had in establishing their discipline, to say nothing of their methods, on the same solid footing as those of the "pure" sciences. As readers of the report will discover, this difficulty has had manifold implications on both teaching theory and practice, especially where financial support of education is involved.