Education is not so special that it can't be subjected to the scientific method. Medicine is similarly complex, and benefited immensely from randomised trials.

Education is not so special that it can't be subjected to the scientific method. Medicine is similarly complex, and benefited immensely from randomised trials. There may be challenges (the placebo effect of new methodologies, and the impact which observation has on behavior), but it's not so special that big gains can't be made by studying what works in an empirical manner. When education catches up to where medicine was in the 1937 (with the introduction of placebo trials), or even the 1950s (with double blind trials) they can start looking into methodological improvements. Until then, there's lots of low-hanging apples. I guess the best way forward is for the education departments to stop trying to control everything. They send out instructions, telling teachers what they are meant to do. Why not just AB test the instructions they are sending principals? That way, they can learn which of their decisions actually work.