Review of Educational Research
Published by SAGE Publications
Adolescent Work, Vocational Development, and Education
Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck
Jeylan Mortimer
This review examines contemporary issues in vocational development with emphasis on adolescents' work experiences in social context. Attention is directed to the changing social and cultural context for vocational development, the influence of work experience on adolescent development and educational achievement, and theoretical approaches that guide contemporary studies of vocational development and career maturity. In light of the utility of current theories, new directions are suggested to enhance understanding of adolescent employment, vocational development, and educational pursuits. Social policy initiatives to promote adolescents' exercise of agency and their vocational development are considered.
A Synthesis of Reading Interventions and Effects on Reading Comprehension Outcomes for Older Struggling Readers
Meaghan S Edmonds
Sharon Vaughn
Jade Wexler
Jennifer Wick Schnakenberg
This article reports a synthesis of intervention studies conducted between 1994 and 2004 with older students (Grades 6-12) with reading difficulties. Interventions addressing decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension were included if they measured the effects on reading comprehension. Twenty-nine studies were located and synthesized. Thirteen studies met criteria for a meta-analysis, yielding an effect size (ES) of 0.89 for the weighted average of the difference in comprehension outcomes between treatment and comparison students. Word-level interventions were associated with ES = 0.34 in comprehension outcomes between treatment and comparison students. Implications for comprehension instruction for older struggling readers are described.
Meta-Analysis With Complex Research Designs
Nancy Scammacca Lewis
Greg Roberts
Karla Stuebing
Previous research has shown that treating dependent effect sizes as independent inflates the variance of the mean effect size and introduces bias by giving studies with more effect sizes more weight in the meta-analysis. This article summarizes the different approaches to handling dependence that have been advocated by methodologists, some of which are more feasible to implement with education research studies than others. A case study using effect sizes from a recent meta-analysis of reading interventions is presented to compare the results obtained from different approaches to dealing with dependence. Overall, mean effect sizes and variance estimates were found to be similar, but estimates of indexes of heterogeneity varied. Meta-analysts are advised to explore the effect of the method of handling dependence on the heterogeneity estimates before conducting moderator analyses and to choose the approach to dependence that is best suited to their research question and their data set.
The Greater Male Variability Controversy: Science Versus Politics
Alan Feingold
Responds to the comments of N. Noddings (see record 1992-29786-001) on the work of A. Feingold (see record 1992-29772-001) supporting greater variability for males in the cognitive domain. The main purpose of Feingold's article is asserted to be a demonstration that previous research on intellective sex differences is incomplete because of the general preoccupation with sex differences in means. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Discriminant Analysis
Carl J. Huberty
The basic notions of descriptive and predictive discriminant analysis (DDA and PDA) are discussed. Descriptions of conductiong a DDA and PDA are given, with implications for reporting results of these two analyses. Distinctions betweeen DDA and PDA are emphasized.
Mapping the Complexity of Public Pedagogy Scholarship 1894–2010
Jennifer A. Sandlin
Michael P. O'Malley
Jake Burdick
The term public pedagogy first appeared in 1894 and has been widely deployed as a theoretical construct in education research to focus on processes and sites of education beyond formal schooling, with a proliferation of its use by feminist and critical theorists occurring since the mid-1990s. This integrative literature review provides the first synthesis of public pedagogy research through a thematic analysis of a sample of 420 publications. Finding that the public pedagogy construct is often undertheorized and ambiguously presented in education research literature, the study identifies five primary categories of extant public pedagogy research: (a) citizenship within and beyond schools, (b) popular culture and everyday life, (c) informal institutions and public spaces, (d) dominant cultural discourses, and (e) public intellectualism and social activism. These categories provide researchers with a conceptual framework for investigating public pedagogy and for locating future scholarship. The study identifies the need for theoretical specificity in research that employs the public pedagogy construct and for empirical studies that investigate the processes of public pedagogy, particularly in terms of the learner's perspective.
She's Not There Women and Gender as Disappearing Foci in U.S. Research on the Elementary School Teacher, 1995–Present
Sally Campbell Galman
Christine A. Mallozzi
For this literature review, the authors asked, "What is the role of gender in research about elementary-level women teachers and preservice teachers in the past 15 years, and what have scholars learned about the gendered nature of women's experiences in elementary-level preservice and in-service teaching in that time?" To be eligible for inclusion, works had to be published during or after 1995, study elementary preservice or practicing women educators, take place in the United States, focus on gender, and be empirical. Of the 54 articles that warranted in-depth investigation, 42 articles were excluded because teachers' gender was subsumed under other social categories such as K–12 female students or male students and teachers. The majority of the 12 relevant articles employed small participant samples and exploratory approaches and depicted female teachers as struggling with or marginalized in the profession. A minority presented women teachers as reveling in the legacies of teaching. These findings beg for more research on women teachers' gendered experiences.
Waitoller, F., & Artiles, A. J. (2013). A decade of professional development research for inclusive education: A literature review and notes for a sociocultural research program. Review of Educational Research, 83, 319-356.
Federico Waitoller
Alfredo J. Artiles
We reviewed the research on professional development (PD) for inclusive education between 2000 and 2009 to answer three questions: (a) How is inclusive education defined in PD research? (b) How is PD for inclusive education studied? (c) How is teacher learning examined in PD research for inclusive education? Systematic procedures were used to identify relevant research and analyze the target studies. We found that most PD research for inclusive education utilized a unitary approach toward difference and exclusion and that teacher learning for inclusive education is undertheorized. We recommend using an intersectional approach to understand difference and exclusion and examining boundary practices to examine teacher learning for inclusive education.
Sex Differences in Variability in Intellectual Abilities: A New Look at an Old Controversy
Contemporary research on sex differences in intellectual abilities has focused on male-female differences in average performance, implicitly assuming homogeneity of variance. To examine the validity of that assumption, this article examined sex differences in variability on the national norms of several standardized test batteries. Males were consistently more variable than females in quantitative reasoning, spatial visualization, spelling, and general knowledge. Because these sex differences in variability were coupled with corresponding sex differences in means, it was demonstrated that sex differences in variability and sex differences in central tendency have to be considered together to form correct conclusions about the magnitude of cognitive gender differences.
School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs: A Review of Effectiveness
Keith Topping
Ian Barron
In this systematic and critical review of purely school based child sexual abuse prevention program efficacy studies, 22 studies meeting the inclusion criteria differed by target population, program implementation, and evaluation methodology. Measured outcomes for children included knowledge, skills, emotion, risk perception, touch discrimination, reported response to actual threat or abuse, disclosure, maintenance of gains, and negative effects. Many studies had methodological limitations (e.g., sampling problems, lack of adequate control groups, lack of reliable and valid measures). However, most investigators claimed that their results showed significant impact in primary prevention (increasing all children's knowledge or awareness and/or abuse prevention skills). There was little evidence of change in disclosure. There was limited follow-up evidence of actual use and effectiveness of prevention skills, and the evidence for maintenance of gains was mixed. Several programs reported some negative effects. Very few studies reported implementation fidelity data, and no study reported cost-effectiveness. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are outlined.
Impact of Garden-Based Learning on Academic Outcomes in Schools
Dilafruz Williams
P. Scott Dixon
What is the impact of garden-based learning on academic outcomes in schools? To address this question, findings across 152 articles (1990–2010) were analyzed resulting in 48 studies that met the inclusion criteria for this synthesis. A review template with operational coding framework was developed. The synthesis results showed a preponderance of positive impacts on direct academic outcomes with the highest positive impact for science followed by math and language arts. Indirect academic outcomes were also measured with social development surfacing most frequently and positively. These results were consistent across programs, student samples, and school types and within the disparate research methodologies used. However, a common issue was lack of research rigor as there were troubling issues with incomplete descriptions of methodological procedures in general and sampling techniques and validity in particular. Recommendations for more systematic and rigorous research are provided to parallel the growing garden-based education movement.
Walter Doyle
This review focuses on the intrinsic character of academic work in elementary and secondry schools and the way that work is experienced by teachers and students in classrooms. The first section contains a review of recent research in cognitive psychology on the intellectual demands of the tasks contained in the school curriculum, with particular attention to the inherent complexity of most of the tasks students encounter. The findings of this research are brought to bear on the issue of direct versus indirect instruction. The second section is directed to studies of how academic work is accomplished in classroom environments. Classrooms appear to shape the content of the curriculum in fundamental ways for all students and especially those who find academic work difficult. In addition, the processes that are likely to have the greatest long-term consequences are the most difficult to teach in classrooms. The paper concludes with an analysis of issues related to improving instruction and extending current directions in research on teaching.
A Meta-Analytic Path Analysis of the Internal/External Frame of Reference Model of Academic Achievement and Academic Self-Concept
Jens Möller
Britta Pohlmann
Olaf Köller
Herb Marsh
A meta-analysis of 69 data sets (N = 125,308) was carried out on studies that simultaneously evaluate the effects of math and verbal achievements on math and verbal self-concepts. As predicted by the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model, math and verbal achievements were highly correlated overall (.67), but the correlation between math and verbal self-concepts (.10) was close to zero. Correlations between math and verbal achievement and correlations between achievements and self-concepts within the domains were more positive when grades instead of standardized test results were used as achievement indicators. A path analysis revealed support for the I/E model, with positive paths from achievement to the corresponding self-concepts (.61 for math, .49 for verbal) and negative paths from achievement in one subject to self-concept in the other subject (−.21 from math achievement on verbal self-concept, −.27 from verbal achievement to math self-concept). Furthermore, results showed that the I/E model is valid for different age groups, gender groups, and countries. The I/E model did not fit the data when self-efficacy measures were used instead of self-concept measures. These results demonstrate the broad scope of the I/E model as an adequate description of students' self-evaluation processes as they are influenced by internal and external frames of reference.
Single-Sex and Coeducational Schooling: Relationships to Socioemotional and Academic Development
Fred A. Mael
The role of coeducation versus separate-sex schooling in the academic, socioemotional, interpersonal, and career development of adolescents is discussed. Arguments and research support for both types of schooling are reviewed. Separate-sex schooling seems to provide potential academic and attitudinal benefits for at least some students. The limitations of current research are discussed, and directions for further research are offered.
Perceived Personal Control and Academic Achievement
Deborah Stipek
John Weisz
Perceived control of events is one motivational variable that appears to affect children's academic achievement. In this review the conceptualization and measurement of the control dimension is discussed from three theoretical perspectives: social learning theory, attribution theory, and intrinsic motivation theories. For each of these three perspectives evidence on the relationship between achievement and perceptions of control is summarized, and possible explanations for the relationship are discussed. Throughout this review similarities and differences among these orientations are pointed out. Specific recommendations are made for research which will advance our understanding of this relationship and which will provide the most useful information to educators.
A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effect on Learning of the Interaction Between Prior Achievement and Instructional Support
Ellen M. Whitener
Aptitude-treatment interaction research has been plagued by conceptual and methodological problems that are evidenced in inconsistent results and unreplicated studies. These problems can be addressed, in part, by using meta-analytic techniques. These techniques were used in this study to test the effect of the interaction of prior achievement with instructional support on learning. This aptitude-treatment interaction was tested by assessing how the learning of subjects with different levels of prior achievement is effected by providing organizational and structuring instructional support as opposed to learner-controlled or self-paced instructional support. The results reveal an interaction that is consistent with the interpretation that there are greater differences in learning achievement between subjects with high prior achievement and subjects with low prior achievement when structuring and organizing support are provided and smaller differences between these subjects when instruction is self-paced. Although this study indicates that differences in achievement levels can be reduced through instructional treatment, further research is needed to evaluate other effects, such as total and subgroup mean achievement.
Variables Affecting Achievement of Middle School Mexican American Students
Norma G. Hernandez
Literature pertaining to research done on academic achievement of Mexican American students is reviewed in this paper. The literature deals with such variables as socioeconomic, physical, psychological, and cultural aspects; language factors; attitudes; language development; and environment. A 15-page discussion of recommendations for improving curriculum, instruction, and teacher education for educating the Mexican American is included. Also included is a bibliography containing over 200 relevant citations. (NQ)
The Effect of School Resources on Student Achievement
Rob Greenwald
Larry V Hedges
Richard D. Laine
A universe of education production function studies was assembled in order to utilize meta-analytic methods to assess the direction and magnitude of the relations between a variety of school inputs and student achievement. The 60 primary research studies aggregated data at the level of school districts or smaller units and either controlled for socioeconomic characteristics or were longitudinal in design. The analysis found that a broad range of resources were positively related to student outcomes, with effect sizes large enough to suggest that moderate increases in spending may be associated with significant increases in achievement. The discussion relates the findings of this study with trends in student achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and changes in social capital over the last two decades.
The Effects of Summer Reading on Low-Income Children's Literacy Achievement From Kindergarten to Grade 8 A Meta-Analysis of Classroom and Home Interventions
James S. Kim
David M. Quinn
This meta-analysis reviewed research on summer reading interventions conducted in the United States and Canada from 1998 to 2011. The synthesis included 41 classroom- and home-based summer reading interventions involving children from kindergarten to Grade 8. Compared to control group children, children who participated in classroom interventions, involving teacher-directed literacy lessons, or home interventions, involving child-initiated book reading activities, enjoyed significant improvement on multiple reading outcomes. The magnitude of the treatment effect was positive for summer reading interventions that employed research-based reading instruction and included a majority of low-income children. Sensitivity analyses based on within-study comparisons indicated that summer reading interventions had significantly larger benefits for children from low-income backgrounds than for children from a mix of income backgrounds. The findings highlight the potentially positive impact of classroom- and home-based summer reading interventions on the reading comprehension ability of low-income children.
The Effect of Family Literacy Interventions on Children's Acquisition of Reading. From Kindergarten to Grade 3. A Meta-Analytic Review
Monique Sénéchal
This review focuses on intervention studies that tested whether parent-child reading activities would enhance children's reading acquisition. The combined results for the 16 intervention studies, representing 1,340 families, were clear: Parent involvement has a positive effect on children's reading acquisition. Further analyses revealed that interventions in which parents tutored their children using specific literacy activities produced larger effects than those in which parents listened to their children read books. The three studies in which parents read to their children did not result in significant reading gains. When deciding which type of intervention to implement, educators will have to weigh a variety of factors such as the differences in effectiveness across the different types of intervention, the amount of resources needed to implement the interventions, and the reading level of the children.
The Role of Anomalous Data in Knowledge Acquisition: A Theoretical Framework and Implications for Science Instruction
Clark Chinn
William F. Brewer
Understanding how science students respond to anomalous data is essential to understanding knowledge acquisition in science classrooms. This article presents a detailed analysis of the ways in which scientists and science students respond to such data. We postulate that there are seven distinct forms of response to anomalous data, only one of which is to accept the data and change theories. The other six responses involve discounting the data in various ways in order to protect the preinstructional theory. We analyze the factors that influence which of these seven forms of response a scientist or student will choose, giving special attention to the factors that make theory change more likely. Finally, we discuss the implications of our framework for science instruction.
What We Know About Second Language Acquisition
L. Quentin Dixon
Jeeyoung Shin
Catherine E. Snow
Educational policies that impact second language (L2) learners—a rapidly-growing group—are often enacted without consulting relevant research. This review synthesized research regarding optimal conditions for L2 acquisition, facilitative L2 learner and teacher characteristics, and speed of L2 acquisition, from four bodies of work—foreign language education, child language research, sociocultural studies, and psycholinguistics—often overlooked by educators. Seventy-one peer-reviewed journal articles studying PK-12 L2 learners met inclusion criteria. Findings included: 1) Optimal conditions for L2 learners immersed in a majority-L2 society include strong home literacy practices, opportunities to use the L2 informally, well-implemented specially-designed L2 educational programs, and sufficient time devoted to L2 literacy instruction, whereas L2 learners with little L2 exposure require explicit instruction to master grammar; 2) L2 learners with strong L2 aptitude, motivation, and first language (L1) skills are more successful; 3) Effective L2 teachers demonstrate sufficient L2 proficiency, strong instructional skills, and proficiency in their students' L1; 4) L2 learners require 3-7 years to reach L2 proficiency, with younger learners typically taking longer but more likely to achieve close-to-native results. These findings, even those most relevant to education, are not reflected in current US policy. Additional research is needed on the characteristics of successful or unsuccessful L2 learners and L2 teachers. Such research should attend systematically to the differences between L2 learning in maximal versus minimal input settings; whereas the psycholinguistic challenges of L2 learning might be common across settings, the sociocultural and interactional challenges and opportunities differ in ways that can massively impact outcomes.
Determinants of University Students' Political Attitudes or Demythologizing Campus Political Activism
Roger L. Riffer
Four general hypotheses concerning the sources of university students' political attitudes are presented and evaluated in this paper. A cross-sectional survey of American male Harvard University graduate students was conducted with a questionnaire dealing with attitudes toward United States involvement in Vietnam. Responses were analyzed by computer and relevant statistical tests were used to verify each hypothesis. The findings contribute to the understanding of the determinants of political attitudes and to the understanding of the relationship between students' political attitudes and their general values. An appendix includes tables of data compiled in the study. (SHM)
The Cost of Providing an Adequate Education to English Language Learners A Review of the Literature
Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos
Amy Marcetti Topper
This article systematically reviews the cost study literature as it relates to the treatment of English language learners (ELLs). Despite the substantial number of costing out studies that have been conducted over the past several decades, the school finance literature has failed to focus on ELLs—the fastest growing segment of the school-age population. Little attention has been paid to how ELL students are treated under the various costing out methodologies or which approaches yield the most useful results. The two criterion to select the costing out literature to review included (a) peer-reviewed journal articles and commissioned reports that used one of the four primary cost study methodologies (professional judgment panel, successful school model, evidence-based model, and cost function analysis), and (b) studies published after 1990 that focused on generating statewide funding recommendations at the district level. A total of 70 empirical cost studies met these criteria. The review concludes that there is substantial variability in the treatment of ELLs across cost study methodologies, although all methods agree that current funding levels are insufficient to meet specified performance standards. To comprehensively assess the resource needs of this growing school population, cost studies that specifically focus on ELLs will need to be conducted to improve transparency and representativeness for ELLs.
Assessing Neighborhood Racial Segregation and Macroeconomic Effects in the Education of African Americans
Odis Johnson
The "underclass" debate of the 1980s often concerned the relative importance of neighborhood racial and economic isolation to the educational challenges facing many African Americans. This review organizes the neighborhood effects research that has emerged since that time according to these differing perspectives. The review's triangulated approach assesses (a) the association of a neighborhood's racial segregation and low level of economic resources to less academic success, (b) whether certain neighborhood social processes lower children's educational performance, and (c) if residential opportunity leads to improvements in educational performance after children leave impoverished and segregated neighborhoods for integrated and middle-class areas. The analysis reveals that the education of African Americans appears less affected by neighborhood conditions than the two perspectives suggest, at least as they are currently conceptualized and measured. The results are contextualized with the author's identification of areas in the field where more research is needed, the problems and promise associated with particular analytical strategies, and other social, school-based, and human development dynamics that complicate the estimation of neighborhood influences in education.
Afro-American Cognitive Style: A Variable in School Success?
Barbara S. Shade
A review of the literature indicates that black Americans have attempted to adapt to social situations by developing unique cultural patterns and a specific method of organizing and processing information. The latter is manifested in the way they pay attention to social cues, attach subjective meanings to words, show preference for social distance, and use nonverbal communication extensively. This particular thinking style affects cognitive development; observed differences in school success between black students and other groups may be attributed to black students' use of an information processing style which is not the preferred strategy in an educational setting. A stylistic approach to learning which would fit material to children's particular cognitive and affective behaviors may have a positive effect on black school achievement. (Author/MJL)
Algebra A Challenge at the Crossroads of Policy and Practice
Mary Kay Stein
Julia Heath Kaufman
Milan Sherman
Amy F. Hillen
The authors review what is known about early and universal algebra, including who is getting access to algebra and student outcomes associated with algebra course taking in general and specifically with universal algebra policies. The findings indicate that increasing numbers of students, some of whom are underprepared, are taking algebra earlier. At the same time, other students with requisite skills are not given access to algebra. Although studies using nationally representative data indicate strong positive outcomes for students who take algebra early, studies conducted only in contexts where all students are mandated to take algebra in eighth or ninth grade provide mixed evidence of positive outcomes, with increased achievement when policies include strong supports for struggling students. The authors conclude with a call for studies that examine the relationship among algebra policies, instruction, and student outcomes to understand the mechanisms by which policies can lead to success for all students.
Methods of Instructional Improvement in Algebra A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Chris Rakes
Jeffrey C Valentine
Maggie B. Mcgatha
Robert Ronau
This systematic review of algebra instructional improvement strategies identified 82 relevant studies with 109 independent effect sizes representing a sample of 22,424 students. Five categories of improvement strategies emerged: technology curricula, nontechnology curricula, instructional strategies, manipulatives, and technology tools. All five of these strategies yielded positive, statistically significant results. Furthermore, the learning focus of these strategies moderated their effects on student achievement. Interventions focusing on the development of conceptual understanding produced an average effect size almost double that of interventions focusing on procedural understanding.
Thinking Aloud and Reading Comprehension Research: Inquiry, Instruction, and Social Interaction
Linda Kucan
Isabel Beck
This is a review of research on thinking aloud in reading comprehension that considers thinking aloud as a method of inquiry, a mode of instruction, and a means for encouraging social interaction. As a method of inquiry, the analysis of verbal reports provided by readers thinking aloud revealed the flexible and goal-directed processing of expert readers. As a mode of instruction, thinking aloud was first employed by teachers who modeled their processing during reading, making overt the strategies they were using to comprehend text. Subsequently, instructional approaches were developed to engage students themselves in thinking aloud. Such endeavors revealed facilitation effects on text understanding. Current efforts to engage students in constructing meaning from text in collaborative discussions seem to indicate a new direction for thinking aloud research, one in which social interaction assumes increased importance.
Black–White Biracial Students in American Schools: A Review of the Literature
Rhina Fernandes Williams
With increasing numbers of students who identify as Black and White multi-racial and with the persistence of the Black–White test score gap, the necessity for research regarding these students' educational experiences cannot be understated. To date, research in this area has been scarce. The purpose of this review is to synthesize the available literature related to the experiences of multiracial—Black–White biracial in particular—students in American schools and to identify areas in need of further research. This review offers a synthesis of the historical, social, and political context of biracial people, as well as a synthesis of issues relevant to biracial students, namely, psychological adjustment, home and parental influence, and school factors. Recommendations and implications for further research related to multiracial students and their schooling are offered.
Effects of Problem-Based Learning: A Meta-Analysis From the Angle of Assessment
David Gijbels
Filip Dochy
Piet Van den Bossche
Mien R.Segers
This meta-analysis investigated the influence of assessment on the reported effects of problem-based learning (PBL) by applying Sugrue's (1995) model of cognitive components of problem solving. Three levels of the knowledge structure that can be targeted by assessment of problem solving are used as the main independent variables: (a) understanding of concepts, (b) understanding of the principles that link concepts, and (c) linking of concepts and principles to conditions and procedures for application. PBL had the most positive effects when the focal constructs being assessed were at the level of understanding principles that link concepts. The results suggest that the implications of assessment must be considered in examining the effects of problem-based learning and probably in all comparative education research.
How to Optimize Learning From Animated Models: A Review of Guidelines Based on Cognitive Load
P.J.M. Wouters
Fred Paas
Jeroen J. G. Van Merrienboer
Animated models explicate the procedure to solve a problem, as well as the rationale behind this procedure. For abstract cognitive processes, animations might be beneficial, especially when a supportive pedagogical agent provides explanations. This article argues that animated models can be an effective instructional method, provided that they are designed in such a way that cognitive capacity is optimally employed. This review proposes three sets of design guidelines based on cognitive load research: The first aims at managing the complexity of subject matter. The second focuses on preventing activities (attributed to poor design) that obstruct learning. The last incites learners to engage in the active and relevant processing of subject matter. Finally, an integrative framework is presented for designing effective animated models.
Our Princess Is in Another Castle A Review of Trends in Serious Gaming for Education
Michael F. Young
Stephen Thomas Slota
Andrew Cutter
Mariya Yukhymenko
Do video games show demonstrable relationships to academic achievement gains when used to support the K-12 curriculum? In a review of literature, we identified 300+ articles whose descriptions related to video games and academic achievement. We found some evidence for the effects of video games on language learning, history, and physical education (specifically exergames), but little support for the academic value of video games in science and math. We summarize the trends for each subject area and supply recommendations for the nascent field of video games research. Many educationally interesting games exist, yet evidence for their impact on student achievement is slim. We recommend separating simulations from games and refocusing the question onto the situated nature of game-player-context interactions, including meta-game social collaborative elements.
Towards Rigor in Reviews of Multivocal Literatures: Applying the Exploratory Case Study Method
Rodney T. Ogawa
Betty Malen
This article aims to stimulate discussion about the issue of rigor in conducting reviews of multivocal literatures. Multivocal literatures, which abound in the field of education, are comprised of all accessible writings on a common, often contemporary topic. The exploratory case study method is proposed as a means to engender rigor in reviews of such literatures. It is argued that it is appropriate to apply the concept of rigor to reviews of multivocal literatures and to use the exploratory case study method as a tool for thinking about procedures that could enhance rigor in such reviews. The article draws upon the authors' experiences in conducting a review of the literature on school-based management to illustrate how the proposed procedures might be employed.
Differential Diagnosis—Prescriptive Teaching: A Critical Appraisal
Judith A. Arter
Joseph R. Jenkins
The dominant instructional model within special education, Differential Diagnosis-Prescriptive Teaching, involves the assessment of psycholinguistic and perceptual motor abilities that are presumed necessary for learning basic academic skills. Based on the differential pattern of ability strengths and weaknesses resulting from this assessment, individual remedial prescriptions are prescribed. In this article six assumptions underlying this model are identified. Also presented is a comprehensive review of research related to each assumption. The findings seriously challenge the model's validity and suggest that continued advocacy of the model cannot be justified. Children do not appear to profit from current applications of Differential Diagnosis-Prescriptive Teaching.
The Jury Is Still Out on the Effects of Whole Language and Language Experience Approaches for Beginning Reading: A Critique of Stahl and Miller's Study
Judith A Schickedanz
In their article, "Whole Language and Language Experience Approaches for Beginning Reading" ( Review of Educational Research, Spring 1989), Stahl and Miller attempted to compare the effectiveness of whole language/language experience with that of basal reader approaches. Because longitudinal data (i.e., third grade and beyond) were not included in the study, however, the significance of the small differences found is unknown. Stahl and Miller also go beyond their data or fail to exploit it for alternative interpretations. Finally, they fail to discuss the broad goals of whole language approaches, which include not only the development of reading but the development of writing.
Argument to Foster Scientific Literacy A Review of Argument Interventions in K–12 Science Contexts
Andy Cavagnetto
The goal of scientific literacy has led to a steady increase in argument-based interventions in science education contexts. It has been suggested that student participation in argument develops communication skills, metacognitive awareness, critical thinking, an understanding of the culture and practice of science, and scientific literacy. Although argument does influence communication skills, metacognition, and critical thinking, not all forms of argument promote an understanding of scientific practice and, subsequently, scientific literacy. This study of 54 articles from the research literature examines how argument interventions promote scientific literacy. Articles were classified across three domains to determine structural patterns of the various argument interventions: (a) the nature of the argument activity, (b) the emphasis of the argument activity, and (c) the aspects of science included in the argument activity. The structures of the interventions suggest that researchers approach learning of argument through immersion, teaching the structure of argument, and emphasizing the interaction of science and society. Immersion-oriented interventions utilized argument as an integrated component to student investigations. Argument structure interventions taught the structure of argument separate from investigations and asked students to apply it across various explanatory activities. Science- and society-based interventions used socioscientific issues to contextualize and provide purpose for argument. The three orientations toward argument instruction are discussed in light of the epistemic nature of science and scientific literacy. The orientations can serve as an opportunity to refine understanding of argument interventions, particularly with regard to the pursuit of scientific literacy.
Organization Development in Schools: The State of the Art
Michael Fullan
Matthew B. Miles
Gib Taylor
Organization Development (OD) is a change strategy for organizational self development and renewal. Adapted from business settings, it has been used in schools over the past 15 years. There are widely different images of what OD is, and widely different claims made for its value or worthlessness. The field of OD in education is badly in need of stock taking. In this review we assess the state of the art of OD in four respects: (1) critiquing and clarifying the values, goals, and assumptions of OD in general and as applied to education; (2) identifying and analyzing the various models and operating characteristics of OD in practice (conditions and strategies affecting its initiation, implementation, and continuation); (3) assessing the impact or outcomes of OD on achievement, productivity, and attitudes; and (4) reconsidering OD's future, and suggesting policy implications for educational agencies at different levels.
Are We Asking the Right Questions?
Cheryl Amundsen
This is a conceptual review of the literature variously referred to as faculty development, educational development, instructional development, and academic development in higher education. Previous empirical reviews covering more than 30 years of published literature could draw only tentative and weak conclusions about the effectiveness of educational development practices. The authors used different questions that queried the nature of educational development practice and the thinking underlying practice. Their conceptual review yielded a framework with six foci of practice (skill, method, reflection, disciplinary, institutional, and action research or inquiry) that was drawn from an analysis of the design elements of the educational development practices in the research they reviewed and from an analysis of the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical literature cited by those articles. This six-cluster framework provides a new way of thinking about the design of practice and a more meaningful basis for investigating the effectiveness of educational development practice.
Assessing the Effects of High School Exit Examinations
Jennifer Jellison Holme
Meredith P. Richards
Jo Beth Jimerson
Rebecca W. Cohen
High school exit exams are affecting a growing majority of high school students. Although exit testing polices were enacted with the goal of improving student achievement as well as postsecondary outcomes, they also have the potential for negative effects. To better understand the effects of exit testing policies, in this article the authors systematically review 46 unique studies that pertain to four domains of expected influence: student achievement, graduation, postsecondary outcomes, and school response. The evidence reviewed indicates that exit tests have produced few of the expected benefits and have been associated with costs for the most disadvantaged students. This review suggests policy modifications that may attenuate some of the negative effects.
Making Sense of Assessment Feedback in Higher Education
Carol Evans
This article presents a thematic analysis of the research evidence on assessment feedback in higher education (HE) from 2000 to 2012. The focus of the review is on the feedback that students receive within their coursework from multiple sources. The aims of this study are to (a) examine the nature of assessment feedback in HE through the undertaking of a systematic review of the literature, (b) identify and discuss dominant themes and discourses and consider gaps within the research literature, (c) explore the notion of the feedback gap in relation to the conceptual development of the assessment feedback field in HE, and (d) discuss implications for future research and practice. From this comprehensive review of the literature, the concept of the feedback landscape, informed by sociocultural and socio-critical perspectives, is developed and presented as a valuable framework for moving the research agenda into assessment feedback in HE forward.
A Review of the Research on Interventions for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: What Works Best?
Nola Purdie
John Hattie
Annemaree Carroll
This meta-analysis examined 74 studies in which there had been an intervention that aimed to improve the behavioral, cognitive, and/or social functioning of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or attention deficit disorder (ADD). Overall, there were larger effects of the various interventions on behavioral than on educational outcomes. These overall effects were larger for medical interventions than for educational, psychosocial, or parent training interventions, but there was little support for flow-over effects, from the reduction in behavior problems to enhanced educational outcomes. The effects on educational outcomes were greater for educational interventions than for other types of intervention.
Reframing Professional Development Through Understanding Authentic Professional Learning
Ann Webster-Wright
Continuing to learn is universally accepted and expected by professionals and other stakeholders across all professions. However, despite changes in response to research findings about how professionals learn, many professional development practices still focus on delivering content rather than enhancing learning. In exploring reasons for the continuation of didactic practices in professional development, this article critiques the usual conceptualization of professional development through a review of recent literature across professions. An alternative conceptualization is proposed, based on philosophical assumptions congruent with evidence about professional learning from seminal educational research of the past two decades. An argument is presented for a shift in discourse and focus from delivering and evaluating professional development programs to understanding and supporting authentic professional learning.
The Impact of Induction and Mentoring Programs for Beginning Teachers: A Critical Review of the Research
Richard M. Ingersoll
Michael A Strong
This review critically examines 15 empirical studies, conducted since the mid 1980s, on the effects of support, guidance, and orientation programs— collectively known as induction — for beginning teachers. Most of the studies reviewed provide empirical support for the claim that support and assistance for beginning teachers have a positive impact on three sets of outcomes: teacher commitment and retention, teacher classroom instructional practices, and student achievement. Of the studies on commitment and retention, most showed that beginning teachers who participated in some kind of induction had higher job satisfaction, commitment, or retention. For classroom instructional practices, the majority of studies reviewed showed that beginning teachers who participated in some kind of induction performed better at various aspects of teaching, such as keeping students on task, developing workable lesson plans, using effective student questioning practices, adjusting classroom activities to meet students' interests, maintaining a positive classroom atmosphere, and demonstrating successful classroom management. For student achievement, almost all of the studies showed that students of beginning teachers who participated in some kind of induction had higher scores, or gains, on academic achievement tests. There were, however, exceptions to this overall pattern – in particular a large randomized controlled trial of induction in a sample of large, urban, low-income schools — which found significant positive effects on student achievement, but no effects on either teacher retention or teachers' classroom practices. Our review closes by attempting to reconcile these seemingly contradictory findings and also by identifying gaps in the research base, and relevant questions that have not been addressed and warrant further research.
Perceived Problems of Beginning Teachers
Simon Veenman
Perceived problems of beginning teachers in their first years of teaching are reviewed. Studies from different countries are included. Issues such as the reality shock and changes in behaviours and attitudes are considered also. The eight problems perceived most often are classroom discipline, motivating students, dealing with individual differences, assessing students' work, relationships with parents, organization of class work, insufficient and/or inadequate teaching materials and supplies, and dealing with problems of individual students. There is a great correspondence between the problems of elementary and secondary beginning teachers. Issues such as person-specific and situation-specific differences, views of the principals, problems of experienced teachers, and job satisfaction of beginning teachers are discussed also. Three frameworks of teacher development are presented which provide conceptualizations of individual differences among beginning teachers. Finally, forms of planned support for beginning teachers are noted. Research using an interactionistic model for the explanation of behaviour is needed.
Peer Models and Children's Behavioral Change
Dale Schunk
This article critically reviews the research literature on peer modeling among children as a function of model attributes. Peer modeling is hypothesized to depend in part on perceived similarity between model and observer. Similarity serves as an important source of information for gauging behavioral appropriateness, formulating outcome expectations, and assessing one's self efficacy for learning or performing tasks. Research is reviewed on the effects of model age, model sex, model competence, number of models, and model background. Peer models can foster diverse types of behavioral change in children, but attribute similarity does not automatically enhance modeling. The conditions under which similarity promotes behavioral change are discussed. Future research needs to assess children's self-perceptions, as well as maintenance and generalization of behavioral changes. It is suggested that classroom peers can help train social skills, enhance self-efficacy, and remedy skill deficiencies.
What Is an Elite Boarding School?
Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández
This article brings attention to the rarefied world of elite boarding schools. Despite their reputation for excellence, these unique educational institutions remain largely outside the gaze of educational researchers and the scope of public debates about education. One reason for this absence is a lack of knowledge about what exactly defines an elite boarding school and the characteristics that stand them apart from other schools in significant ways. Drawing on a review of the relevant literature, the article outlines five criteria by which elite boarding schools can be identified: typologically elite, scholastically elite, historically elite, geographically elite, and demographically elite. Although the "elite" status of any given school in any of these criteria may be open to debate, it is the particular combination of these five dimensions that defines an elite boarding school. After a discussion of these five characteristics, the article outlines some implications for future research that considers elite boarding schools as an integral part of the educational system in the United States and presents some of the challenges facing the study of privilege.
By All Available Means: Cameron and Pierce's Defense of Extrinsic Motivators
Alfie Kohn
Cameron and Pierce's meta-analysis (1994), which purports to demonstrate that extrinsic rewards may not undermine intrinsic motivation, is unpersuasive by virtue of its methodology, its tendency to ignore important distinctions, and its failure to include certain evidence.
When Paradigms Clash: Comments on Cameron and Pierce's Claim That Rewards Do Not Undermine Intrinsic Motivation
Richard M Ryan
Edward L Deci
Cameron and Pierce's (1994) conclusion that rewards do not pose a threat to intrinsic motivation is a misrepresentation of the literature based on a flawed meta-analysis. Their call to abandon cognitive evaluation theory is more an attempt to defend their behaviorist theoretical turf than a meaningful consideration of the relevant data and issues.
Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Rewards: A Commentary on Cameron and Pierce's Meta-Analysis
Mark Lepper
Mark Keavney
Michael Drake
This article provides a critical analysis of Cameron and Pierce's (1994) meta-analytic review of the experimental literature on the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. It is suggested that Cameron and Pierce's overly simplistic conclusion has little theoretical or practical value and is instead the direct consequence of their systematic and consistent misuse of meta-analytic procedures. A more nuanced analysis of the several different processes by which extrinsic rewards may affect motivation is also offered.
Top-cited authors
12814 Citations
Helen Timperley
Richard J. Shavelson
Robert E. Slavin
Robert M Bernard
Concordia University Montreal
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