Context: Assessments of baseline equivalency of intervention and control groups, "balance," play a critical role in evaluating educational interventions. The highest What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) of the Institute of Educational Studies (IES) standard for educational studies, "Meets WWC Design Standards Without Reservations,"…

Randomized control trials are considered the gold standard for conducting research and estimating causal effects; however, educational research rarely lends itself to experimental design and true randomization. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in finding new approaches to estimate causal effects in nonrandomized studies in…

The increasing range and number of electronic books (e-books) available in the children's book market has motivated educators and researchers to investigate how well these platforms can contribute to advancing emergent literacy. Such research has nonetheless been conducted on a much smaller scale in the area of self-regulated learning (SRL) with…

School recess provides a major opportunity to increase children's physical activity levels. Various studies have described strategies to increase levels of physical activity. The purpose of this systematic review is therefore to examine the interventions proposed as forms of increasing children's physical activity levels during recess. A…

Experimental and quasi-experimental designs are used in educational research to establish causality and develop effective practices. These research designs rely on a counterfactual model that, in simple form, calls for a comparison between a treatment group and a control group. Developers of educational practices often assume that the population…

Given the importance of early mathematics instruction and curricula for preventing mathematics difficulties in later grades, it is necessary to identify effective mathematics curricula and instruction to ensure that children become proficient in early mathematics content and procedures. Everyday Mathematics (EM), was reviewed by the What Works…

In this study, the authors conceptualize teaching episodes such as an integrated set of observable student-teacher interactions. Instructional interactions that take place between teachers and students around critical academic content are a defining characteristic of classroom instruction and a component carefully defined in many education…

This study examined whether the "Experience Corps" program improved the reading skills of elementary school students who were at risk of academic failure. Nearly 900 first through third grade students in 23 schools in Boston, New York City, and Port Arthur, TX participated in the study. These students were randomly assigned to either a…

There is currently a great deal of controversy about a critical issue in educational research: What constitutes valid evidence for determining whether educational innovations are effective? One side of the controversy is reflected in the U.S. Department of Education's current policies and funding programs. This side emphasizes methodological…