This study investigates the effectiveness of implementing clicker-based activities to promote critical thinking in a small-enrollment undergraduate psychology course. Students' performance on knowledge-based tests and critical-thinking assignments were analyzed. Whereas no significant difference was observed in their knowledge-based exam…

Online homework (OLH) assignments were added to the Introduction to Physical Geology class at Dickinson State University in the fall semester of 2014. Anticipated advantages included timely feedback and opportunities for students to correct mistakes made during homework completion. The same instructor taught all lecture and laboratory sections…

This paper proposes a blended teaching design model on WeChat Platform-based SPOC and carries out an empirical study of its applicability and effectiveness in lower-secondary school science teaching. Participants were from two eighth grade classes with different academic performance, and after conducting the same blended teaching, it was found…

Most evaluations of education policies focus on their mean impacts; when distributional effects are investigated it is usually by comparing mean impacts across demographic subgroups. We argue that such estimates may overlook important treatment effect heterogeneity; in order to appreciate the full extent of a policy's distributional impacts one…

Understanding the effects of class size reduction (CSR) has been an enduring issue in education. For the past 3 decades, Project STAR has stimulated research and policy discussions regarding the effects of CSR on a variety of outcomes. Schanzenbach (2007) reviewed STAR studies and concluded that small classes improved student academic outcomes.…

The new institutionalism predicts that professionalism is a key element of organizations' ability to be seen as legitimate. Emphasizing the professionalism and formal credentials of its members lends legitimacy to the organization, protecting it from scrutiny. What happens when this norm of professionalism is absent? How do schools legitimate…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience for Youth (1997 cohort) are used to examine the urban school achievement gap. Specifically, we use the Blinder-Oaxaca technique to decompose differences in Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery scores for students who attended urban and suburban schools. We find that…

A contextual approach to understanding class size reduction includes attention to both educational inputs and processes. Based on our study of a class size reduction program in Wisconsin we explore the following question: How do class size reduction and classroom quality interact to produce learning opportunities in early elementary classrooms? To…

The California class size reduction program provided schools with cash rewards for K-3 classes of 20 or fewer students. I show how program rules made it possible for schools to save money by using mixed-grade classes to meet class size reduction obligations while maintaining larger average class sizes. I also show that this smoothing of students…

Although the number of urban Catholic schools has declined in recent years, Nativity model middle schools, first developed by the Jesuits over 35 years ago, have appeared throughout the nation to address the need for effective alternative education for urban children placed at risk. The present study compares the effectiveness of two types of…