Inference ability is considered central to discourse processing and has been shown to be important across models of reading comprehension. To evaluate the impact of inference instruction, a meta-analysis of 25 inference studies in Grades K-12 was conducted. Results showed that inference instruction was effective for increasing students' general…

One obstacle to understanding abstract concepts such as the "control of variables" strategy (CVS) is the tendency for learners to focus on surface rather than deep features in instructional materials. However, in tasks such as learning CVS, these same surface features may also support understanding, provided learners realize the…

This experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of a research-based intervention, schema-based instruction (SBI), on students' proportional problem solving. SBI emphasizes the underlying mathematical structure of problems, uses schematic diagrams to represent information in the problem text, provides explicit problem-solving and metacognitive…

Both Dweck (1986) and Nicholls (1984) proposed that when ego-involved individuals encounter difficulty, they would begin to doubt their level of ability, and as a consequence, their commitment to the goal of demonstrating high ability would decline. As difficulty continued, perceived ability would decline, and eventually the goal would be…

In a randomized control trial, the authors tested whether short- and long-term effects of an early literacy intervention are moderated by mild perinatal adversities in accordance with differential susceptibility theory. One-hundred 5-year-old children (58% male) who scored at or below the 30th percentile on early literacy measures were randomized…

This study provides the first longitudinally designed, classroom-based empirical test of self-determination theory's motivation mediation model. Measures of perceived autonomy support, motivation (autonomy need satisfaction), engagement, and achievement were collected from 500 (257 females, 243 males) 8th-grade students in Korea in a 3-wave…

This report describes a cluster randomized control trial (RCT) intervention study of the effectiveness of the ABRACADABRA (ABRA) Web-based literacy system using a classroom-level RCT intervention with 1,067 children in 74 kindergarten and Grade 1 or Grade 1/2 classrooms across Canada. The authors closely followed the CONSORT criteria for executing…

In this study, we meta-analyzed empirical research of the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) on K-12 students' mathematical learning. A total of 26 reports containing 34 independent samples met study inclusion criteria. The reports appeared between 1997 and 2010. The majority of included studies compared the effectiveness of ITS…

Two approaches to regression-based reading-level-match research designs, one of which used matched Rasch-scaled "w" scores, were tested with 544 primary grade children of different reading levels. Results call into question the conclusion that orthographic skills are compensatory for reading-disabled children. (SLD)

Effort on homework has a profound impact on student achievement. Researchers typically use an interindividual research design to explain homework effort. In this study with a total of 511 students from Grades 8 and 9, an interindividual perspective (focus on between-students differences) was combined with an intraindividual perspective (focus on…

A meta analysis of research on children's attributions for success and failure was conducted to test the adequacy of the egotistic bias hypothesis for children in grades one to seven. Results supported the egotism hypothesis and indicated that both question wording and research context are important determinants of children's attributions.…

Using observational data on classroom teachers, statistical procedures are presented for studying two questions on the stability of teacher behavior over time: (1) Is the individual teacher's behavior consistent? and (2) Are individual differences among teachers consistent? Approaches and methods of previous temporal stability studies are…

Data in Yarworth and Gauthier's article on student self- concept and participation in school activities (EJ 189 606) were reanalyzed by Walsh and Winne (TM 505 375). Yarworth and Gauthier's criticism of the reanalysis (TM 505 376) is answered. (GDC)

Winne and Walsh's Reanalysis (EJ 229 157) of Gauthier and Yarworth's study of self-concept and participation in high school activities (EJ 189 606) is addressed, particularly with respect to the statistical techniques used. The intentions of the original article are also clarified. (GDC)

Yarworth and Gauthier (EJ 189 606) examined whether self-concept variables enhanced predictions about students' participation in school activities, using unstructured stepwise regression techniques. A reanalysis of their data using hierarchial regression models tested their hypothesis more appropriately, and uncovered multicollinearity and…