In each issue of "The Learning Professional," Joellen Killion explores a recent research study to help practitioners understand the impact of particular professional learning practices on student outcomes. In this issue, Killion explores the study presented in "The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A…

The Effective Instructional Strategies Series is a collection of six booklets based on the components used in Pacific Communities with High-performance In Literacy Development (Pacific CHILD), a principles-based professional development program consisting of research-based teaching and learning strategies proven to help improve students' reading…

Purpose: The concept of managers assuming developmental roles such as coaches and learning facilitators has received considerable attention in recent years. Yet, despite the growing body of expert opinion that suggests that coaching is an essential core activity of everyday management and leadership, the literature base remains largely…

A review of 25 studies found that demonstrations of successful generalization of skills by persons with profound mental handicaps were characterized by: several trained exemplars, trained behaviors likely to be reinforced in natural settings by natural consequences, use of training stimuli common to the generalization setting, and training in…

A review of 287 references describing computer applications with deaf children found 74 percent concerned academic applications, 7 percent were psychological investigations, and 19 percent were about general education. Analysis of the academic instruction references found only 9 percent reported efficacy data with degree of computer-assisted…

This book presents a description of Direct Instruction and a meta-analysis of research on Direct Instruction. The term "Direct Instruction" as used in the book refers to instructional programs developed by Siegfried Englemann and his colleagues, including DISTAR (Direct instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading) and DISTAR…

This study used meta-analyses to evaluate the relative effectiveness of a variety of educational interventions with students who have disabilities. A graph of average effect sizes for 18 interventions shows the demonstrated effectiveness of mnemonic training, reading comprehension instruction, behavior modification, direct instruction,…

This review examined the literature on peer tutoring in reading with students with disabilities, using the methodology of best evidence synthesis. This approach combines positive aspects of meta analysis with traditional integrative review procedures. It requires all studies reviewed to meet stringent a priori standards. Analysis of the 11 studies…

Meta-analysis of 34 comparative studies on conventional vs. individualized instruction (II) found most favored the latter but with small-moderate overall effect. Pacing had significant effect, with teacher-pacing more effective than student-paced learning. On average, II required less time than conventional teaching. Additional research on this…

A literature search identified 39 studies assessing modality preferences and modality teaching. The studies, involving 3,087 disabled and nondisabled elementary/secondary level subjects, were quantitatively synthesized. Subjects receiving differential instruction based on modality preferences exhibited only modest gains. (Author/JDD)

This article applies results of a previous meta-analysis of effective instructional practices with adolescents who have learning disabilities focusing on the factor, "Organization/Explicit," which contributed significant variance to effect size. This factor included the important instructional components of advance organization and explicit…

This executive summary reports on a study which utilized meta-analysis and best-evidence synthesis techniques to evaluate 13 research studies on the academic, social, and psychological effects upon learners who are gifted and talented of three grouping practices: (1) ability grouping for enrichment; (2) mixed ability cooperative grouping for…

The great concern in recent decades over the trends of declining student achievement scores and increased cost of schooling has prompted speculation about how these trends might relate to one another. Much like popular opinion, research findings from studies of this relationship have often been contradictory. This study presents results from a…

Thirteen research syntheses were analyzed to determine the academic, social, and psychological effects upon learners who are gifted and talented of three grouping practices: (1) ability grouping for enrichment; (2) mixed ability cooperative grouping for regular instruction; and (3) grouping for acceleration. It was concluded that the research…

Explains how meta-analysis can be used to estimate the effectiveness of various teaching strategies in special education and related services. Identifies specific interventions with combined effect sizes that indicate either effectiveness (such as mnemonic strategies, enhancing reading comprehension), promise of effectiveness (stimulant drugs,…