The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) uses the term "baseline equivalence" when determining if the intervention group (those that received the intervention of interest) and the comparison group (those that did not receive the intervention) had characteristics that were similar enough ("equivalent") at the start of the study (at…

Recruitment is a key challenge for researchers conducting any large school-based study. Control is needed not only over the condition participants receive, but also over how the intervention is implemented, and may include restrictions in other areas of school and classroom functioning. We report here on our experiences in recruiting participants…

This paper compares the effectiveness of two interventions aimed to improve teaching quality and student achievement in Indonesia. The first intervention was the use of education standards, while the second one was the combination of education standards with a teacher improvement program. The study involved 50 schools, 52 teachers, and 1660…

The 2011 study, "Benefits of Practicing 4 = 2 + 2: Nontraditional Problem Formats Facilitate Children's Understanding of Mathematical Equivalence," examined the effects of addition practice using nontraditional problem formats on students' understanding of mathematical equivalence. In nontraditional problem formats, operations appear on…

"Spelling Mastery" is designed to explicitly teach spelling skills to students in grades 1 through 6. One of several Direct Instruction curricula from McGraw-Hill that precisely specify how to teach incremental content, "Spelling Mastery" includes phonemic, morphemic, and whole-word strategies. The What Works Clearinghouse…

Regression discontinuity designs (RDDs) are considered to be one of the strongest nonexperimental designs available for the purpose of identifying the effects of an intervention. RDD can be used in situations in which assignment to a treatment group is based on a cutoff value on a continuous assignment variable. The impact of the intervention is…

The present study investigated how dealing with conflicting versus consistent medical information on the Web impacts on topic-specific and medicine-related epistemic beliefs as well as aspects of health decision making. One hundred mostly female university students were randomly assigned to three groups. Two intervention groups searched the Web…

This "What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 3.0)" provides a detailed description of the standards and procedures of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The remaining chapters of this Handbook are organized to take the reader through the basic steps that the WWC uses to develop a review protocol, identify…

The need for mathematics intervention has increased tremendously over the years, particularly after the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.Students who lack basic mathematics skills and students who experience mathematics difficulties greatly benefit from mathematics interventions. This study examined mathematics intervention through the use of the…

Background: School safety and quality affect student learning and success. This study examined the effects of a comprehensive elementary school-wide social-emotional and character education program, Positive Action, on teacher, parent, and student perceptions of school safety and quality utilizing a matched-pair, cluster-randomized, controlled…

Digital games are widely popular and interest has increased for their use in education. Digital games are thought to be powerful instructional tools because they promote active learning and feedback, provide meaningful contexts to situate knowledge, create engagement and intrinsic motivation, and have the ability individualize instruction.…

This longitudinal study of middle school science teachers explored if a teacher participation in the TPD program resulted in change in instructional practice as well as a significant increase in student learning. Four participating schools were matched and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Teacher and student outcomes were…

The "National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program" is a residential education and training program designed for youth ages 16 to 18 who have dropped out of or been expelled from high school. During the 22-week residential period, participants are offered GED preparation classes and other program services intended to promote positive youth…

The issue of lower than expected mathematics achievement is a concern to education leaders and policymakers at all levels of the U.S. PK-12 education system. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to determine if there was a measurable difference in achievement on the mathematics section of the state test for students (n =…

Research methods are tools that can be variously applied - depending on the stage of knowledge in a particular area, the type of research question being asked, and the context of the research. The field of program evaluation, critical for social policy development, often has not adequately embraced the full range of methodological tools needed to…