This report presents the findings from an efficacy trial and process evaluation of the Parent Engagement Programme (PEP). The PEP was a school-level intervention designed to improve pupil outcomes by engaging parents in their children's learning. The programme was developed collaboratively by research teams from the University of Bristol and…

This study investigated the potential benefits of a blended learning approach on the reading skills of low socioeconomic status students in Grades 1 and 2. Treatment students received English language arts instruction that was both teacher-led and technology-based. Comparisons were made with control students who received the same English language…

This study reports the results of a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC), a family-school partnership intervention, on children's behaviors, parents' skills, and parent-teacher relationships in rural community and town settings. Participants were 267 children, 267 parents, and 152 teachers in…

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an effective method of promoting change in adults, but research on adolescents is limited. This study tests the efficacy of MI for promoting academic achievement in middle school students. Participants were 103 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students randomly assigned to either a MI (n = 50) or a waitlist control…

Students' beliefs that success in science depends on exceptional talent negatively impact their motivation to learn. For example, such beliefs have been shown to be a major factor steering students away from taking science and math courses in high school and college. In the present study, we tested a novel story-based instruction that models how…

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of 2 brief school-based interventions targeting the homework problems of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention and the Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) intervention, as implemented by…

This is the second of three reports from MDRC's evaluation of the Success for All (SFA) scale-up demonstration, funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) competition. The report presents updated findings on SFA's implementation and impacts in the scale-up sites participating in the evaluation. The i3 evaluation…

This mixed-methodological study explored the factors that predict a student's likelihood to complete an undergraduate program in a STEM discipline at one campus reliant upon that mission. Offered in response to a national imperative for the U.S. to compete globally, researchers contend educators must better prepare a STEM foundation and inspire…

In the 2007-2008 school year, the New York City Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers jointly implemented the Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program in a random sample of the city's high-needs public schools. The program lasted for three school years, and its broad objective was to improve student performance through…

This study examines the impact of "Disaggregate Instruction" on students' science learning. "Disaggregate Instruction" is the idea that science teaching and learning can be separated into conceptual and discursive components. Using randomly assigned experimental and control groups, 49 fifth-grade students received web-based…

The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate the efficacy of scaffolded silent reading (ScSR) compared with the evidence-based practice of guided repeated oral reading (GROR) with feedback on 3rd-grade students' fluency and comprehension growth. Using a mixed-model dominant-less dominant design, the authors collected both…

The significant increase of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States raises complex questions about how to provide these students with access to high quality education that can improve both their content knowledge of school subjects and their English proficiency, particularly their academic English proficiency. The development of…

In 2005-6 a team from the NFER carried out an evaluation of the implementation of Renaissance Learning mathematics and reading programs in selected Specialist (secondary) and feeder (primary) schools in London. The research involved matching schools implementing the programs (14 "treatment" schools) with 7 similar schools where the…

Children begin school with the ability to use their informal and implicit conceptual knowledge to guide their problem solving, but shift to the use of superficial strategies in their attempts to solve word problems as they progress through school. This paper describes a study designed to investigate the effects of an instructional sequence that…