A substantial number of randomized trials of educational interventions that have been conducted over the past two decades have produced null results, with either no impact or an unreliable estimate of impact on student achievement or other outcomes of interest. The investment of time and money spent implementing such trials warrants more useful…

HIV/AIDS is one of the most important public health challenges facing Nigeria today. Recent evidence has revealed that the adolescent population make up a large proportion of the 3.7% reported prevalence rate among Nigerians aged 15-49 years. School-based sexual health education has therefore become an important tool towards fighting this problem.…

The success of an intervention depends not only upon its theoretical soundness, but also on proper implementation that reflects the guidelines derived from its theoretical conception. Debates surrounding the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) have focused on its theoretical conception and students' learning outcomes, but implementation…

The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University conducted a large-scale analysis of the impact of charter schools on student performance. The center's data covered 65-70% of the nation's charter schools. Although results varied by state, 17% of the charter school students have significantly higher math results than …

Purpose: The use of e-learning is largely predicated upon the assumption that it can facilitate improvements in student learning and therefore can be more effective than conventional techniques. This assumption has been supported by some in the literature but has been questioned by a continuing body of contrary or indifferent evidence. The purpose…

The authors argue that continuing medical education (CME) research fails to prove its effectiveness in patient outcomes, that there is no theory from which to generate measurable hypotheses and that questionable methodology, dubious applicability, and misleading conclusions pervade CME research. (SK)

A new report published by the Manhattan Institute for Education Policy, "The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement: Evidence from Florida's McKay Scholarship Program," attempts to examine the complex issue of how competition introduced through school vouchers affects student outcomes in public schools. The…

The existing outcome literature on the use of oral-only and total communication approaches for young deaf children is reviewed and methodological and practical difficulties of outcome research explored. The authors propose a developmental/transactional, clinically based process model for evaluating the effectiveness of early intervention.…

Meta-analysis of 143 effect sizes in 43 studies of adventure programming for adolescents found an overall effect size of 0.31. Summary effect sizes of outcome categories differed significantly among categories, however. Effect size was related to program length and participant age but not to delinquent status. Discusses the lack of pertinent…

A Friedman Foundation report attempts to find empirical support for the contention that competition from private schools, through voucher programs, improves the effectiveness of public schools. In the first year of Ohio's new EdChoice voucher program, the report claims to have found substantial academic gains at public schools exposed to the…

Three British studies recently compared the examination results of pupils from comprehensive schools with those of selective schools. Each study reached somewhat contrasting conclusions. Major differences among the studies are discussed in order to clarify reasons for the contrasting interpretations and to illustrate the major difficulties in…

At the request of a Senate subcommittee, this report describes the value of conducting impact evaluations, describes their current use in evaluating selected early childhood education and care programs, and discusses the value of other types of early childhood education and care studies currently promoted and sponsored by the Departments of Health…

Reviews problems with research in determining the effectiveness of distance education, and presents a systems model to be used as a framework upon which researchers can build. The telecommunications in instruction model incorporates learner variables, instructor variables, presentational elements, course content elements, and distance education…

Although an extensive body of literature exists on Head Start, only a small part of this literature is program impact research. The body of existing research is inadequate in size, quality, and comparability for use in drawing conclusions about the impact of Head Start in any area in which Head Start provides services. This report from the General…

A research project was conducted to determine the effects of the Parenthood Education semester course on Louisiana students' knowledge of parenting and child development and their attitudes toward children and parenting. Data were collected from 563 high school students in 16 randomly selected schools through their home economics teachers, using…