This review describes a meta-analysis of findings from 50 controlled evaluations of intelligent computer tutoring systems. The median effect of intelligent tutoring in the 50 evaluations was to raise test scores 0.66 standard deviations over conventional levels, or from the 50th to the 75th percentile. However, the amount of improvement found in…

To answer "what works?" questions about policy interventions based on an experimental design, Peck (2003) proposes to use baseline characteristics to symmetrically divide treatment and control group members into subgroups defined by endogenously determined postrandom assignment events. Symmetric prediction of these subgroups in both…

Professional development programs are based on different theories of how students learn and different theories of how teachers learn. Reviewers often sort programs according to design features such as program duration, intensity, or the use of specific techniques such as coaches or online lessons, but these categories do not illuminate the…

Early detection methods for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in infancy are rapidly advancing, yet the development of interventions for infants under two years with or at-risk for ASD remains limited. In order to guide research and practice, this paper systematically reviewed studies investigating interventions for infants under 24 months with or…

Using exogenous characteristics to identify endogenous subgroups, the approach discussed in this method note creates symmetric subsets within treatment and control groups, allowing the analysis to take advantage of an experimental design. In order to maintain treatment--control symmetry, however, prior work has posited that it is necessary to use…

Evaluations should be issues driven, not methods driven. The starting point should be priority programs to be evaluated or policies to be tested. From this starting point, a list of evaluation questions is identified. For each evaluation question, the task is to identify the best available method for answering that question. Hence it is likely…

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…

The main aim of the present study was to develop EFL teachers' performance at Sana'a secondary schools in the light of their professional and specialist needs. Based on literature review, related studies and a panel of jury members' points of view and English teachers' interview, a list of four needs was proposed and used as the most necessary…

Defining self assessment as the involvement of students in identifying standards and/or criteria to apply to their work and making judgements about the extent to which they have met these criteria and standards, this paper seeks to highlight the gestalt effect of self assessment. The total effect of self assessment on the learner is greater than…

Tablets such as the iPad represent the next iteration of technologies that hold promise to facilitate learning, particularly in mathematics. In the case of algebra, tablets have the potential to bring the curriculum to life by easily linking to supporting materials and they allow an interactive experience whereby manipulation of one type of…

Despite advances in the science of teaching reading, there still exists a small percentage of students who fail to make the expected progress in reading-related skills, notwithstanding attempts at intervention. Even if these struggling readers learn to decode adequately, fluency remains a problem for many, and little is known about the…

Randomized experiments have become an increasingly popular design to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in education (Spybrook, 2008). Many of the interventions evaluated in education are delivered to groups of students, rather than to individuals. Experiments designed to evaluate programs delivered at the group level often…

The purposes of this study were to determine the effectiveness of a vocabulary intervention for first-grade students at risk for reading and language difficulties and to compare the results of a regression discontinuity design to those of an experimental design. The specific research questions were: (1) Do first-graders who are at risk of reading…

Background: To promote regular physical activity (PA) among children and adolescents, authors recommend that physical education (PE) teachers offer their students programmes that would allow them to be physically active outside PE classes. However, such programmes are rarely rigorously assessed and it is recommended that further studies be…

Program providers work extremely hard to offer services that they believe will enhance the lives and future prospects of children and youth. But how can they be sure that their program is having the intended impacts? How can funders and policy makers be sure that their investments in programs are paying off in substantially better outcomes for…