A number of studies have examined the effects of reading interventions for younger readers; however, there does not appear to be any existing syntheses examining the effect of reading interventions on students in Years 7--12. The purpose of this study was to establish whether such a synthesis is feasible by reviewing the methodological quality of…

Background: There is a paucity of research into interventions that help people with intellectual disabilities learn to read. This feasibility study examines whether an online reading programme, Headsprout, with additional support strategies and supervision (the intervention), can be delivered by support workers/family carers and the feasibility of…

Background: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have long been considered the gold standard in education research. Federal funds are allocated to evaluations that meet What Works Clearinghouse standards; RCT designs are required in order to meet these standards without reservations. Schools seek out interventions that are research based, in other…

Analyzing heterogeneous treatment effects (HTEs) plays a crucial role in understanding the impacts of educational interventions. A standard practice for HTE analysis is to examine interactions between treatment status and preintervention participant characteristics, such as pretest scores, to identify how different groups respond to treatment.…

This paper describes a 12-week cluster randomized controlled trial that examined the efficacy of BookNook, a virtual tutoring platform focused on reading. Cohorts of first- through fourth-grade students attending six Rocketship public charter schools in Northern California were randomly assigned within grades to receive BookNook. Intent-to-Treat…

An emerging body of research suggests that incorporating randomization schemes in single-case research designs strengthens study internal validity and data evaluation. The purpose of this study was to test the utility and feasibility of a randomized alternating-treatment design in an investigation that compared the combined effects of vocabulary…

Analyzing heterogeneous treatment effects (HTE) plays a crucial role in understanding the impacts of educational interventions. A standard practice for HTE analysis is to examine interactions between treatment status and pre-intervention participant characteristics, such as pretest scores, to identify how different groups respond to treatment.…

Background: The language of the science curriculum is complex, even in the early grades. To communicate their scientific observations, children must produce complex syntax, particularly complement clauses (e.g., "I think it will float;" "We noticed that it vibrates"). Complex syntax is often challenging for children with…

Research in the UK suggests that multi-componential interventions focusing on language and pre-literacy skills can improve children's reading and language skills. However, simple translations of such programmes may not produce equivalent effects in diverse communities. The reasons for this are multi-faceted and include factors beyond the rationale…

We present an aggregation scheme that increases power in randomized controlled trials and quasi-experiments when the intervention possesses a robust and well-articulated theory of change. Intervention studies using longitudinal data often include multiple observations on individuals, some of which may be more likely to manifest a treatment effect…

Background: Efficacy trials in education often possess a motivating theory of change: how and why should the desired improvement in outcomes occur as a consequence of the intervention? In scenarios with repeated measurements, certain subgroups may be more or less likely to manifest a treatment effect; the theory of change (TOC) provides guidance…

Although several studies have examined the effectiveness of reading fluency interventions, the methodological rigor of these studies remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) reading fluency intervention studies using the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards. Twenty-six…

This paper describes the context, processes and issues experienced over 5 years in which a RCT was carried out to evaluate a programme for children aged 7-8 who were struggling with their reading. Its specific aim is to illuminate questions about the design of complex teaching approaches and their evaluation using an RCT. This covers the early…

Randomized controlled trials in education are necessary to keep pace with the evidence-based practices demanded by schools and the nation. In this study, kindergarten students in a school district in Indiana were randomized on the class level: The experimental condition consisted of students utilizing a computer-adaptive reading program for 15…

This paper presents evidence confirming the validity of the RD design in the Reading Recovery study by examining the ability of the RD design to replicate the 1st grade results observed in the original i3 RCT focused on short-term impacts. Over 1,800 schools participated in the RD study over all four cohort years. The RD design used cutoff-based…