This paper considers notions of spaces and relations in research design for critical education researchers, based on Freirean principles of empowerment education. Three reflective 'narratives of praxis' from community-based research are explored. The first narrative takes a community arts approach to research and is situated in an urban…

This article reviews the origins and use of the terms quasi-experiment and natural experiment. It demonstrates how the terms conflate whether variation in the independent variable of interest falls short of random with whether researchers find, rather than intervene to create, that variation. Using the lens of assignment--the process driving…

Until now, the conventional approach using two distinct groups, experimental and control, continues to dominate research, especially education research. Researchers, particularly those who are active in this domain, readily recognise this pattern when surveying literature. This article explores the use of the Solomon four-group design as a…

In organizational and academic settings, the strategic formation of teams is paramount, necessitating an approach that transcends conventional methodologies. This study introduces a novel application of multicriteria integer programming (MCIP), which simultaneously accommodates multiple criteria, thereby innovatively addressing the complex task of…

Students' active role is heavily emphasised in contemporary assessment research, policies and practices. Even then, students remain the objects of assessment in an era defined by accountability measures, testing and measurement: students are rarely heard on why, how and when assessment is conducted. In this way, assessment may hinder educational…

Research examining relations between language skills and social competence has yielded mixed findings. Three meta-analyses investigated links between language skills (overall, receptive, and expressive) and social competence in 2- to 12-year-old children. Data from 130 studies representing 62,120 children (M age at language assessment = 4.70…

Systematic reviews have been gaining attention as a research methodology and are among the most frequently cited sources in educational sciences. However, best practices for conducting systematic reviews in educational sciences are still evolving. We conducted N = 12 qualitative interviews to learn from experienced systematic review researchers…

Mediation analysis in Single Case Experimental Designs (SCEDs) evaluates intervention mechanisms for individuals. Despite recent methodological developments, no clear guidelines exist for maximizing power to detect the indirect effect in SCEDs. This study compares frequentist and Bayesian methods, determining (1) minimum required sample size to…

When designing cluster-randomized trials (CRTs), one important consideration is determining the proper sample sizes across levels and treatment conditions to cost-efficiently achieve adequate statistical power. This consideration is usually addressed in an optimal design framework by leveraging the cost structures of sampling and optimizing the…

In educational research, the complexity of interventions and the diversity of contexts challenge the adequacy of existing reporting standards, primarily tailored for health interventions and randomised controlled trials. Recognising the critical need for appropriate tools to support education research, we developed two checklists: the CheckList Of…

This systematic literature review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the experimental intervention research being published from 2010 to 2020 within "Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals" (CDTEI). We critically evaluated studies found through a hand-search of CDTEI and identified patterns and trends across…

Principal leadership has been widely regarded as a powerful catalyst for school improvement and student learning. This article presents a multivariate meta-analysis of 42 empirical studies, published between 2000 and 2020, that examined the effects of principal leadership on student achievement in the United States. The focus is on the conceptual…

Purpose: In the evolving landscape of the 21st century, characterized by dynamic global challenges such as health crises, climate change, and rapid technological advancements, the imperative of lifelong learning has become more pronounced than ever. Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) plays a pivotal role in lifelong learning, involving independent,…

Cluster-randomized trials have been widely used to evaluate the treatment effects of interventions on student outcomes. When interventions are implemented by teachers, researchers need to account for the nested structure in schools (i.e., students are nested within teachers nested within schools). Schools usually have a very limited number of…

Random encouragement designs evaluate treatments that aim to increase participation in a program or activity. These randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can also assess the mediated effects of participation itself on longer term outcomes using a complier average causal effect (CACE) estimation framework. This article considers power analysis…