Inference ability is considered central to discourse processing and has been shown to be important across models of reading comprehension. To evaluate the impact of inference instruction, a meta-analysis of 25 inference studies in Grades K-12 was conducted. Results showed that inference instruction was effective for increasing students' general…

One obstacle to understanding abstract concepts such as the "control of variables" strategy (CVS) is the tendency for learners to focus on surface rather than deep features in instructional materials. However, in tasks such as learning CVS, these same surface features may also support understanding, provided learners realize the…

This experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of a research-based intervention, schema-based instruction (SBI), on students' proportional problem solving. SBI emphasizes the underlying mathematical structure of problems, uses schematic diagrams to represent information in the problem text, provides explicit problem-solving and metacognitive…

Both Dweck (1986) and Nicholls (1984) proposed that when ego-involved individuals encounter difficulty, they would begin to doubt their level of ability, and as a consequence, their commitment to the goal of demonstrating high ability would decline. As difficulty continued, perceived ability would decline, and eventually the goal would be…

In a randomized control trial, the authors tested whether short- and long-term effects of an early literacy intervention are moderated by mild perinatal adversities in accordance with differential susceptibility theory. One-hundred 5-year-old children (58% male) who scored at or below the 30th percentile on early literacy measures were randomized…

This study provides the first longitudinally designed, classroom-based empirical test of self-determination theory's motivation mediation model. Measures of perceived autonomy support, motivation (autonomy need satisfaction), engagement, and achievement were collected from 500 (257 females, 243 males) 8th-grade students in Korea in a 3-wave…

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…

In this study, we meta-analyzed empirical research of the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) on K-12 students' mathematical learning. A total of 26 reports containing 34 independent samples met study inclusion criteria. The reports appeared between 1997 and 2010. The majority of included studies compared the effectiveness of ITS…

Randomization should be employed whenever possible but the use of carefully controlled nonrandomized data to estimate causal effects is a reasonable and necessary procedure in many cases. (Author/BJG)

Two approaches to regression-based reading-level-match research designs, one of which used matched Rasch-scaled "w" scores, were tested with 544 primary grade children of different reading levels. Results call into question the conclusion that orthographic skills are compensatory for reading-disabled children. (SLD)

Effort on homework has a profound impact on student achievement. Researchers typically use an interindividual research design to explain homework effort. In this study with a total of 511 students from Grades 8 and 9, an interindividual perspective (focus on between-students differences) was combined with an intraindividual perspective (focus on…

Sternberg (1981) presented correlations based on independent samples of about 25 cases each with a statistical comparison in a population parameter of zero and interpreted his results as if with appropriate tests. He needed to use a nonzero population parameter and compare for the difference between the z transformations. (Author/CM)

Sternberg's reply to paper Humphrey criticizes (see TM 507 045) includes: (1) invited position paper and detailed statistical testing would have been inappropriate; (2) Humphrey commits some of "misdeeds" of which he accuses Sternberg; (3) number of cases in the three nonentrenchment experiments are more than adequate for drawing conclusions; and…

The present study attempted to replicate the finding (Frase, 1973) that different organizations of a passage produce different levels of recall and also to determine if relevant learning might be less subject to these organizational effects than incidential learning. (Author)