The adoption of the maker-centered method is gaining popularity in K-12 school curricula. However, a unified consensus on its effectiveness in enhancing K-12 students' learning outcomes remains elusive. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to synthesize the findings on the overall effects of the maker-centered learning method on K-12…

Why we need better reports of teacher professional development interventions for finding out what works where: Worldwide, billions of dollars are invested yearly in the professional development of in-service teachers ($14 billion in the USA alone, as of 2014; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2014). This makes the question of what effects TPD…

This systematic review and meta-analysis appraised and synthesized mathematics interventions research addressing rational number concepts for students with mathematics difficulties (MD) in Grades 3-9. Included studies (n = 28) meet the What Works Clearinghouse Group Design standards (Version 4.0) for study quality. Across all studies, we found…

Multisite research (MSR) offers the key advantages of greater statistical power and external validity via larger and more diverse participant pools. In second language acquisition (SLA) research, recent developments in meta-analysis have created a robust foundation for MSR. Although logistical and financial obstacles can complicate expansion…

ABRACADABRA (ABRA) is an evidence-based suite of interactive multimedia that engages learners in the development of core reading skills. This meta-analysis presents an update of the research evidence about the effectiveness of ABRA for elementary students. It reports 91 effect sizes in six reading-related outcomes for a sample of 7,388 students.…

The research-to-practice gap in special education refers to educators' limited use of practices that are supported by empirical evidence. Procedures specifying criteria for the determination of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in special education have the potential to address challenges associated with identifying EBPs. Although meta-analyses and…

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…

In a meta-analytic review of critical thinking in social work education, findings revealed variability in research designs, methods, and subsequent findings. The 10 studies reviewed assessed different components of critical thinking and highlighted different potential moderator variables. Although there are significant limitations to all the…

Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are supported as generally effective for populations of learners by bodies of high-quality and experimental research and, when aligned with stakeholder values and practical needs, should be prioritized for implementation. However, evidence-based practices are not currently available for all learner types in all…

This research aimed to examine the effect of a problem-based learning approach in comparison to traditional learning approaches. In this context, the question "What is the effect size of problem-based learning on students' attitudes?" was tried to be answered. Among 190 studies made in national and international field between the…

This paper focuses on commonalities and differences of three approaches to large-scale professional development (PD) in mathematics education, based on two studies from Germany and one from the United States of America. All three initiatives break new ground in improving PD targeted at educating "multipliers", and in all three cases…

Much is known about how to improve students' comprehension when reading printed text; less is known about outcomes when reading digital text. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to analyze research on the impact of digital text interventions. A comprehensive literature search resulted in 27 group intervention studies with 16,513 participants.…

Research has been conducted to identify and analyze how schools are determining that the activities of their Professional Learning Community (PLC) are directly tied to student achievement as there is currently a gap in the existing literature with regards to this topic. For the purpose of this study, a "successful" PLC was defined as one…

Social stories play a significant part in the teaching skills and behaviors to children with ASD who lack social skills. The purpose of this study is to analyze studies in which social stories were used for teaching social skills to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The present study includes a descriptive review and meta-analysis…

Currently, an increasing number of educational institutions are redefining second/foreign language (L2) classrooms by enhancing--or even replacing--traditional face-to-face (FTF) instruction with computer-assisted language learning (CALL). However, are these curricular decisions supported by research? Overall, a cursory review of empirical studies…