Using a set of scenarios derived from actual evaluation studies, this simulation study examines the reported influence of evaluation information on decision makers' potential actions. Each scenario described a context where one of three types of evaluation information (large-scale study data, case study data, or anecdotal accounts) is presented…

The year 1998 marked 50 years of doctoral study in New Zealand, and in 1999 I embarked on a history of Ph.D. theses in Education. Influenced by Foucaultian genealogy, this employed a fusion of bibliographic, archival and life-history interview methods. One hundred and eighty-three Education theses were identified and 57 of these graduates…

One of the major series of reviews in elementary and secondary education is the Best Evidence Encyclopedia, or the BEE. Up to now, findings for systematic reviews have largely been restricted to the reviews themselves, with few cases in which lessons learned across many reviews using similar methods can be synthesized. The completion of the Best…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the beginning reading success of children in kindergarten and first grade: Reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria…

Over the past several decades, researchers, politicians, and corporate leaders have focused reform efforts on the size of educational contexts. Hundreds of billions of public and private dollars have been invested to reduce the size and scope of both classrooms and schools (Lee & Ready, 2007). Unlike many education reforms, these downsizing…

This report presents findings from a review of the best evidence on narrowing the gap in outcomes across the five Every Child Matters (ECM) areas for vulnerable groups in the context of improving outcomes for all. The review was commissioned to prepare the ground for work on "Narrowing the Gap" with participating local authorities (LAs).…

This study examined the effects of training on peer assessment and comments provided regarding oral presentations in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. In Study 1, both the treatment and control groups received instruction on skill aspects, but only the treatment group was given an additional 40-minute training on how to rate…

Most studies of mail survey methodology focus on specific design elements, but several major reviews of research have attempted to synthesize the findings of independent empirical studies. This study examined the review articles for what they have to say about factors influencing response rates and for their methodology. A literature review…

Analyses of the efficacy of group psychotherapy indicate that group therapy demonstrates, in a majority of reviews, significant improvement over inert comparison groups and proves comparable or superior to other active treatment conditions. Because group therapy is a viable cost-efficient treatment option being used with increasing regularity…

One approach to examining the findings of multiple studies is descriptive. This descriptive review of the research on increasing the response rates to mail surveys is based on studies also subjected to a meta-analysis. An initial narrative review identified the studies to be used in both analyses, and results will allow the possibility of…

In the counseling profession, women constitute the majority of clients and practitioners. Given this situation, two questions arise concerning counselor preparation literature: (1) To what extent have women authored counselor preparation literature? (2) To what degree has this literature considered gender? In order to establish a context for…

The integration of micro-macro variables is critical to the development of organizational communication as an academic field. Mixed-level analysis is inherent in organizational phenomena, and its neglect perpetuates the gap in and fragmentation of organizational communication theories. Three of the many ways to design mixed-level analyses are…

A study quantitatively summarized the literature examining the association between acceptance of rape myths and exposure to pornography to address disputes in the academic community regarding the consistency of such research. The entire collection of "Psychological Abstracts" and "Sociological Abstracts" was manually searched…

A search of the ERIC database and a review of the literature suggests that meta-analysis is ignored by philosophers, a situation that is regrettable but remediable. Meta-analysis is a method by which one attempts to integrate findings quantitatively from several research studies related to a common general topic. Philosophers should certainly pay…

This study used meta-analysis research techniques to determine if there are differences in General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) validities and test scores between males and females. The sample consisted of 26,111 subjects from 122 Specific Aptitude Test Battery (SATB) validation or revalidation studies analyzed since 1972. Four approaches were…