Few reliable data exist to provide an accurate estimate of the money invested in staff development or inservice programs in the United States for elementary and secondary school personnel. There are, however, some indicators by which costs of staff development programs at the federal level can be inferred. The problem of accurately gauging staff…

This metaanalysis examined different parental variables in order to determine which best predict children's externalizing behavior. Also examined were other variables that may influence the association of parenting and externalizing, such as type of child behavior, gender of parent and child, and age of child. Parental variables included in the…

The affect/effect theory of the mediation of teacher expectation effects is presented, and a research agenda is suggested for the investigation of this theory. In addition, some methodological issues in psychology are reviewed. The affect/effect theory states that a change in the level of expectations held by a teacher for the intellectual…

A review of literature on class size is the purpose of this report. Included are a summary of four meta analyses (Robinson and Wittebols 1986), (Cone 1978), and (Glass and Smith 1978 and 1979); a discussion of research methodologies; recommendations for policy makers; and alternative strategies for class size reduction. Appendices present…

A study reviewed 88 doctoral dissertations written during a 4-year period in the 1980s on the use of feedback for performance improvement. The purpose was to sugget applications of the findings to teaching improvement in postsecondary education, and to determine the extent to which faculty development centers contribute to this research.…

The educational effects of frequent classroom testing have been studied and discussed since the early part of this century. Many possible reasons for its presumed benefits have been offered, such as increased practice, review, improved course organization, and frequent opportunities for feedback. However, reviewers of evaluations of frequent…

This meta-analysis investigates the effects on achievement of type of graphing paper employed in displaying student performance data collected over time. Ongoing curriculum-based measurement systems employing Data-Based Program Development (DBPD) provide a data source of 16 controlled studies with 17 effect sizes. A total of 3,494 subjects…

The one-page abstract summarizes "Research on the Effectiveness of Early Childhood Education," an ERIC Computer Search Reprint containing bibliographic information and abstracts of 64 studies of early intervention. The citations are discussed in five categories: research overviews, methodological studies, policies and large-scale…

The results of five studies of the relationship between debate training and critical thinking were examined to determine if in fact debate training improves critical thinking skills. All five studies compared the gains on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test (WG) for subjects who had received debate training with control groups who…

Both the career model and the decision model have been proposed to explain patterns of contraceptive use in teenagers. The career model views contraceptive use as a symbol of a woman's sexuality and implies a clear decision to be sexually active. The decision model is based on the subjective expected utility (SEU) theory which holds that people…

This study examined the relationship between test results of students in PRIMETIME first-grade classrooms in Indiana, and the Smith and Glass (1979) class size/achievement model. The class size/achievement model shows the results of a meta-analysis of research on class size which indicated that as class size decreases, achievement increases. The…

The third in a series of literature reviews, this monograph presents three articles on skill generalization among individuals with severe disabilities. Kathleen A. Liberty analyzes the results of 15 studies to determine how teaching self-control affected students' performance in training and generalization, "Behavior-Control of Stimulus…

The report integrates findings of an international state-of-the-art study of augmentative communication, focusing on the interaction between a person using a communication aid and an able-bodied, natural speaker. Chapter titles and selected subtopics are as follows: (1) "Beyond Symbols and Switches: The Study of Communication Aid Use";…

Research indicates that the relationship between class size and instructional effectiveness depends on a multitude of related variables, such as age level of students, subject matter taught, and instructional methods used. Recent statistical syntheses of this research reveal that the instructional benefits of smaller classes are most significant…

To estimate the effects of adaptive education on cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of learning, 309 effect sizes were calculated using statistical data from 38 studies that contained a combined sample of approximately 7,200 students. The substantial mean of the study-weighted effect sizes is .45, suggesting that the average student in…