Background/Context: This essay reviews recent demographic literature on school transitions. I describe how a demographic perspective, by which I mean using methods that are standard in the study of population processes, is a useful way to examine differences in access to and completion of post secondary schooling in the United States.…

The purpose of this article is to propose the use of technology integration in elementary and middle level education courses, specifically, the use of WebQuests as vehicles for the infusion of content knowledge in preservice and in-service education courses. Observation in content area teaching methods courses found that teacher candidates often…

This is a review of the literature that supports content-based language learning. The articles and books reviewed cover recent literature as well as a number of key contributions that date as far back as the late 1980s. There are many commonalities between the earlier works and those of more recent origins since the authors grapple with similar…

Supplemental Instruction (SI) incorporates collaborative learning in small, peer-led, group settings in order to integrate instruction in learning and reasoning skills with course content. Several meta-analyses speak to the efficacy of SI but fail to address selection bias due to ability/motivation and gender. In this study, SI was paired with a…

The widespread problem of substance abuse negatively affects users and their families. This paper provides a methodological review of empirical studies that focused on systemic interventions (particularly marital and family therapy) in the treatment of substance abuse. The articles examined here focused on engaging the addict in treatment,…

As a predominant research method, the mail survey has been the subject of a considerable body of research. Several major reviews of research have been published that attempt to synthesize findings of empirical studies and identify techniques that stimulate responses. The review articles are examined, identifying procedures and potential…

The Reflective Judgment Model and associated interview (RJI) (Kitchener and King, 1981) measure the ability of individuals to reason about ill-structured problems. It has gained popularity as a measure of college outcomes associated with postsecondary education. This study examines general claims for the model made from existing data from 15 of 25…

Validity generalization meta-analysis (VG) examines the extent to which the validity of an instrument can be transported across settings. VG offers correction and summarization procedures designed in part to remove the effects of statistical artifacts on estimates of association between criterion and predictor. By employing a random effects model,…

A meta-analysis examined a series of studies by F.M. Dwyer on the effect of illustrations on text comprehension. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the four posttests used by Dwyer to more fundamental factors of learning, followed by analyses of variance. All nine studies (involving secondary-school and college students) in which…

This review examined the literature on peer tutoring in reading with students with disabilities, using the methodology of best evidence synthesis. This approach combines positive aspects of meta analysis with traditional integrative review procedures. It requires all studies reviewed to meet stringent a priori standards. Analysis of the 11 studies…

This report reviews research on the effects of between- and within-class ability grouping on the achievement of elementary school students. The review technique, known as "best-evidence synthesis," combines features of meta-analytic and narrative reviews. Overall, evidence does not support assignment of students to self-contained classes…

The meta analysis reported in this paper considers the implications of combined correlational evidence for the nature of the relationships of mathematical and spatial skills, and for the possibility that spatial skill underlies gender differences in favor of males on mathematical tasks. In all, 136 studies reported in 116 articles and…

Developing good criterion measures of professional performance is difficult. If criterion-related validity evidence for certification requirements could not be generalized beyond the specific context in which it was obtained, gathering that evidence would probably not be worth the effort. This paper examines two possible approaches to the…

Monte Carlo studies of statistical tests are prominently featured in the methodological research literature. Unfortunately, the information from these studies does not appear to have significantly influenced methodological practice in educational and psychological research. One reason is that Monte Carlo studies lack an overarching theory to guide…

This bibliography identifies reports of research on correlates, causes, effects, and treatment of test anxiety. The listing was developed for a synthesis of research, performed by meta-analysis at Adrian College, Michigan in 1986-87. Guidelines for including studies were applied as follows: (1) the research concerned academic test anxiety, using…