Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) is a burgeoning field of study seeking to challenge and improve the use of statistical data in social research. It pulls lessons and insights from Critical Race Theory and applies them to understanding social challenges. In this paper, we aim to improve the quality of quantitative research produced by…

This paper reports on two experiments in mapping the affordances of mobile devices in supporting teaching and learning. The first argues for personally imagined rather than fixed affordances of educational technologies--what a technology "affords" is not static but is rather how an individual imagines a technology's use and how this is…

Asch's classic social pressure experiments are discussed in almost all introductory and social psychology textbooks. However, the results of these experiments have been shown to be misrepresented in textbooks. An analysis of textbooks from 1953 to 1984 revealed that although most of the responses on critical trials were independent correct ones,…

Understanding the effects of class size reduction (CSR) has been an enduring issue in education. For the past 3 decades, Project STAR has stimulated research and policy discussions regarding the effects of CSR on a variety of outcomes. Schanzenbach (2007) reviewed STAR studies and concluded that small classes improved student academic outcomes.…

Using meta-analysis, randomized experiments in education that either clearly did or clearly did not experience student attrition were examined for the baseline comparability of groups. Results from 35 studies suggested that after attrition, the observed measures of baseline comparability of groups did not differ more than would be expected given…

Klin et al., 2004 and Levine et al., 2000 concluded that readers fail to resolve noun phrase anaphors when the antecedent is difficult to retrieve from memory and the inference is not necessary for comprehension. In four experiments we investigated the hypothesis that these inferences were actually partially encoded. Although the results of a…

Looks at lessons learned from the Alum Rock voucher experiment and at the current politics of educational vouchers. Condensed from a report of the same name, published by the Center for Social Organization of Schools, The Johns Hopkins University (Report No. 307, March 1981). (Editor/SJL)

This article examines the 11-year Soviet experiment with boys' schools as a way to cast new light on scholarly research and public debates about single-sex education. Drawing on archival and published materials by educators who described school conditions, identified problems, suggested reforms, and evaluated remedies, the author argues that…

An oil spill occurs somewhere in the world almost every day of the year, and the consequences can be devastating. In this month's column, students explore the effects of oil spills on plants, animals, and the environment and investigate oil spill clean-up methods through a simulated oil spill. The activities described in this article give students…

Describes the nature and consequences of liberally or improperly applying the traditional reading research methodology and provides an argument for tempering judgments about the relative contributions that experimental studies make to the professional literature in reading. (SKC)

A descriptive analysis of research practices and a meta-analysis of control group effect sizes are used to address Hawthorne effects in educational experiments. The analysis of 86 studies and 256 treatment/Hawthorne/no-treatment control group effect size comparisons indicate that artifact controls have limited utility in dealing with the Hawthorne…

Videotex is a generic term used for any electronic system that can be used to retrieve both print and graphic computer-based information via video display monitors or specially adapted television sets. Both one-way (broadcast videotex) and two-way (interactive videotex) exist; these can be used as an information source, a delivery medium, a…

Twenty studies of the effects of teacher questions on student achievement were reviewed. Internal validity of experiments and integrity of treatments were less adequate than population and ecological validity. Whether teachers used predominantly higher cognitive or predominantly fact questions was found to make little difference in achievement.…

Reviews empirical education research trends in West Germany since 1965. Reports on the movement from normative research to empirical research in educational settings. Considers research priorities and the primacy of the University of Constance (West Germany) in developments focusing on analyzing the factual order of the educational system rather…

According to the ACT theory of skill acquisition, cognitive skills are encoded by a set of productions, which are organized according to a hierarchical goal structure. People solve problems in new domains by applying weak problem-solving procedures to declarative knowledge they have about this domain. From these initial problem solutions,…