Teachers have an important influence on pupils' academic progress, yet the quality of teaching varies widely. Policymakers, school leaders, and teacher educators therefore face the challenge of designing and commissioning professional development (PD) to help all their teachers become as effective as the best teachers. In the last two decades, a…

The goal of this Brief was to compile and analyze the available evidence of the impacts of public charter schools on students and schools. Using a series of five common claims made by proponents and opponents of public charter schools as an organizer, the existing empirical evidence was reviewed. The analysis revealed that student performance in…

Despite, and perhaps because of its amorphous nature, the term "academic success" is one of the most widely used constructs in educational research and assessment within higher education. This paper conducts an analytic literature review to examine the use and operationalization of the term in multiple academic fields. Dominant…

Research studies reflect mixed results on whether or not service-learning increases student learning outcomes. The current study seeks to reconcile these findings by extending a meta-analysis conducted by Novak, Markey, and Allen (2007) in which these authors examined service-learning and student learning outcomes. In the current study, 11…

Over the past 30 years, problem-based learning (PBL) has become a major force in health professions education and even in the broader educational world. This article focuses on the outcomes that have been found from using PBL in the health professions based on at least 20 reviews done since 1990. The outcomes identified in these reviews are…

In recent years, substantial investments have been made in reengineering systems of teacher evaluation. The new generation models of teacher evaluation typically adopt a standards-based view of teaching quality and include a value-added measure of growth in student learning. With more than a decade of experience and research, it is timely to…

Virtual schools have the potential to improve student learning--but so far, as asserted in this article, research tells little about how online instruction affects student performance. Most of the studies that pointed to good student outcomes were small in scale and based on specific programs or products. Few provide data to help understand…

This article summarizes research on the effect of testing on student achievement as found in English-language sources, comprising several hundred studies conducted between 1910 and 2010. Among quantitative studies, mean effect sizes range from a moderate d [image omitted] 0.55 to a fairly large d [image omitted] 0.88, depending on the way effects…

Student learning measures have rapidly become common in teacher evaluation systems across the United States. Over half of the country's states have required, recommended, or identified "student learning objectives" (SLOs) as a measure of student growth for use in educator evaluation. Although SLO-type measures vary significantly in terms…

Students who engage in challenging behaviour compromise the fundamental ability of schools to educate children. Consequently, teachers face the daunting task of designing effective strategies to promote positive educational outcomes for their students. Since the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments, the use of positive…

This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that…

Background: Annually, American colleges and universities provide developmental education (DE) to millions of underprepared students; however, evaluation estimates of DE benefits have been mixed. Objectives: Using a prototypic exemplar of DE, our primary objective was to investigate the utility of a replicative evaluative framework for assessing…

Despite years of primary research on problem-based learning and literature reviews, no systematic effort has been made to analyze the relationship between tutor characteristics and student learning outcomes. In an effort to fill that gap the following meta-analysis coded 223 outcomes from 94 studies with small but positive gains for PBL students…

The need for higher enrollment, along with a greater focus on educational access and making college more accessible has created an urgent need for community colleges and universities to develop retention and persistence strategies for students who are not prepared academically and may lack the resources to be successful in college (Bailey &…

It is common knowledge that physical activity leads to numerous health and psychological benefits. However, the relationship between children's physical activity and academic achievement has been debated in the literature. Some studies have found strong, positive relationships between physical activity and cognitive outcomes, while other studies…