In an era of financial stringency and demands for better school performance, it is useful to think about several means of raising school productivity: (1) increase learning effectiveness without increasing costs; (2) reduce costs without diminishing effectiveness; or (3) both, that is, increase effectiveness and simultaneously reduce costs. The…

Improving Schools to Promote Learning is a concise and common-sense examination of all the moving parts that drive student learning. The book ties together the research, policies, and practices relative to the state, district, school, classroom, and family, and explains their effects on student learning. The author covers an array of topics,…

Fourteen dimensions of the social climate of learning of high school classes were examined in their relationships to the size of the classes concerned. Two data samples included in the study were 149 classes participating in the 1967 evaluation of the Harvard Project Physics course and 61 classes in the Montreal Metropolitan area in a variety of…

A random survey to determine the dependence of adult outcomes on connections, certification, and verbal competence revealed that selected variables influenced outcomes, but a substantial amount of variance remained unexplained. Such variables as parent socioeconomic status, education, and vocabulary test scores were related to such characteristics…

To test the hypothesis that learning depends on the influence and interaction of three primary variables--instruction, learner aptitude, and learning environment--an explanatory model was tested during the 1967-68 school year in an experiment conducted with the cooperation of a simple random sample of 56 teachers drawn from the National Science…

A central problem of psychological research in education is to determine how to make learning more effective and productive. A psychological theory of educational productivity is summarized, the syntheses of the evidence relevant to the theory is discussed, and prospects for educational policy and subsequent research are presented. (Author/MLW)

The education reform movement has been spurred by statistics showing United States student achievement test scores rank below those of 14 other developed countries. To raise student achievement, educators are referred to the educational research summarized in the report "What Works." Includes a listing of 41 recommendations from that…

Eight of the hypotheses supported by the Harvard data were again supported in the Montreal sample, though only two of the replications reached statistical significance. (Authors)

A review of a decade's research indicates that the greatest confidence can be placed in the effects of opportunity, exposure, and instruction on achievement, retention, and attitudes. (Author/IRT)

Describes a theory of educational productivity that demonstrates the relationship between instructional practices and student outcomes. Identifies and discusses nine factors related to increasing student learning: ability, development, motivation, instructional quality, learning time, home environment, classroom social group, peer group, and use…

Explores the role and purpose of research synthesis, and defends the conclusions drawn about school learning. The selection of the broad outcome "school learning" was an attempt to show that educational research and development can answer important questions about schooling. (SLD)

To estimate the influence of positive reinforcement on classroom learning, the authors analyzed statistical data from 39 studies spanning the years 1958-1978 and containing a combined sample of 4,842 students in 202 classes. Twenty-nine characteristics of each study's sample, methodology, and reliability were coded to measure their effects on…

The study examines the defining features of school improvement programs. Twelve research-based programs that have been implemented for 5 or more years in at least 50 schools or for 3,000 students were analyzed. All have achieved national visibility. Eight of the programs focused on curricular reform and topics included: (1) Core Knowledge; (2)…