The decision by the National Institute of Education panel on the effects of school desegregation to select (for meta-analysis) a small group of preferred studies based upon criteria chosen in advance of examining the studies was, in principle, a mistake. One usually cannot know until the data have been examined which of several competing…

The focus of this paper is on the methodology used in analyzing studies on the effects of school desegregation on black achievement. The paper also addresses a number of substantive issues, including the overall effectiveness of school desegregation, the impact of type of achievement (math or reading), and time of desegregation (early or later…

A content analysis was conducted of three educational research journals published by the American Educational Research Association to review the quantitative and qualitative techniques used in educational research. All articles appearing in these three journals from 1988 through 1995 (total n=1,715) were considered. Research methods were…

This paper compares the effects of desegregation on black achievement with the effects of other factors in the process of school learning that have recently been synthesized. The first section of the paper discusses techniques and guidelines for research synthesis, including meta-analysis. The second section presents a summary of the statistical…

Results in 487 reports were integrated by meta-analysis to study characteristics of problem solvers, conditions for harder and easier problems, effects of different instructional methods on problem-solving performance, and effects of classroom-related conditions on problem-solving performance. Problem solving related positively to measures of…

A meta-analysis of findings from 24 controlled evaluations showed computer-assisted instruction (CAI) usually has positive effects on adult learners, i.e., it raised examination scores and reduced instruction time. Reliable conclusions could not be reached on CAI's long-term cognitive effects because of small number of studies investigating such…

This paper analyzes 19 studies that were considered by the National Institute of Education's panel on the effects of school desegregation in order to determine desegregation's effect on black achievement, black self-esteem, and racial relations. It is stated that, overall, the results show that reading achievement improves somewhat as a result of…

Although school desegregation was initiated to address a social inequity--segregated schooling was seen as stigmatizing blacks as a social group--research has focused primarily on desegregation's effects on black academic achievement and self-esteem. Two problems have made this research difficult: the ambiguity of the term "school desegregation"…