Lawrence Walker's (1984) meta-analysis of 108 samples concluded that there are no sex differences in stages of moral reasoning. This paper reviews Walker's work and points out that some of his analyses, however, are controversial and favored unwarranted conclusions. Walker neither tested the hypothesis that males are more advanced than females in…

A literature search identified 39 studies assessing modality preferences and modality teaching. The studies, involving 3,087 disabled and nondisabled elementary/secondary level subjects, were quantitatively synthesized. Subjects receiving differential instruction based on modality preferences exhibited only modest gains. (Author/JDD)

Eighty-nine federally funded demonstration programs for child abuse and neglect treatment (involving 3,253 families) were studied. Results are given for effectiveness of various services for abusers/neglectors and for the involved children, and for treatment success rates for abusers/neglectors. In general, treatment efforts were not very…

Evidence of the efficacy of developmental therapy is examined through a literature review of meta-analytic and single-subject research. Future research directions for evaluating the effectiveness of early physical therapy and occupational therapy are discussed, such as criterion-referenced outcome measures and functional outcome measures.…

A meta-analysis of 31 studies found financial aid to have a small, but significant, positive effect on student persistence, enabling lower-income students to persist at a rate roughly equal to that of middle- and upper-income students. (Author/MLW)

A meta analysis of preschool intervention programs is performed to arrive at an overall effect size of such programs. Results indicate that despite the diversities in intervention sites, ages of subjects, lengths of intervention, and curricula models, there is a positive homogeneous effect on the variables. (Author/LMO)

Student outcomes were assessed by quantitatively combining results of 57 reported evaluations of three major curriculum programs in elementary school science. Thirty-two percent of the comparisons were statistically significant, favoring activity-based programs; six percent favored control groups. (DH)

Findings of 79 research reports were analyzed to assess the effects of calculators on student achievement and attitudes. Except in grade four, use of calculators in concert with traditional mathematics instruction improved average students' basic skills with paper and pencil, both in working exercises and in problem solving. (MNS)

Using predictive validity studies of the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and the undergraduate grade-point average (UGPA), this study examined the large variation in the magnitude of the validity coefficients across schools. LSAT standard deviation and correlation between LSAT and UGPA accounted for 58.5 percent of the variability. (Author/EGS)

This paper examines research studies, which focus on interventions commonly used with students who are learning disabled and identify effective methods that produce substantial benefits concerning reading comprehension. This paper synthesizes previous observation studies by conducting a meta-analysis of strategies used to improve the reading…

The aim of this paper is to examine a variety of features of research that might account for mixed findings of the relationship between teachers' subject matter knowledge and student achievement based on meta-analytic technique. Of several variables that might contribute to inconsistencies and variations in study findings, three features of…

This volume is part of the final report of the National Evaluation of Family Support Programs and details findings from a meta-analysis of extant research on programs providing family support services. Chapter A1 of this volume provides a rationale for using meta-analysis. Chapter A2 describes the steps of preparation for the meta-analysis.…

A meta-analysis was performed to synthesize existing research on the effect of gender differences on attitudes toward computers. A total of 106 studies were located from three sources, and their quantitative data were transformed into Effect Size. Nine variables were selected for coding: nationality of subjects, population group, sample size, type…

This article applies results of a previous meta-analysis of effective instructional practices with adolescents who have learning disabilities focusing on the factor, "Organization/Explicit," which contributed significant variance to effect size. This factor included the important instructional components of advance organization and explicit…

A meta-analysis of nine studies on psychotherapy with persons who have mental retardation found a wide range of research designs, types of interventions, and participants. The evaluation also pointed to a moderate degree of change in outcome measure and moderate effectiveness in terms of benefit to clients with mental retardation. (Contains…