Despite dramatic increases in the percentage of 5-year-olds enrolled in full-day kindergarten, initial discussions about whether to offer public full-day kindergarten are still controversial in many communities. This report examines claims about benefits and detriments of full-day kindergarten, presents research findings, and describes reasonable…

Utilizes the statistical procedure of meta-analysis in a quantitative review of art education research literature. Discovers that art education is more effective in producing results concerning aesthetic perception than visual-spatial ability. Discusses possible implications of the study and recommends further combination of quantitative and…

This book presents state-of-the-science research on the components of successful literacy learning and how to target them in contemporary classrooms. The volume builds on and extends the work of Steven Stahl, whose pioneering contributions encompassed the key areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and assessment.…

The objective of this study was to evaluate quantitatively through meta analysis the effectiveness of child sexual-abuse prevention programs conducted over the past 10 years. Eighteen controlled studies evaluating such programs were coded for salient features and study outcomes and were then described using the common scale of effect size. An…

The Science Meta-Analysis Project (SMAP) resulted in the meta-analysis of a sizable proportion of the research in pre-college science education. Seven broad questions were examined during the study. These include the effects of different curriculum programs, effects of different instructional systems used in science teaching, effects of various…

Project MAFEX (Meta-Analysis of Field Experience) used standard meta-analysis techniques to synthesize the available body of research concerning preservice field experience programs. Several important questions were considered: (1) What types of field experience programs are most and least effective? (2) Are there common characteristics of field…

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…

This symposium on leadership development consists of three presentations. "Organizational Performance: The Future Focus of Leadership Development Programs" (Doris B. Collins) reports research that analyzed 54 leadership studies from 1984-2000 and confirmed that organizations have begun to take a more systemic approach to leadership…

This study investigated what the workforce education, training, and retraining needs of businesses and organizations in the United States are, and how well community colleges are meeting these needs. Conventional and meta-analytical methods were employed to analyze a sample of 10 local, state, and national studies in workforce development with a…

A meta-analysis was conducted of 137 studies investigating the effects of father absence due to employment, military service, death, divorce, separation, or desertion on children's cognitive performance as assessed by scores on standardized intelligence, scholastic aptitude, and academic achievement tests and school grades. Aggregation of the…

This summary report from The Nation's Report Card offers a synthesis of findings from recent national assessments of American education for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students in a variety of subject areas. Areas covered include reading, writing, mathematics, science, American history, literature, and computer competence. Trends in academic…

National evaluations of quality aspects of vocational training programs (VTPs) in five European countries--Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, and Portugal--were reviewed to determine how VTP quality is currently being evaluated and identify a more coherent approach to evaluating VTPs. Special attention was paid to how existing evaluation studies…

The 14 chapters of this book focus on the technical advances, advances in applied settings, and emerging topics in the testing field. Part 1 discusses methodological advances, Part 2 considers developments in applied settings, and Part 3 reviews emerging topics in the field of testing. Part 1 papers include: (1) "Advances in…

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"…

A meta analysis was conducted of studies of college students' evaluations of their teachers. Forty-seven studies were included, representing 74 multisection courses, in which four selection criteria were met. An actual, rather than an experimental class was used; the unit of analysis was the class rather than the individual student; a common…