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Showing papers in "Review of Educational Research in 1987"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the many issues involved in trying to understand and solve this complex social and educational problem. And they discuss the important issues involved, the current state of research on the issues, and considerations for future research.
Abstract: The problem of high school dropouts has generated increased interest among researchers, policymakers, and educators in recent years. This paper examines the many issues involved in trying to understand and solve this complex social and educational problem. The issues are grouped into four areas covering the incidence, causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem. Within each area, the discussion identifies the important issues involved, the current state of research on the issues, and considerations for future research.

1,131 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combine meta-analytic and narrative reviews to evaluate the effects of between-and within-class ability grouping on the achievement of elementary school students and find that ability grouping is maximally effective when done for only one or two subjects, with students remaining in heterogeneous classes most of the day; when it greatly reduces student heterogeneity in a specific skill; when group assignments are...
Abstract: This article reviews research on the effects of between- and within-class ability grouping on the achievement of elementary school students. The review technique—best-evidence synthesis—combines features of meta-analytic and narrative reviews. Overall, evidence does not support assignment of students to self-contained classes according to ability (median effect size [ES] = .00), but grouping plans involving cross-grade assignment for selected subjects can increase student achievement. Research particularly supports the Joplin Plan, cross-grade ability grouping for reading only (median ES = +.45). Within-class ability grouping in mathematics is also found to be instructionally effective (median ES = +.34). Analysis of effects of alternative grouping methods suggests that ability grouping is maximally effective when done for only one or two subjects, with students remaining in heterogeneous classes most of the day; when it greatly reduces student heterogeneity in a specific skill; when group assignments are...

941 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the research literature on peer modeling among children as a function of model attributes and suggested that classroom peers can help train social skills, enhance self-efficacy, and remedy skill deficiencies.
Abstract: This article critically reviews the research literature on peer modeling among children as a function of model attributes. Peer modeling is hypothesized to depend in part on perceived similarity between model and observer. Similarity serves as an important source of information for gauging behavioral appropriateness, formulating outcome expectations, and assessing one’s self efficacy for learning or performing tasks. Research is reviewed on the effects of model age, model sex, model competence, number of models, and model background. Peer models can foster diverse types of behavioral change in children, but attribute similarity does not automatically enhance modeling. The conditions under which similarity promotes behavioral change are discussed. Future research needs to assess children’s self-perceptions, as well as maintenance and generalization of behavioral changes. It is suggested that classroom peers can help train social skills, enhance self-efficacy, and remedy skill deficiencies.

795 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the literature relating to extracurricular participation and adolescent development is presented, where five areas are described: personal-social characteristics, academic achievement, educational aspirations and attainments, participants' roles in activities, and environmental social context.
Abstract: The paper reviews literature relating to extracurricular participation and adolescent development. Five areas are described: personal-social characteristics, academic achievement, educational aspirations and attainments, participants’ roles in activities, and environmental social context. A methodological critique and directions for future research are provided. Participation correlated with higher levels of self-esteem, improved race relations, involvement in political/social activity in young adulthood, academic ability and grades in males, educational aspirations and attainments, feelings of control over one’s life, and lower delinquency rates. However, causal relationships between participation and desirable characteristics have not been demonstrated. Students in smaller schools participate in a greater number and variety of extracurricular activities than students in larger schools. Low-ability and lower SES students are more involved in school life in smaller schools. The existing findings justify a...

509 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, various qualitative traditions are used in educational research by describing and comparing the traditions of ecological psychology, holistic ethnography, cognitive anthropology, ethnography of communication, and symbolic interactionism, and it is suggested that educators who wish to perform qualitative research should employ the totality of a tradition, not just generic assumptions or methods.
Abstract: This article illustrates how various qualitative traditions could be used in educational research by describing and comparing the traditions of ecological psychology, holistic ethnography, cognitive anthropology, ethnography of communication, and symbolic interactionism. The analysis shows that qualitative traditions present diverse approaches to research and that each tradition forms a coherent whole, comprising internally consistent assumptions about human nature and society, foci of study, and methodology. Implications of the analysis suggest that qualitative traditions may offer a richer and fuller understanding of education. Educational researchers could conduct either basic or applied research within these traditions, or they could adapt the traditions to address new problems. Moreover, it is suggested that educators who wish to perform qualitative research should seek to employ the totality of a tradition, not just generic assumptions or methods.

506 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of recent work on knowledge acquisition with a focus on knowledge restructuring is presented, which suggests that it may be possible to replace Piagetian theories of global restructuring with a more domain-specific approach.
Abstract: This paper reviews recent work on knowledge acquisition with a focus on knowledge restructuring. This work suggests that it may be possible to replace Piagetian theories of global restructuring with a more domain-specific approach. Some forms of learning may give rise to a weak restructuring involving the accumulation of new facts and the formation of new relations between existing concepts. Other forms of learning may involve a radical restructuring that includes a change in core concepts, a change in structure, and a change in the phenomena to be explained. The restructuring view raises important questions about the similarities and differences in the child’s and the scientist’s acquisition of knowledge, and about the role of prior knowledge in instruction. The domain of observational astronomy is used as an example of how these issues can be applied to study the child’s development of knowledge. Several mechanisms for knowledge restructuring are discussed and it is argued that these issues are crucial ...

485 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors presents a historical perspective on revision and suggests a contemporary definition of revision, as well as a review of research methods for examining revision, concluding that the evolving methods mirror the recent reconceptualization of revision by enabling investigation of the following: meaningful revision activity, not just editorial actions; the revision process and the revision products; and revision as it occurs at several points in writing.
Abstract: Views of revision and its role in writing have changed dramatically over the last two decades. This article first presents a historical perspective on revision and suggests a contemporary definition of revision. Next, it reviews research methods for examining revision. The evolving methods mirror the recent reconceptualization of revision by enabling investigation of the following: meaningful revision activity, not just editorial actions; the revision process as well as the revision products; and revision as it occurs at several points in writing. Findings from research on revision are synthesized, conclusions about the results are given, and limitations of the research are examined.

375 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that even schools with limited material resources appear to have a stronger impact on academic achievement, independent of pupils' family background, than within industrialized countries, but this optimistic claim is undercut by limitations in how pupil background characteristics have been specified within empirical models.
Abstract: Within industrialized countries, much is known about the relationship between schools’ material inputs or social practices and pupils’ achievement levels Less is known about school effects in developing countries In the Third World, the secular school is often a novel institution, operating in social settings where written literacy and formal socialization are relatively recent phenomena Therefore, even schools with limited material resources appear to have a stronger impact on academic achievement, independent of pupils’ family background, than within industrialized countries This optimistic claim is undercut, however, by limitations in how pupil background characteristics have been specified within empirical models I review 60 (multivariate) studies conducted in the Third World that (a) report on the school’s aggregate influence on academic achievement versus the influence of family background and (b) assess the relative influence of alternative school inputs and organizational practices, pointing

367 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors used survey studies to assess the causal implications and generalizability of ethnographic findings of survey analyses and use survey studies as a basis for longitudinal, quantitative research that is sensitive to actual dimensions of stratification in schools, and to classroom conditions and processes that vary across levels of the academic hierarchy.
Abstract: On the topic of stratification in secondary schools, this paper uses ethnographic research to interpret the findings of survey analyses and uses survey studies to assess the causal implications and generalizability of ethnographic findings. The authors criticize survey research for ambiguity concerning the measurement of within-school stratification and for lack of attention to the mechanisms through which the effects of grouping and tracking occur. At the same time, ethnographic research is seen as limited by an inability to demonstrate the significance of between-track differences in social and instructional conditions and by the failure to disentangle track effects from the influence of social class and other preexisting circumstances. The authors advocate longitudinal, quantitative research that is sensitive to the actual dimensions of stratification in schools, and to classroom conditions and processes that vary across levels of the academic hierarchy.

353 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defined wait time as the duration of pauses separating utterances during verbal interaction and found that wait time appears to facilitate higher cognitive level learning by providing teachers and students with additional time to think.
Abstract: Wait time is defined in terms of the duration of pauses separating utterances during verbal interaction. The paper reviews studies involving wait time in a range of subject areas and grade levels. When average wait time was greater than a threshold value of 3 seconds, changes in teacher and student discourse were observed and higher cognitive level achievement was obtained in elementary, middle, and high school science. Achievement increases were also reported in middle school mathematics. Wait time appears to facilitate higher cognitive level learning by providing teachers and students with additional time to think.

283 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the literature on achievement effects of practical applications of group-based mastery learning in elementary and secondary schools over periods of at least 4 weeks, using a review technique, "best-evidence synthesis", which combines features of meta-analytic and traditional narrative reviews.
Abstract: Several recent reviews and meta-analyses have claimed extraordinarily positive effects of mastery learning on student achievement, and Bloom (1984a, 1984b) has hypothesized that mastery-based treatments will soon be able to produce “2-sigma” (i.e., 2 standard deviation) increases in achievement. This article examines the literature on achievement effects of practical applications of group-based mastery learning in elementary and secondary schools over periods of at least 4 weeks, using a review technique, “best-evidence synthesis,” which combines features of meta-analytic and traditional narrative reviews. The review found essentially no evidence to support the effectiveness of group-based mastery learning on standardized achievement measures. On experimenter-made measures, effects were generally positive but moderate in magnitude, with little evidence that effects maintained over time. These results are discussed in light of the coverage versus mastery dilemma posed by group-based mastery learning.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The history of American education has been primarily an urban history as discussed by the authors, and school reform movements of the mid-19th century were targeted at the particular problems brought on by the Industrial Revolution.
Abstract: The history of American education has been primarily an urban history. School reform movements of the mid-19th century were targeted at the particular problems brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Early 20th-century school administrators, and later progressive educators, defined the majority of America’s educational problems in terms of school-based occupational and community living skills that city dwellers needed in modern America. Finally, school reforms of the 1950s–80s have been targeted primarily at such concerns as the plight of minorities in inner cities, national defense needs, and now occupational skills necessary to compete internationally. Such reforms have had the net effect of continuing the century-long bias of much educational policy, scholarship, and research toward urban-based issues and concerns. On the other hand, a variety of research and policy initiatives have emerged in rural America, typically sponsored by state departments of education in primarily rural regions of the countr...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a review examines studies relating to the implementation of systemwide educational change and, in particular, focuses on teacher receptivity to those changes and provides a brief historical summary of this literature from the past 40 years.
Abstract: This review examines studies relating to the implementation of systemwide educational change and, in particular, focuses on teacher receptivity to those changes. It provides a brief historical summary of this literature from the past 40 years and presents as well the general variables that seem to be related to teacher receptivity. It is assumed that there are fundamental generalizations common to all such changes and that these can be embodied in ideal-type models of implementing change. The important general variables that should be included in such models appear to be teachers’ personal cost appraisal of the change, practicality of the new educational system in the classroom, perceived support for teacher roles at school with respect to the main referents of the new educational system, alleviation of fears and uncertainties associated with the change, and perceived expectations and beliefs concerning the important aspects of the change. In addition, there are a number of other important general variabl...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the existing literature to assess the strength of the empirical evidence regarding the economics of early intervention and find that a few studies provide credible evidence that early intervention for disadvantaged children can be a sound economic investment.
Abstract: From an economic perspective, early educational intervention is an investment in the lives of young children that may yield both immediate and future returns. Economic analysis can be used to estimate the costs and benefits of investments in early intervention and to produce estimates of the net economic gain to society resulting from early intervention. In the last two decades, at least 20 economic analyses of early intervention have been conducted and their results widely distributed. The “cost-effectiveness” of early intervention has been used with apparent success as an argument for a wide range of early interventions for infants and young children. This paper critically reviews the existing literature to assess the strength of the empirical evidence regarding the economics of early intervention. We find that a few studies provide credible evidence that early intervention for disadvantaged children can be a sound economic investment. Many of the studies that have been conducted were found to be proble...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Hiebert and Gamoran as discussed by the authors argue that matched or randomized comparisons of effects of alternative grouping plans on standardized tests over periods of one or more semesters tell us much about the effects of ability grouping.
Abstract: In responses to “Ability Grouping and Student Achievement in Elementary Schools: A Best-Evidence Synthesis,” Elfrieda Hiebert and Adam Gamoran express concern that the review only compares alternate forms of ability grouping without documenting actual classroom practices. In this rejoinder, it is argued that while process data would also be valuable, such “A versus B” research is critical in informing researchers and practitioners, who must make “A versus B” decisions about grouping. Also addressed is the possibility that effects of the Joplin Plan may be due to novelty effects, to factors other than cross-age grouping, or to unique conditions of schools 20 years ago. While conceding that the ability grouping research reviewed is not perfect, the rejoinder argues that matched or randomized comparisons of effects of alternative grouping plans on standardized tests over periods of one or more semesters tell us much about the effects of ability grouping.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Baker and de Kanter as mentioned in this paper argued that the questions addressed in the meta-analysis were more appropriate for answering the concerns of the White House review team than were those addressed in Baker and De Kanter (1981).
Abstract: In this response to Baker’s (1987) “Comment on Willig’s ‘A Meta-Analysis of Selected Studies on the Effectiveness of Bilingual Education,’” I address major questions raised by Baker and present counter arguments to each. First, I contend that the questions addressed in the meta-analysis were more appropriate for answering the concerns of the White House review team than were those addressed in Baker and de Kanter (1981); second, I provide evidence suggesting that one of Baker’s major points—that Willig (1985) did not include the studies from Baker and de Kanter (1983)—is primarily a rhetorical strategy; third, I explain the process of information gathering in the meta-analysis and compare my information from specific studies to that reported in Baker and de Kanter (1981), demonstrating pitfalls in Baker’s review methods; fourth, I present my rationale for the exclusion of specific studies not included in the meta-analysis and demonstrate that Baker’s treatment of these studies is flawed; finally, I clarif...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a best-evidence synthesis, the reviewer serves as judge and jury in determining what evidence is "best" and, hence, what conclusions are to be drawn as mentioned in this paper, where the reviewer is required to provide detailed specification of the criteria used in selecting the evidence, and one can easily imagine two (or three, or a dozen) equally competent best evidence reviewers' reaching very different conclusions with regard to exactly the same topic.
Abstract: "Best-evidence synthesis" was proposed by Slavin (1986a) as an alternative to meta-analysis and traditional review techniques. The procedure is described as an extension of the "best-evidence" principle in law, where it is a well-established maxim that not all evidence carries equal validity in regard to a particular case. But the way this principle is applied in law is quite different from its application in a best-evidence synthesis. In law, cases are argued and debated. In criminal cases, for example, both the prosecution and the defense present what each believes to be the most valid, "best" evidence. Seldom is the evidence presented by each the same, nor are the conclusions each has drawn from that evidence. It is left to a judge, panel of judges, or jury to weigh all of the evidence and to decide, in as objective and dispassionate a manner as is possible, what evidence is truly best and what verdict or conclusion is to be drawn from that evidence. In a best-evidence synthesis as proposed by Slavin, however, the reviewer serves as judge and jury in determining what evidence is "best" and, hence, what conclusions are to be drawn. Although the reviewer is required to provide detailed specification of the criteria used in selecting the evidence, one can easily imagine two (or three, or a dozen) equally competent best-evidence reviewers' reaching very different conclusions with regard to exactly the same topic simply because they employed different criteria in selecting the "best" evidence. Slavin's (1987) review of mastery learning illustrates clearly the problems inherent in this approach to research synthesis and how the technique can be misused. Suppose, for example, that another best-evidence reviewer of mastery learning research were to choose 3 weeks, rather than 4 (Slavin, 1987), as the minimum duration period for studies to be included. Although neither can be considered an "extended time period," in terms of practicality the difference is insignificant. The choice of a 4-week minimum appears arbitrary at "best." But given that other more inclusive reviews (Block & Burns, 1976; Guskey & Pigott, in review) have identified a fairly large number of studies of 3-week duration that yielded very positive results, it represents a likely source of reviewer bias at "worst." This is not to imply that questions of methodological quality and relevance to the issue should be ignored in research syntheses. These are clearly important considerations in evaluating the validity of findings in a collection of investigations. It is to imply, however, that the term "best" in best-evidence synthesis is highly subjective, potentially biased, and very misleading, especially to those who do not carefully scrutinize the selection criteria employed by the reviewer.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article argued that ability grouping researchers must distinguish between school and classroom organization, on the one hand, and classroom instruction on the other, and that knowledge of intervening circumstances is essential in order to measure and understand the effects of ability grouping.
Abstract: Slavin’s best-evidence synthesis of ability grouping research is a competent and useful summarization of existing research. But the synthesis is limited by the conceptual inadequacy of the studies it reviews. This comment argues that ability-grouping researchers must distinguish between school and classroom organization, on the one hand, and classroom instruction on the other. Instruction may serve as a key mechanism through which ability grouping has its effects. Other mediating conditions also need to be considered. Knowledge of intervening circumstances is essential in order to measure and understand the effects of ability grouping.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, this article found that the experimenter-made tests more accurately measure the intended objectives of the teaching than does a standardized measure that usually covers 2 or 3 years of school learning (rather than the 1 year or less covered by the teacher-made measures).
Abstract: Robert E. Slavin has evidently dedicated himself to reconsidering \"mastery learning\" and to a careful search for the evidence on the effectiveness of this method. Perhaps after 19 years of widespread utilization of this approach to teaching and learning in the U.S. and in many other countries, this method does need to be carefully appraised by both friends and critics. Teaching under Mastery Learning and under Conventional Instruction is much the same except for the Mastery Learning feedback-corrective process every 2 or 3 weeks in which a formative test is given to students, followed by corrective instruction, and then by a parallel formative test. The first step in the feedbackcorrective process typically begins with the teacher's noting the common errors of the majority of the students. Then, the teacher briefly explains the ideas involved using different illustrations or an approach different from what was previously used in teaching these ideas in the class. A second step in this feedbackcorrective process is for groups of two or three students (on their own or under the teacher's guidance) to help each other on the items they missed on the test. A third step is for individual students to refer to the instructional material keyed to the test items that they are not confident they fully understand. This threestep process is expected to be used after each 2or 3-week learning unit, before the students take the parallel formative test. In Table 1 (Slavin, 1987, p. 188), as regards the Kersh (1970) study, only one out of the six Mastery Learning groups made use of students' helping each other on the corrective process. Approximately two thirds of these students reached the final mastery learning criterion. The other five ML groups were only given material to work with on their own. Their final results were no better than those found in the control groups. In addition to the Kersh study, there were four studies in Table 1 where little or nothing is mentioned about methods of helping the learners correct their errors. In Slavin's Tables 2 and 3, for which there are positive results for Mastery Learning, the author is more explicit about the methods used in the corrective process. I am not surprised that Slavin found that the use of teacheror experimentermade measures gives a more positive picture of mastery learning than does the use of standardized tests. The experimenter-made tests more accurately measure the intended objectives of the teaching than does a standardized measure that usually covers 2 or 3 years of school learning (rather than the 1 year or less covered by the experimenter-made measures). In longitudinal studies, where mastery learning procedures are used with the same group of students over several years

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The decision about learning and learners is a decision about an ideal, about how we [conceive] what a learner should be in order to assure that a society of a particular valued kind could be safeguarded as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The decision about learning and learners [is a decision] about an ideal, about how we [conceive] what a learner should be in order to assure that a society of a particular valued kind could be safeguarded. … At the heart of the decision process there must be a value judgment about how the mind should be cultivated and to what end. (Bruner, 1985, p. 5)

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the role of instructional context on student learning, the structure of subjects such as reading, and the nature of educational innovations is presented, concluding that although the review provides an interesting historical analysis, its conclusions and recommendations are inadequate for guiding future research, policy, and practice.
Abstract: The foregoing review rests on several assumptions about the role of the instructional context on student learning, the structure of subjects such as reading, and the nature of educational innovations. These assumptions influence the selection of studies for review and the interpretation of findings. An examination of these assumptions in light of recent theory and research produces a different perspective on the conclusions of the review. This examination suggests that, although the review provides an interesting historical analysis, its conclusions and recommendations are inadequate for guiding future research, policy, and practice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of a subset of the bilingual education evaluation literature failed in its attempt to compare metaanalysis and narrative review because the metaanalysis (a) included only one third of the studies in the narrative review, (b) addressed different questions, and (c) redefined a study demonstrating the failure of bilingual education as a success as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of a subset of the bilingual education evaluation literature failed in its attempt to compare meta-analysis and narrative review because the meta-analysis (a) included only one third of the studies in the narrative review, (b) addressed different questions than did the narrative review, and (c) redefined a study demonstrating the failure of bilingual education as a success. Moreover, the meta-analysis is not an appropriate analytic technique for this literature because (a) inappropriate statistics were applied to the data, (b) the bilingual education treatment was confounded with other treatments in several of the studies reviewed, and (c) the studies reviewed were not sufficiently homogeneous to support a meta-analysis. Finally, the author’s conclusion that bilingual education is effective was not supported because (a) the results of the analysis do not generalize, (b) inappropriate statistical analysis was used to arrive at this conclusion, and (c) the effects of confounded treatments we...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors compare Baker and de Kanter (1981, 1983) and Willig (1985) on three points relevant to current policy debates in bilingual education and show that issues driving the original report are moot in 1987 and that Willig provides more useful information, adheres more closely to accepted terminology, and restricts itself to a more relevant body of literature than does Baker and De Kanter.
Abstract: A comparison of Baker and de Kanter (1981, 1983) and Willig (1985) on three points relevant to current policy debates in bilingual education shows that issues driving the original report are moot in 1987 and that Willig provides more useful information, adheres more closely to accepted terminology, and restricts itself to a more relevant body of literature than does Baker and de Kanter. Baker’s “Comment” (1987) that Willig failed to replicate the original study misses the point; Willig represents a conceptual and methodological advance over that study. Moreover, in the years since Baker and de Kanter was issued, a new body of more technically sound research has been produced that is more relevant to current debates.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The focus of this new literature is on providing a historical description and interpretation of the quality of public school opportunities for children of Mexican descent in the Southwest; its interpretative framework is largely one of social control as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the mid-1960s, researchers began conducting studies that explored the historical dimensions of the Chicano educational experience in the Southwest. The following essay discusses the status of this new literature and examines some of its major themes and arguments. The emphasis of this new historiography is on providing a historical description and interpretation of the quality of public school opportunities for children of Mexican descent in the Southwest; its interpretative framework is largely one of social control. From this review, the author concludes that this field of professional study is still in its infancy and suggests possible areas of research for future study.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In their critiques of "Mastery Learning Reconsidered" (1987), Guskey and Anderson and Burns as discussed by the authors raise a broad range of issues, from the technical to the philosophical.
Abstract: In their critiques of "Mastery Learning Reconsidered" (1987), Guskey (1987) and Anderson and Burns (1987) raise a broad range of issues, from the technical to the philosophical. What is striking in their responses, however, is more the points on which we apparently agree than those on which we disagree. Before dealing with the points of disagreement, I think it is interesting to note these critical areas of