Category: Primary School Education

Categories
Language Development Primary School Education

Exploring the impact of a GenAI-supported writing program on primary students’ writing motivation, engagement, and performance: A mixed methods study

The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) into second language (L2) writing has attracted growing interest, yet its value in primary education remains unclear. Lu et al. (2026) used a mixed-methods design with 301 Grade 5 and Grade 6 students from a primary school in Eastern China. Eight classes were randomly assigned to a GenAI-supported writing group or a conventional writing control group. Writing motivation, engagement, and performance were measured at pre-test (Week 1) and post-test (Week 9), and 12 experimental-group students were interviewed.

MANCOVA showed significant multivariate group effects on writing motivation (F(3, 294) = 3.067, p = .028, partial η² = 0.030), engagement (F(4, 292) = 8.392, p < .001, partial η² = 0.103) and performance (F(3, 294) = 2.841, p = .038, partial η² = 0.028). The experimental group scored higher on ideal L2 writing self, academic buoyancy, behavioral and emotional engagement, and language use, while opinion and content was only marginal (p = .054). There were no group differences in growth mindset, cognitive or metacognitive engagement, organization, or total scores. Paired t-tests showed small gains in the experimental group for ideal L2 writing self (d = 0.26), academic buoyancy (d = 0.24), behavioral engagement (d = 0.22), emotional engagement (d = 0.24), language use (d = 0.27) and overall writing performance (d = 0.28), but not cognitive (d = 0.12) or metacognitive (d = 0.07) engagement. The control group showed no significant gains after Bonferroni correction. Interviews highlighted GenAI’s multifaceted roles in shaping these outcomes. Although effect sizes were small, the study suggests GenAI can support motivation, engagement, and performance in primary-level L2 writing.

Teachers should position GenAI as a supportive tool rather than a substitute for students’ thinking, using activities that emphasize challenge, effort, and reflection to reduce over-reliance. Given the limited gains in cognitive and metacognitive engagement, explicit instruction in self-regulated writing strategies (planning, monitoring, and revision) is needed, supported by teacher modeling and student reflection. Collaborative GenAI activities should be structured so that students generate ideas independently, critically evaluate AI suggestions, and decide how to use them.

Source (Open Access): Lu, Q., Wang, M., Yao, Y., Zhu, X., Xiao, L., & Yin, H. (2026). Exploring the impact of a GenAI-supported writing program on primary students’ writing motivation, engagement, and performance: A mixed methods study. Learning and Instruction, 106, 102451.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2026.102451… Read the rest

Categories
Primary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

The Effects of Interventions for Promoting Elementary School Students’ Engagement

Goulet and colleagues conducted a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis to examine the effects of different intervention strategies on elementary school students’ engagement and to compare which approaches were most effective in promoting behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement. Following PRISMA guidelines, the study included 53 studies covering 46 interventions and a total of 38,225 students. Of these interventions, 39 used randomized controlled trials and 7 used quasi-experimental designs. The interventions were classified into three main categories: teacher support, mainly involving teacher professional development; student-directed interventions, which directly targeted students; and multimodal interventions, which simultaneously supported students and their family or school environments. The meta-analysis used a three-level random-effects model with robust variance estimation to account for dependencies among multiple effect sizes within the same study, and methodological bias was further examined as a moderator.

The results showed that interventions had the most consistent positive effect on elementary students’ behavioral engagement, with an overall effect size of g = .386. All three intervention types produced significant effects. Teacher support showed the largest effect (g = .503, 95% CI [.105, .901]), followed by multimodal interventions (g = .385, 95% CI [.202, .569]) and student-directed interventions (g = .370, 95% CI [.198, .542]), although there were no significant differences among the three approaches (F = 0.22, p = .808). Further comparisons among student-directed strategies showed that learning strategy development had the largest effect (g = .801, 95% CI [.318, 1.285]) and was significantly more effective than social-emotional learning (SEL; g = .171, 95% CI [.027, .314]; p = .003). Classroom physical activity also showed a relatively large effect (g = .478), but its confidence interval included zero (95% CI [–.100, 1.056]), indicating that the result was less stable.

Overall, the study indicates that elementary school students’ engagement is malleable, but different dimensions of engagement respond differently to intervention. The strongest evidence currently concerns behavioral engagement. In particular, improving teachers’ instructional and classroom management practices through workshops, coaching, feedback, and reflective activities, as well as directly developing students’ learning strategies such as planning, organization, self-monitoring, and reflection, appear especially promising. In comparison, interventions focusing only on students’ social-emotional skills have more limited effects, while the evidence for physical activity remains uncertain. The authors therefore suggest that schools prioritize investment in teacher professional development and student learning strategy training when designing engagement interventions, while avoiding the assumption that a single approach can improve behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement equally. Future research should also include more measures of affective and cognitive engagement and adopt higher-quality research designs to build a stronger evidence base.

Source (Open Access): Goulet, J., Archambault, I., Maltais, C., Gilbert-Blanchard, O., & Janosz, M. (2026). Promoting engagement in elementary school: A systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention effects. Educational Psychology Review, 38(1), 107.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10204-w… Read the rest

Categories
Effective Teaching Approach Primary School Education

Support for self-regulated learning in immersive virtual reality – An experimental design for science learning

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) enables users to engage with virtual environments in a highly immersive way. Past studies have found that immersive virtual reality (IVR) may increase students’ cognitive load, distract them from learning tasks, and hinder their knowledge acquisition. To address these challenges, Hsu and Lee (2026) explored the integration of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies into IVR, and examined their impact on students’ cognitive load. An experimental design was employed, involving 105 students randomly assigned to either an SRL group (n=52) or a non-SRL (NSRL) group (n = 53). A two-way mixed-design ANOVA was conducted to identify differences in the science learning outcomes of the two groups. In addition, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to examine the structural relationships among affective factors in IVR environments, cognitive load, and students’ learning outcomes within both the SRL and NSRL conditions.

The findings confirm that, while learning with IVR, extraneous cognitive load exerted negative effects on both SRL gains and science knowledge, whereas germane cognitive load positively influenced these outcomes. First, interactive extraneous cognitive load predicted both lower- and higher-level science knowledge in the NSRL group. Second, environmental extraneous cognitive load negatively predicted SRL gains across both IVR conditions.  Third, a finding common to both the SRL and NSRL groups was that increased student control and active learning significantly enhanced perceived germane cognitive load.

As IVR technology becomes increasingly accessible and user-friendly, it is no longer confined to professional instructional designers; teachers now need the capacity to independently create VR-based learning materials. This shift highlights the importance of preparing teachers not only to use VR tools but also to design pedagogically meaningful IVR content, such as the incorporation of SRL strategies. Accordingly, teachers must recognize the benefits of presence and interaction while remaining cautious of their limitations and potential pitfalls. They should also be mindful that less optimal instructional designs may impose extraneous cognitive load, which can undermine learning outcomes. Most importantly, teachers should foster learners’ autonomy and agency, as these are critical for effective IVR-based learning.

Source (Open Access): Hsu, Y. T., & Lee, S. W. Y. (2026). Support for self-regulated learning in immersive virtual reality–An experimental design for science learning. Education and Information Technologies, 31(1), 269-300.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-025-13807-y… Read the rest

Categories
Achievement Higher Education Primary School Education Secondary School Education

The impact of test preparation on performance in large-scale educational tests: A meta-analysis of experimental studies

A recent meta-analysis examines whether test preparation improves performance in large-scale educational tests. Although schools, commercial institutions, and students invest heavily in preparation courses and materials, existing studies have reported inconsistent effects. Earlier reviews were also concentrated on US college admission and cognitive ability tests and often relied on evidence published before 2000. This study therefore estimates the overall effect of test preparation and examines how it varies across intervention, test, student, and research-design characteristics.

The authors synthesized 28 experimental and quasi-experimental studies, including 92 effect sizes and 16,741 participants across primary, secondary, and tertiary education. The studies covered college admission tests, English proficiency tests, and other large-scale assessments. A hierarchical random-effects model with robust variance estimation was used, while moderator analyses examined intervention breadth, strategy and material use, test characteristics, previous test experience, and study design.

Test preparation produced a significant positive overall effect on test performance (g=.26, 95% CI [.10,.42], p<.001), but heterogeneity was high (I^2=82.44%). Test-specific and narrowly focused interventions were more effective (g=.33) and (g=.32) than broad programs aimed at general knowledge or transferable skills (g=-.04). Interventions teaching test-taking strategies also showed stronger effects (g=.35) than those without such instruction (g=.05). Students with previous testing experience benefited substantially more (g=.69) than those without it (g=.06). However, preparation effects did not transfer significantly to other tests in the same domain (g=.06, p=.502).

Taken together, the findings suggest that test preparation can improve large-scale test scores, but its effectiveness mainly reflects alignment with the target test rather than broader learning gains. The limited transfer effect raises concerns about whether score improvement represents genuine development in the abilities being assessed. Future research should use stronger experimental designs, report intervention processes more clearly, and distinguish test-score gains from transferable learning.

Source (Open Access): Hao, Z., Baird, J. A., Masri, Y. E., & Double, K. (2025). The impact of test preparation on performance of large-scale educational tests: A meta-analysis of experimental studies. Review of Educational Research, 00346543251360775.

https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543251360775… Read the rest

Categories
Language Development Primary School Education Secondary School Education

The Effects of Interventions for Students With Reading Difficulties in Grades 4–12

Killingly and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of school-based interventions for students with reading difficulties in Grades 4–12 published between 2011 and 2023. The study examined the overall effectiveness of these interventions and further tested whether study characteristics, sample characteristics, and intervention characteristics moderated their effects. A total of 104 publications and 586 effect sizes were included, representing 97,114 participants. Methodologically, the authors used a Correlated and Hierarchical Effects model combined with robust variance estimation to address dependency among multiple outcomes and effect sizes within the same study, while also estimating effects across overall reading performance and specific reading domains.

The results showed that, overall, reading interventions had a small but significant positive effect for students with reading difficulties in Grades 4–12, with an overall effect size of g = 0.212 (95% CI [0.163, 0.261], p < .001). This suggests that although the gains were not large, these interventions did produce reliable improvements in students’ reading performance. Across specific reading domains, the strongest effects were found for vocabulary (g = 0.422), followed by decoding/word recognition (g = 0.199) and reading comprehension (g = 0.187). Fluency showed only a very small but significant effect (g = 0.080), spelling was not significant (g = 0.015), and phonological processing, although showing a larger effect size on the surface (g = 0.531), did not reach significance and was therefore considered unstable. Overall heterogeneity was very high (I² = 89.71%), indicating that differences in study design and sample characteristics had a substantial influence on intervention effectiveness. GRADE assessment further suggested that the overall quality of evidence ranged from moderate to high, with the strongest evidence for fluency, moderate evidence for vocabulary, and moderate-to-low evidence for phonological processing.

Moderator analyses showed that intervention effects varied according to both study and sample conditions. Overall, more recently published studies showed stronger effects (β = 0.015), and journal articles produced significantly larger effects (g = 0.268) than research reports (g = 0.062). In terms of sample characteristics, low socioeconomic status was not significantly related to overall effects, but a higher proportion of students with learning disabilities was associated with slightly stronger effects (β = 0.006). For students from a language background other than English, overall differences were not significant, but in the vocabulary domain, a greater proportion of such students was associated with stronger effects (β = 0.016), suggesting that vocabulary instruction may be particularly important for this group. Regarding intervention design, intervention focus, duration, and measurement type were all significant moderators. Comprehension-focused interventions showed relatively strong overall effects (g = 0.313), multicomponent interventions showed stable effects (g = 0.178), and word study interventions had smaller effects (g = 0.096), whereas vocabulary-focused interventions, though fewer in number, showed the largest effect (g = 0.716). Shorter interventions were actually associated with stronger effects, with effect sizes of g = 0.405 for 0–5 hours and g = 0.409 for 6–15 hours. In addition, researcher-developed measures yielded significantly larger effects (g = 0.542) than standardized measures (g = 0.127). Although there was no significant overall difference between interventions delivered by teachers and those delivered by researchers, in vocabulary interventions teacher-led delivery produced stronger effects (g = 0.733) than researcher-led delivery (g = 0.249), suggesting that classroom teachers may hold particular advantages in providing vocabulary support.

Overall, this study shows that reading interventions for older students with reading difficulties are indeed effective, although the magnitude of their effects depends on the reading domain being targeted and on the design of the intervention. Vocabulary and reading comprehension appear to be the most promising focuses, while multicomponent interventions also demonstrate stable benefits. By … Read the rest

Categories
Primary School Education Programme Evaluation

The effects of a school-based leadership program on student leaders and their peers: A cluster randomized controlled trial

Student leadership is widely recognized as an important life skill associated with academic, psychological, and social benefits. However, school-based leadership opportunities are often offered to students who already display leadership qualities, while those who may benefit most from such opportunities are less likely to participate. Existing leadership research has also focused mainly on adults, leaving limited evidence on how leadership skills can be developed among young students. To address this gap, this study evaluated Learning to Lead, a peer-led, school-based leadership and fundamental movement skills program grounded in transformational leadership theory.

The study used a two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial design involving 20 elementary schools in Australia. A total of 1,898 students participated, including 952 older students as Leaders and 946 younger students as Peers. Schools were randomized to either the intervention group or a wait-list control group after baseline assessment. The intervention consisted of teacher professional development, six leadership lessons delivered by trained teachers to student Leaders, and twelve peer-led fundamental movement skill sessions delivered by Leaders to younger Peers. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and immediately after the intervention. Leader outcomes included teacher-reported leadership effectiveness, self-reported leadership ability, leadership self-efficacy, wellbeing, and classroom time on-task. Peer outcomes included physical activity, perceived and actual motor competence, cardiorespiratory fitness, and muscular fitness.

The results showed that the L2L program produced significant benefits for both Leaders and Peers. For Leaders, teacher-reported leadership effectiveness improved significantly in the intervention group compared with the control group, with an adjusted between-group difference of 0.56 units and an effect size of d = 0.39. The intervention also produced positive spillover effects: Leaders showed significantly greater wellbeing, with an adjusted difference of 0.77 units, and their classroom time on-task increased by approximately 7 percentage points. However, the program did not significantly improve Leaders’ self-reported leadership ability or leadership self-efficacy. For Peers, the intervention significantly improved perceived motor competence, with an adjusted difference of 1.12 units, increased daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by 3.02 minutes per day, and improved cardiorespiratory fitness by 2.57 laps. Moderator analysis showed that the effect on perceived motor competence was significant for both boys and girls, but stronger among boys. However, the program did not significantly improve Peers’ actual motor competence or muscular fitness.

Taken together, the findings suggest that peer-led leadership programs can improve student leaders’ observable leadership effectiveness and generate broader benefits for their wellbeing and classroom engagement. The program also benefited younger peers by improving their perceived motor competence, physical activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness. These findings indicate that school-based peer-led interventions can meaningfully integrate leadership development with physical activity promotion. Nevertheless, the study has several limitations, including short-term outcome assessment, possible teacher expectancy effects in ratings of student leadership, possible awareness of group allocation among video coders, and the challenge of relying on student Leaders who were still developing their own leadership and movement skills. Future research should examine the long-term effects of such programs and consider providing stronger instructional support for student Leaders.

Source (Open Access): Wade, L., Beauchamp, M. R., Nathan, N., Smith, J. J., Leahy, A. A., Bao, R., Kennedy, S. G., Boyer, J., Diallo, T. M. O., Beacroft, S., & Lubans, D. R. (2026). Effects of a school-based leadership program on student leaders and their peers: The Learning to Lead cluster randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 102444.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2026.102444… Read the rest