A recent randomized controlled study by Downer and colleagues explored the effects of course-based and coaching-based professional development on 496 early childhood teachers and their students, with a focus on teacher-student interactions during language and literacy instruction. Teachers were recruited from large community preschools and Head Start programs and were randomized in two phases to conditions: a 14-week course on effective student-teacher interaction (Phase I) and a one-year teacher-coaching approach (Phase II). Overall, there were four conditions across the two phases: (a) no course/no coaching (business-as-usual control group), (b) no course/coaching, (c) course/no coaching, and (d) course/coaching. The findings of the study indicated that both course-based and coaching-based professional development interventions led to positive changes in teacher-student interaction related outcomes. The combination of the two approaches, however, did not yield additional benefits. Specifically, in relation to the control condition, the course-based professional development intervention found a modest yet enduring positive...

Educators have long advocated for integrating formative assessment alongside summative assessment to provide ongoing feedback and support student outcomes. Previously evaluated through two pilot studies, the PARLO (Proficiency-based Assessment and Re-assessment of Learning Outcomes) system is tailored for student-facing assessment in schools that may use a traditional grading system. Unlike traditional methods, PARLO doesn’t calculate final grades based on weighted averages of summative scores; instead, it assesses students’ proficiency in learning outcomes and offers personalized feedback to guide further learning. This approach empowers students to pursue additional work and seek reassessment for full credit. A recent mixed-methods study, utilizing a cluster-randomized control trial, explored PARLO’s impact on 9th-grade students’ expectancies for success, motivation, intrinsic and utility value, and academic outcomes in math. The study included 38 teachers from 14 treatment schools and 27 teachers from 15 control schools, all volunteering to participate. With formative assessment gaining popularity, control teachers were...

Robot-assisted language learning involves the use of robots to aid students in learning and expressing language. In this educational approach, robots engage in interactive social behaviors. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis by Wang and Cheung investigated different types of robots’ social behaviors in language learning and their impacts. The review synthesized 59 empirical studies to explore in what contexts and how different social behaviors exhibited by robots have contributed to language learning, and the effectiveness of robots’ social supportive behaviors compared to their neutral behaviors. Results showed that robots’ social behaviors have predominantly been observed in contexts involving fewer than 80 K-12 students, for learning English vocabulary within a single session. In the process, robots interacted with students socially via non-verbal and verbal behaviors. Non-verbal behaviors consisted of physical appearance, gesture, posture, face and eye behaviors, and environment and space. Verbal behaviors included vocal behaviors, verbal immediacy, verbal feedback,...

The influence of family socioeconomic status (SES) on the development of children’s reading ability has been widely studied. A meta-analysis by Li and colleagues explored a mechanism through which SES affects reading ability. They proposed that SES not only has a direct effect on reading outcomes (reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension), but also indirectly affects reading ability through two linguistic skills, namely, phonological awareness (PA) and vocabulary knowledge (VK). To test this proposed mediation role, meta-analytic structural equation modeling was employed. The results of the modeling, based on 385 studies with participants age ranging from 2.16 to 17.9 years, revealed that SES had significant direct effect on linguistics skills and reading outcomes. Both PA and VK played a significant mediation role in the relation between SES and reading. Put differently, SES influenced students’ reading both directly and through its impact on phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Moderation effects were also...

The American Educational Research Journal has published a meta-analysis on the impact of tutoring programs on student academic achievement in preK-12. The study aims to show how the effects vary based on a range of characteristics. For inclusion in the review, studies had to use randomized designs and evaluate preK-12 tutoring interventions on learning outcomes measured through independent tests (i.e., not created by researchers/developers of the program). A total of 90 studies were included in the review. Of these, 72 studies measured literacy outcomes and 22 math outcomes. Most of the programs were delivered by a paraprofessional (43 studies), while the others were delivered by teachers and non-professionals or parents. The authors also coded the following characteristics to assess the variation in impact of tutoring: teacher-student ratio, setting, grade level, and the quality of the study design. Overall, results showed significant positive effects of tutoring programs on student achievement (ES...

The utilization of technology-rich learning environments (TREs) involves integrating new technologies and media to enhance information resources and tools, such as intelligent tutoring systems, virtual reality, and educational learning games. A meta-analysis conducted by Cal and colleagues examined the impact of feedback on academic performance within TREs. The included studies required both an experimental group and a control group, with the experimental group receiving one type of feedback while the control group either received no feedback or a different type of feedback. The analysis encompassed 182 effect sizes from 61 studies, with the majority published between 2010 and 2021 (84%). In comparison to the no feedback condition, the findings are as follows: Overall, feedback had a medium positive effect (g=+0.44) on academic performance. The type of feedback served as a significant moderator, with elaborate feedback having stronger effect than simple feedback. The distinction between simple and elaborate feedback lies in...

Considerable research has explored the impact of delayed school start times on students’ academic achievement and well-being. However, a recent study in The Journal of School Health goes beyond and investigates the effects of later school start times specifically on teachers’ health and daytime functioning. The study took place in the Cherry Creek School District in Denver, Colorado, where new start times were implemented in the 2017-18 school year, and whose effects were documented in the Changing Start Times: Longitudinal Effects (CaSTLES) study. High schools started 70 minutes later (at 8:20), grades 6-8 started 40-60 minutes later (at 8:50), and elementary schools started 60 minutes earlier (at 8:00). Subjects were K-12 teachers teaching in each of the three study years, and who were surveyed on aspects of their sleep and performance at three points in the study: four months before the time change, and then six and eighteen months after...

An increasing body of literature connects the benefits of school meals and dietary interventions to student academic outcomes and attendance. Despite this, 15 states rejected federal funds for summer food programs targeting hungry children. Those states quick to cut or devalue such programs may want to examine the results from Olarte and colleagues’ systematic review of alternative school breakfast service models. The authors drew from 332 articles, resulting in a sample of 37 studies and reports, to examine the effect of Breakfast-After-The-Bell (BATB) programs on student diet and academic outcomes, including classroom behavior, program participation, dietary quality, body mass index, school attendance, and academic performance. The study found strong ties between BATB programs and increased school breakfast participation, as well as improvements to student diet quality and classroom behavior. These results were found to be particularly strong for students from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, as well as for students...

Do higher grading standards encourage better student performance, or do they discourage students instead? A study by American University’s Seth Gershenson and colleagues at SUNY and the Thomas Fordham Institute examined the effects of higher grading standards on student achievement in math. The authors applied data from the North Carolina Education Research Data Center to link report card grades to teacher-student pairings and student standardized test grades from 2006-2016, and focused on the students who took Algebra I in eighth or ninth grade between 2006-2016 (n=365,004 students; 4445 Algebra I teachers). Teachers whose students had higher standardized test scores than other teachers’ students, yet had comparable report card grades, were classified as having higher grading standards. Results showed that students who had teachers with higher grading standards demonstrated higher student achievement in Algebra I, and subsequently in Geometry and Algebra II. Authors also examined the possibility of higher grading standards...