This book offers practical guidance for understanding and implementing APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) and Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards (MARS) for quantitative research. These standards provide the essential information researchers need to report, including detailed accounts of the methods they followed, data results and…

Research synthesis is the practice of systematically distilling and integrating data from many studies in order to draw more reliable conclusions about a given research issue. When the first edition of "The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis" was published in 1994, it quickly became the definitive reference for conducting…

This meta-analysis synthesizes research on the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) for college students. Thirty-five reports were found containing 39 studies assessing the effectiveness of 22 types of ITS in higher education settings. Most frequently studied were AutoTutor, Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces, eXtended…

This research synthesis examined the impact of grades, comments, and no performance feedback on academic motivation and achievement in elementary and secondary school. Four meta-analyses were conducted, with two each exploring the impact of (a) grades versus no performance feedback and (b) grades versus comments on academic motivation and…

In this study, we meta-analyzed empirical research of the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) on K-12 students' mathematical learning. A total of 26 reports containing 34 independent samples met study inclusion criteria. The reports appeared between 1997 and 2010. The majority of included studies compared the effectiveness of ITS…

The "assessment 'for' learning" movement in education has increased attention to self-grading and peer-grading practices in primary and secondary schools. This research synthesis examined several questions pertaining to the use of self-grading and peer-grading in conjunction with criterion-referenced testing in 3rd- through…

A complete description of the literature search, including the criteria used for the inclusion of reports after they have been located, used in a research synthesis or meta-analysis is critical if subsequent researchers are to accurately evaluate and reproduce a synthesis' methods and results. Based on previous guidelines and new suggestions, we…

The authors describe the relative benefits of conducting meta-analyses with (a) individual participant data (IPD) gathered from the constituent studies and (b) aggregated data (AD), or the group-level statistics (in particular, effect sizes) that appear in reports of a study's results. Given that both IPD and AD are equally available,…

This occasional paper introduces the methods of research synthesis and meta-analysis to researchers and consumers of research in the field of adult learning and literacy. To begin, the first section of the paper defines key terms and offers a brief history of how the methodologies developed. The second section provides a conceptualization of…

A meta-analysis found that attending full-day (or all-day) kindergarten had a positive association with academic achievement (compared to half-day kindergarten) equal to about one quarter standard deviation at the end of the kindergarten year. But the association disappeared by third grade. Reasons for this fade-out are discussed. Social…

New emphasis is being placed on the importance of parent involvement in children's education. In a synthesis of research on the effects of parent involvement in homework, a meta-analysis of 14 studies that manipulated parent training for homework involvement reveals that training parents to be involved in their child's homework results in (a)…

A meta-analysis of 41 studies examined the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes in a variety of settings with both child and adult samples. Results indicated that providing choice enhanced intrinsic motivation, effort, task performance, and perceived competence, among other outcomes. Moderator tests revealed the effect…

When the first edition of "The Handbook of Research Synthesis" was published in 1994, it quickly became the definitive reference for researchers conducting meta-analyses of existing research in both the social and biological sciences. In this fully revised second edition, editors Harris Cooper, Larry Hedges, and Jeff Valentine present…

This policy brief reviews research on the effectiveness of summer-school programs. It begins with a short history of the current school calendar, including how 19th century agrarian life required children to stay home during the summer to attend to crops or livestock. Next, a meta-analysis of 13 studies brings to light the effects long summer…

While a review by S. Graham (1994) found no differences between blacks and whites on measures of need for achievement, this meta-analysis article found reliable and complex race differences. Overall, whites scored higher on measures of need for achievement, although differences nearly disappeared in studies after 1970. Possible explanations are…