This article investigates the benefits of girls-only classroom instruction in math and science during Grades 9 and 10, in the context of a public coeducational high school. It is based on a longitudinal investigation with 786 participants: 85 girls in all-girl classes, and 319 girls and 382 boys in a regular coeducational program. Preexisting…

This article describes an extended collaboration between a development team and an evaluation team working with GenScope, an open-ended exploratory software tool. In some respects, this was a routine evaluation, documenting substantial gains (of roughly 1 SD) in genetics reasoning ability in all but 1 of 17 classes, despite challenges presented by…

In the 1990s, federal legislation authorizing funding for secondary vocational education, increasingly called career and technical education (CTE), began to mandate accountability requirements such as improved academic achievement. These requirements have necessitated a search for ways to integrate CTE into broader school reforms that have…

Many interactive learning environments (ILEs) offer on-demand help, intended to positively influence learning. Recent studies report evidence that although effective help-seeking behavior in ILEs is related to better learning outcomes, learners are not using help facilities effectively. This selective review (a) examines theoretical perspectives…

The empirical relationship between educational attainment and credentials with socioeconomic attainment is well established, but why this relationship arises remains in doubt. The author of this article discusses seven types of middle-range theories meant to explain the relationship: human capital, screening (including filtering), signaling,…

This study provides a meta-analysis of the correlational literature on measures of phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and related abilities. Correlations (N = 2,257) were corrected for sample size, restriction in range, and attenuation from 49 independent samples. Correlations between phonological awareness (PA) and rapid naming (RAN)…

Small classes in the elementary grades have been shown to boost students' academic performance. However, researchers continue to seek a consistent, integrated explanation of "why" small classes have positive effects. This article forwards the hypothesis that when class sizes are reduced, major changes occur in students' engagement in the…

Although the majority of research in gender and education has rightly focused on girls, recent research in the United States and elsewhere has focused much more on the learning, social outcomes, and schooling experiences of boys. This "boy turn" has produced a large corpus of theoretically oriented and practice-oriented research alongside popular…

The authors contest a politician's claim that the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in English primary schools has been an undisputed success with no contribution from educational researchers. First, the key role of researchers and research in the development of the NNS is outlined. Then there is a description of the Leverhulme Numeracy Research…

Stimulated recall (SR) is a family of introspective research procedures through which cognitive processes can be investigated by inviting subjects to recall, when prompted by a video sequence, their concurrent thinking during that event. Variations of the generic approach are widely used and many of the studies treat SR as non-problematic. The…

This article reports on the conduct and results of a randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a teacher-led intervention to improve teenagers' knowledge of emergency contraception. The trial was successfully conducted in 24 mixed-sex state secondary schools in Avon, South-west England. The intervention was popular with both…

This article explores the meanings involved in the development and implementation of learning and teaching policies in higher education through a single institution case study in an English university. It draws on interview data collected from middle manager-academics, located in Schools, who are charged with implementing learning and teaching…

The Curriculum, Evaluation and Management (CEM) Centre has grown in just 25 years to become the largest educational research unit in a UK university. It has influenced schools and teachers in unprecedented numbers and has had a considerable impact on policy and practice both directly and indirectly in the UK and beyond. This article summarises…

This paper describes a limited longitudinal study of young children's early numeracy development within three testing cycles, at the mid-point and towards the end of their reception year (at five years-of-age) and again at the mid-point of Year 1 (at six years-of-age), located within the broader context of progress through to Key Stage 1 SAT…

This article considers the touching, or rather, not touching, of children and young people in professional settings. Some have argued that many schools and other childcare environments are becoming "no touch" zones. Formal guidelines in the UK are centrally concerned with "child protection" issues, and "force and control", and as such appear more…