We describe a combination of methods for assessing the effectiveness of complex interventions, especially where substantial heterogeneity with regard to the population, intervention, comparison, outcomes, and study design of interest is expected. We applied these methods in a recent systematic review of the effectiveness of reinforced home-based…

This study of student performance in an online Algebra course looked at the development, implementation, and evaluation of interactive tools for graphing linear equations. The study focused on an interactive tool that was evaluated with virtual school Algebra students for a challenging component of the course. The performance of these students in…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) looked at elementary school math curricula designed to promote math knowledge and skills among elementary school students (average ages 5 to 10 years). Curricula included in this review are replicable, materials-based instructional programs that cover one or more of the following content areas: numbers,…

Students in grades 3 to 8, who participated in the Follow Through program in Portland, Oregon, were tested for their reading and mathematics achievement during Fall 1979, Spring and Fall 1980, and Spring 1981. The measuring instrument used was the Portland Basic Skills Achievement Levels Testing Program. Test results were reported as RIT (Rasch…

This study evaluated effects of a training package to improve behaviors of residents with mental retardation and staff responses. The training procedure included video feedback and self-management procedures (for residents) and video and graphic feedback (for staff). Results showed improved behaviors for residents with both internalizing and…

This study examines how task characteristics (the number of visual chunks and the amount of planning time) and test-taker characteristics (graph familiarity) influence the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in graph comprehension, the strategies used in describing graphs, and the scores obtained on the graph description task in a…

A 5-year review of the impact of South Carolina's comprehensive reform legislation, the Education Improvement Act of 1984 (EIA), is presented. Throughout the report, comparisons of EIA program productivity in 1989 with pre-EIA performance are displayed in short program summaries, 33 graphs, and 14 tables. The EIA targeted seven major areas for…

"University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra," designed to increase students' skills in algebra, is appropriate for students in grades 7-10, depending on the students' incoming knowledge. This one-year course highlights applications, uses statistics and geometry to develop the algebra of linear equations and…