Purpose: To examine the effects on anxiety of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) among youth with anxiety disorders. Method: Systematic review and meta-analytic procedures were employed to synthesize experimental and quasi-experimental studies authored between 1980 and 2015. Results: The search yielded five studies from five countries…

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental designs like regression discontinuity (RD) designs, instrumental variable (IV) designs, and matching and propensity score (PS) designs are frequently used for inferring causal effects. It is well known that the features of these designs facilitate the identification of a causal estimand…

The objective of this study was to examine how individual interest and knowledge acquisition are causally related. Three hypotheses were tested using a cross-lagged panel analysis (N = 186) and two quasi-experimental studies (N = 68 and N = 108) involving students from schools in Singapore. The first hypothesis is the broadly shared standard…

We evaluate the use of text-to-speech (TTS) technology for audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI). We use a quasi-experimental design, comparing the use of recorded human voice in the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth with the use of TTS in the first year of the 2011-2013 survey, where the essential survey conditions are…

The purposes of this study are threefold: It investigates effects of a formative assessment script (FAS) that was designed to support vocational students in generating feedback to (1) a peer's and (2) their own performance. Effects of the FAS are investigated with respect to quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the peer and internal…

Commitment, persistence and effort have long been considered critical components for an individual's academic success. Yet, according to the old proverb, two heads are better than one and collaborative learning may yield greater benefits than what might be achieved by an individual. Because of this, collaborative learning has been labelled a…

Persuasive arguments have been made for the existence of pedagogical discourses that invoke gender as a factor in the ascription of quality to musical compositions, and previous research has shown that some music teachers ascribe "maleness" to the characteristics that they regard as markers of high quality. Drawing upon Lucy Green's…

Short comparative interrupted times series (CITS) designs are increasingly being used in education research to assess the effectiveness of school-level interventions. These designs can be implemented relatively inexpensively, often drawing on publicly available data on aggregate school performance. However, the validity of this approach hinges on…

Underlying all What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) products are WWC Study Review Guides, which are intended for use by WWC certified reviewers to assess studies against the WWC evidence standards. As part of an ongoing effort to increase transparency, promote collaboration, and encourage widespread use of the WWC standards, the Institute of Education…

A quasi-experimental method and test-retest design were used to explore the impact of participating in test preparation, whether the impact of test preparation depends on the first ACT® score, and the impact of specific test preparation activities. Test preparation improved students' retest scores and this effect did not differ depending on…

We use a natural experiment to evaluate sample selection correction methods' performance. In 2007, Michigan began requiring that all students take a college entrance exam, increasing the exam-taking rate from 64 to 99%. We apply different selection correction methods, using different sets of predictors, to the pre-policy exam score data. We then…

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of behavioral, empowerment-focused interventions on the incidence of pregnancy-related school dropout among girls in Nairobi's informal settlements. Method: Retrospective data on pregnancy-related school dropout from two cohorts were analyzed using a matched-pairs quasi-experimental design. The primary outcome was…

Despite reforms in mathematics education, many teachers remain reluctant to incorporate challenging (i.e., more cognitively demanding) tasks into their mathematics instruction. The current study examines how lesson structure shapes teacher perceptions of teaching with challenging tasks. Participants included three Year 1/2 classroom teachers who…

The testing effect is the enhanced retention of learned information by individuals who have studied and completed a test over the material relative to individuals who have only studied the material. Although numerous laboratory studies and simulated classroom studies have provided evidence of the testing effect, data from a natural class setting…

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance in choice of analytic bias reduction methods for educational studies in which the goal is to estimate a treatment effect in the presence of selection bias into treatment. In addition, issues of dimensionality, collinearity, omitted confounders, missing outcomes, and non-independence may be factors…