Although there is increasing acceptance that personalization improves learning outcomes, there is still limited experimental evidence supporting this claim. The aim of this study was to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of an adaptive recommendation system for Singapore primary and secondary education. The system leverages users trace data…

Background: Efficacy trials in education often possess a motivating theory of change: how and why should the desired improvement in outcomes occur as a consequence of the intervention? In scenarios with repeated measurements, certain subgroups may be more or less likely to manifest a treatment effect; the theory of change (TOC) provides guidance…

Background: Compensatory cleft speech disorders can severely impact speech understandability and speech acceptability. Speech intervention is necessary to eliminate these disorders. There is, however, currently no consensus on the most effective speech therapy approach to eliminate the different subtypes of compensatory cleft speech disorders.…

A solid understanding of fractions is the cornerstone for acquiring proficiency with rational numbers and paves the way for learning advanced mathematical concepts, such as algebra. Fraction difficulties limit not only students' educational and vocational opportunities but also their ability to solve everyday problems. Students who exit 6th grade…

Objective: College students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for numerous educational and psychosocial difficulties. This study reports findings from a large, multisite randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of a treatment for this population, known as ACCESS -- Accessing Campus Connections and…

Aim: To describe the development of an intervention-specific fidelity measure and its utilization and to determine whether the newly developed Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play) intervention was implemented as intended. Also, to quantify differences between START-Play and usual early intervention (uEI) services. Method: A fidelity…

This paper reviews the use of multiple trials, defined as multiple sites or multiple arms in a single evaluation and replications, in evaluating social programs. After defining key terms, the paper discusses the rationales for conducting multiple trials, which include increasing sample size to increase statistical power; identifying the most…

The number of trials aimed at evaluating treatments for autism spectrum disorder has been increasing progressively. However, it is not clear which outcome measures should be used to assess their efficacy, especially for treatments which target core symptoms. The present review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview regarding the outcome…

Prior studies have demonstrated successful irritability treatment using dopaminergic antagonists in autistic patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the effect of dextromethorphan/quinidine (DM/Q) in autistic adults (18-60 years of age). This was a randomized, blinded, crossover, study of 14 patients randomized to DM/Q or a placebo…

Medical research is held as a field for education to emulate. Education researchers have been urged to adopt randomized controlled trials, a more "scientific" research method believed to have resulted in the advances in medicine. But a much more important lesson education needs to borrow from medicine has been ignored. That is the study…

Community colleges are essential for United States higher education, but their students have low retention and graduation rates. Community college students assigned to mathematics remediation are particularly unlikely to graduate. Corequisite remediation (college-level coursework with additional support) has shown short-term increased student…

Early intervention efforts have been effective in reducing disruptive behaviors and the probability of poor developmental outcomes. Early interventions include common practice elements to improve social functioning and decrease problem behaviors that disrupt the teaching-learning process. The First Step Next intervention has been well validated…

This paper examines the insistent claims by advocates of evidence-based teaching that it is a rigorous scientific approach. The paper questions the view that randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses are the only truly scientific methods in educational research. It suggests these claims are often based on a rhetorical appeal which relies on…

EBP -- evidence-based policy and practice -- has generated intense controversy. A rough continuum of positions can be discerned: At one pole are "tough-minded" commentators distinguished by their support of EBP; however, there are serious internal differences in this camp, for some regard randomised field trials (RFTs) as the gold…

Three phase 2 trials were conducted to assess the efficacy and long-term safety of weight-based memantine extended release (ER) treatment in children with autism spectrum disorder. MEM-MD-91, a 50-week open-label trial, identified memantine extended-release treatment responders for enrollment into MEM-MD-68, a 12-week randomized, double-blind,…