For Immediate Release:
February 10, 2016

Contact:
Tony Pals, [email protected]
(202) 238-3235 (office), (202) 288-9333 (cell)

Victoria Oms, [email protected]
(202) 238-3233 (office)

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 10– Research on special education, non-cognitive skills, degree completion, educational inequality and more appeared in the 10 most popular journal articles published by the American Educational Research Association in 2015. Based on the number of times they were accessed online, the following were the most popular AERA research articles published in 2015.

(Full articles can be accessed at no cost through the links below. All files are PDF.)

1. Minorities Are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions
   A federally funded study found that racial, ethnic, and language minority students in elementary and middle school are less likely than otherwise similar white, native-English-speaking children to be identified as having disabilities and, as a result, are disproportionately underrepresented in special education.
   Educational Researcher, June/July 2015
   Paul L. Morgan, George Farkas, Marianne M. Hillemeier, Richard Mattison, Steve Maczuga, Hui Li, Michael Cook
   
   
2. Measurement Matters: Assessing Personal Qualities Other Than Cognitive Ability for Educational Purposes
   The authors advise policymakers and practitioners to move cautiously before using existing measures to evaluate educators, programs, and policies, or diagnosing children as having “noncognitive” deficits.
   Educational Researcher, May 2015
   Angela L. Duckworth, David Scott Yeager
   
   
3. Improving Outcome Measures Other Than Achievement
   Researchers offer justification for including nonacademic outcome measures in longitudinal surveys that assess educational progress and success.
   AERA Open, April-June 2015
   Kristin Anderson Moore, Laura H. Lippman, Renee Ryberg
   
   
4. The Potential for School-Based Interventions That Target Executive Function to Improve Academic Achievement: A Review
   A federally funded meta-analysis of 25 years’ worth of research found no conclusive evidence that developing students’ executive function skills leads to better academic performance.
   Review of Educational Research, December 2015
   Robin Jacob, Julia Parkinson
   
   
5. The Role of Schooling in Perpetuating Educational Inequality: An International Perspective
   Study findings indicate that unequal access to rigorous mathematics content is widening the gap in performance on a prominent international math literacy test between low- and high-income students, not only in the United States but in countries worldwide.
   Educational Researcher, October 2015
   William H. Schmidt, Nathan A. Burroughs, Pablo Zoido, Richard T. Houang
   
   
6. The Community College Route to the Bachelor’s Degree
   Research found that discrepancies in BA attainment between undergraduates at community colleges and 4-year colleges may be partially explained by community college students’ falling behind in credit accumulation during their third year.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, March 2015
   David B. Monaghan, Paul Attewell
   
   
7. Does College Teach Critical Thinking? A Meta-Analysis
   The authors estimate that the overall effect of college on critical thinking skills is comparable to moving a student who starts at the 50th percentile to the 72nd percentile by the end of 4 years.
   Review of Educational Research, September 2015
   Christopher R. Huber, Nathan R. Kuncel
   
   
8. Polygenic Influence on Educational Attainment: New Evidence From the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
   A nationally representative study of siblings supports previously published research on unrelated individuals that links specific genotypes to educational attainment among adults in their mid-20s to early 30s.
   AERA Open, July-September 2015
   Benjamin W. Domingue, Daniel W. Belsky, Dalton Conley, Kathleen Mullan Harris, Jason D. Boardman
   
   
9. Impact of North Carolina’s Early Childhood Initiatives on Special Education Placements in Third Grade
   Research found that access to state-supported early childhood programs significantly reduces the likelihood that children will be placed in special education in the third grade, academically benefiting students and resulting in considerable cost savings to school districts.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, February 2015
   Clara G. Muschkin, Helen F. Ladd, Kenneth A. Dodge
   
   
10. Benefits and Pitfalls of Multimedia and Interactive Features in Technology-Enhanced Storybooks: A Meta-Analysis
    A meta-analysis on the effects of technology-enhanced stories for children’s literacy development found that animated pictures, music, and sound effects improved story comprehension and vocabulary, while interactive elements were distracting.
    Review of Educational Research, December 2015
    Zsofia K. Takacs, Elise K. Swart, Adriana G. Bus

In addition to the preceding list of the top 10 articles, AERA also announced the top 10 articles accessed for each of the association's seven peer-reviewed journals. Those can be viewed below.

Browse Most Read Articles by Journal:

• AERA Open
• American Educational Research Journal
• Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
• Educational Researcher
• Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics
• Review of Educational Research
• Review of Research in Education

AERA Open

1. Improving Outcome Measures Other Than Achievement
   Researchers offer justification for including nonacademic outcome measures in longitudinal surveys that assess educational progress and success.
   Kristin Anderson Moore, Laura H. Lippman, Renee Ryberg
   
   
2. Polygenic Influence on Educational Attainment: New Evidence From the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
   A nationally representative study of siblings supports previously published research on unrelated individuals that links specific genotypes to educational attainment among adults in their mid-20s to early 30s.
   AERA Open, July-September 2015
   Benjamin W. Domingue, Daniel W. Belsky, Dalton Conley, Kathleen Mullan Harris, Jason D. Boardman
   
   
3. Assessing Approaches to Learning in School Readiness: Comparing the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment to an Early Learning Standards-Based Measure
   This study examines the psychometric properties of two assessments of children’s approaches to learning: the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) and a 13-item approach to learning rating scale (AtL) derived from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AELS).
   AERA Open, July-September 2015
   Otilia C. Barbu, David B. Yaden Jr., Deborah Levine-Donnerstein, Ronald W. Marx
   
   
4. Investigating the Prevalence of Academic Redshirting Using Population-Level Data
   This study used population-level data from one state, over several years, to find that the practice of academic redshirting, or holding children back a year prior to enrolling in kindergarten, is trending downward.
   AERA Open, April-June 2015
   Francis L. Huang
   
   
5. The Future of NCES’s 146: Longitudinal Student Surveys: Balancing Bold Vision and Realism
   The author argues that the designs of NCES’s collection of longitudinal student surveys are not useful for many analytic purposes.
   AERA Open, April-June 2015
   John Robert Warren
   
   
6. Data Needs for Emerging Research Issues in Bully and Violence Prevention: Strengths and Limitations of the National Center for Educational Statistics Data Sets
   In this article, a social-ecological framework is briefly described as a way to understand bullying and school violence. Data that assess bullying and/or school violence are described, and recommendations for additional items are proposed.
   AERA Open, July-September 2015
   Dorothy Espelage
   
   
7. Social-Emotional Learning and Academic Achievement: Using Causal Methods to Explore Classroom-Level Mechanisms
   Assignment to social-emotional learning programs improved low-income kindergarten and first-grade students’ math and reading achievement by first enhancing classroom emotional support and organization.
   AERA Open, July-September 2015
   Meghan P. McCormick, Elise Cappella, Erin E. O’Connor, Sandee G. McClowry
   
   
8. Do First Impressions Matter? Predicting Early Career Teacher Effectiveness
   Authors found that, on average, teacher performance during their first 5 years of teaching is predictive of future performance, particularly in math.
   AERA Open, October-December 2015
   Allison Atteberry, Susanna Loeb, James Wyckoff
   
   
9. Measuring School Contexts
   Beginning with an overview of the conceptual underpinnings related to measuring contexts, the author describes issues in measuring school contexts with an eye toward understanding students’ experiences and outcomes, briefly describes the initiatives at the National Center for Education Statistics to measure school contexts, and discusses new approaches and opportunities for measurement.
   AERA Open, October-December 2015
   Chandra L. Muller
   
   
10. Early Grade Teacher Effectiveness and Pre-K Effect Persistence: Evidence From Tennessee
    Authors found a positive interaction between teaching quality and state pre-K exposure through comparing student-level data from a statewide pre-K experiment with records of teacher observation scores.
    AERA Open, October-December 2015
    Walker A. Swain, Matthew G. Springer, Kerry G. Hofer

American Educational Research Journal

1. Teacher Collaboration in Instructional Teams and Student Achievement
   This study draws upon survey and administrative data on over 9,000 teachers in Miami-Dade County public schools over 2 years to investigate the kinds of collaborations that exist in instructional teams across the district and whether these collaborations predict student achievement.
   American Educational Research Journal, June 2015
   Matthew Ronfeldt, Susanna Owens Farmer, Kiel McQueen, Jason A. Grissom
   
   
2. Making Sense of Student Performance Data: Data Use Logics and Mathematics Teachers’ Learning Opportunities
   In this comparative case study, authors examine the learning opportunities afforded by teachers’ data use conversations using situated discourse analysis to compare two middle school mathematics teacher workgroups interpreting data from the same district assessment.
   American Educational Research Journal, April 2015
   Ilana Seidel Horn, Britnie Delinger Kane, Jonee Wilson
   
   
3. “Don’t Leave Us Behind”: The Importance of Mentoring for Underrepresented Minority Faculty
   This article draws on in-depth interviews and focus group data to examine the mentoring experiences of 58 underrepresented minority (URM) faculty to increase the retention of URM faculty.
   American Educational Research Journal, February 2015
   Ruth Enid Zambrana, Rashawn Ray, Michelle M. Espino, Corinne Castro, Beth Douthirt Cohen, Jennifer Eliason
   
   
4. A Case Study of Teacher Personal Practice Assessment Theories and Complexities of Implementing Formative Assessment
   This case study investigated internally constructed and externally imposed contextual elements that constrained or facilitated the use of formative assessment by three high school science teachers.
   American Educational Research Journal, October 2015
   Cathy Box, Gerald Skoog, Jennifer M. Dabbs
   
   
5. Academic Attitudes and Achievement in Students of Urban Public Single-Sex and Mixed-Sex High Schools
   This quasi-experimental investigation of the academic attitudes and achievement among 11th-grade low-income students of color enrolled in nonselective, public single-sex and mixed-sex high schools reported significantly more negative attitudes about English/reading in comparison with students in mixed-sex schools, while there were no differences in math or science attitudes.
   American Educational Research Journal, August 2015
   Nicole M. Else-Quest, Oana Peterca
   
   
6. Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching, Standards-Based Mathematics Teaching Practices, and Student Achievement in the Context of the Responsive Classroom Approach
   This study investigates the effectiveness of the Responsive Classroom approach, a social and emotional learning intervention, in changing the relations between mathematics teacher and classroom inputs and student mathematics achievement.
   American Educational Research Journal, August 2015
   Erin R. Ottmar, Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman, Ross A. Larsen, Robert Q. Berry
   
   
7. Predictors of Retention and Achievement in a Massive Open Online Course
   Researchers examined the degree to which student characteristics, relevance, prior experience with massive open online courses (MOOC), self-reported commitment, and learners’ implicit theory of intelligence predicted retention and achievement. They found that learners’ expected investment, including level of commitment, expected number of hours devoted to the MOOC, and intention to obtain a certificate, related to retention likelihood.
   American Educational Research Journal, October 2015
   Jeffrey A. Greene, Christopher A. Oswald, Jeffrey Pomerantz
   
   
8. Early Career Outcomes for the “Best and the Brightest“: Selectivity, Satisfaction, and Attrition in the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Survey
   Using data from the first 3 years of the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Survey, the authors investigate the greater incidence of attrition among graduates of selective colleges and whether higher rates of attrition can be explained by measures of early career adjustment.
   American Educational Research Journal, August 2015
   Sean Kelly, Laura Northrop
   
   
9. How Well Aligned Are Textbooks to the Common Core Standards in Mathematics?
   In the first analysis to investigate claims of alignment in the context of fourth-grade mathematics using tools capable of estimating the alignment of curriculum materials with the standards, results indicate areas of misalignment, including that the textbooks studied systematically overemphasize procedures and memorization relative to the standards, among other weaknesses.
   American Educational Research Journal, December 2015
   Morgan S. Polikoff
   
   
10. Directionality of the Associations of High School Expectancy-Value, Aspirations, and Attainment: A Longitudinal Study
    This study examines the directionality of the associations among cognitive assets (IQ, academic achievement), motivational beliefs (academic self-concept, task values), and educational and occupational aspirations over time from late adolescence (Grade 10) into early adulthood (5 years post high school).
    American Educational Research Journal, April 2015
    Jiesi Guo, Herbert W. Marsh, Alexandre J. S. Morin, Philip D. Parker, Gurvinder Kaur

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

1. Impact of North Carolina’s Early Childhood Initiatives on Special Education Placements in Third Grade
   Research found that access to state-supported early childhood programs significantly reduces the likelihood that children will be placed in special education in the third grade, academically benefiting students and resulting in considerable cost savings to school districts.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, February 2015
   Clara G. Muschkin, Helen F. Ladd, Kenneth A. Dodge
   
   
2. Evaluating the Impacts of “New” Performance Funding in Higher Education
   New research found that state higher education performance funding falls short of its intended goals of raising student retention and degree completion rates at community colleges.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, December 2015
   Nicholas W. Hillman, David A. Tandberg, Alisa H. Fryar
   
   
3. The Effect of Primary School Size on Academic Achievement
   Researchers found that there was no causal relationship between school size and academic performance of fourth- and fifth-grade students in North Carolina, though socioeconomically disadvantaged students and students with learning disabilities were significantly harmed by school size.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   Seth Gershenson, Laura Langbein
   
   
4. Lessons From a School District–University Research Partnership: The Houston Education Research Consortium
   A university professor and school district leader co-authored this examination of why more school districts and universities should develop research partnerships, why such partnerships are not more common, and how to overcome the obstacles.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   Ruth N. López Turley, Carla Stevens
   
   
5. What Research Do State Education Agencies Really Need? The Promise and Limitations of State Longitudinal Data Systems
   Researchers discuss the challenges they face in developing specific research goals, building internal capacity for research, and working with external partners and identify research questions that cannot be addressed by state longitudinal data systems.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   Carrie Conaway, Venessa Keesler, Nathaniel Schwartz
   
   
6. Income-Based Inequality in Educational Outcomes: Learning From State Longitudinal Data Systems
   Researchers share results from a long-standing research partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to illustrate the wide range of analyses that can be conducted using a state longitudinal data system. They document large income-based gaps in educational attainments, including high school graduation rates and college-going rates.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   John P. Papay, Richard J. Murnane, John B. Willett
   
   
7. The Missing Manual: Using National Student Clearinghouse Data to Track Postsecondary Outcomes
   This article explores the use of National Student Clearinghouse data to measure postsecondary outcomes, finding that coverage is highest among public institutions and lowest among for-profit colleges and lower for minority students.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   Susan M. Dynarski, Steven W. Hemelt, Joshua M. Hyman
   
   
8. The Uneven Performance of Arizona’s Charter Schools
   The authors used student-level data covering all Arizona students from 2006 to 2012 to find that the performance of charter schools in Arizona in improving student achievement varied widely. On average, the charter schools were modestly less effective than traditional public schools in raising student achievement.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   Matthew M. Chingos, Martin R. West
   
   
9. Middle School Math Acceleration and Equitable Access to Eighth-Grade Algebra: Evidence From the Wake County Public School System
   Researchers found that a Wake County Public Schools policy of assigning middle school students to accelerated math and eighth-grade algebra based on a defined prior achievement metric reduced the relationship between course assignment and student characteristics and increased the share of students on track for algebra by eighth grade.
   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
   Shaun M. Dougherty, Joshua S. Goodman, Darryl V. Hill, Erica G. Litke, Lindsay C. Page
   
   
10. Need-Based Aid and College Persistence: The Effects of the Ohio College Opportunity Grant
    This article examines the effects of a 2006 Ohio financial aid policy on first-year college persistence rates. The author estimates that dropout rates of students who benefited from the program fell by 2% and finds that the new program increased the likelihood that students would attend 4-year campuses and increased their first-year grade point averages.
    Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, May 2015
    Eric Bettinger

Educational Researcher

1. Minorities Are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions
   A federally funded study found that racial, ethnic, and language minority elementary- and middle-school students are less likely than otherwise similar white, English-speaking children to be identified as having disabilities and, as a result, are disproportionately underrepresented in special education.
   Educational Researcher, June/July 2015
   Paul L. Morgan, George Farkas, Marianne M. Hillemeier, Richard Mattison, Steve Maczuga, Hui Li, Michael Cook
   
   
2. Measurement Matters: Assessing Personal Qualities Other Than Cognitive Ability for Educational Purposes
   The authors advise policymakers and practitioners to move cautiously before using existing measures to evaluate educators, programs, and policies, or diagnosing children as having “noncognitive” deficits.
   Educational Researcher, May 2015
   Angela L. Duckworth, David Scott Yeager
   
   
3. The Role of Schooling in Perpetuating Educational Inequality: An International Perspective
   Study findings indicate that unequal access to rigorous mathematics content is widening the gap in performance on a prominent international math literacy test between low- and high-income students, not only in the United States but in countries worldwide.
   Educational Researcher, October 2015
   William H. Schmidt, Nathan A. Burroughs, Pablo Zoido, Richard T. Houang
   
   
4. Using Student Test Scores to Measure Teacher Performance: Some Problems in the Design and Implementation of Evaluation Systems
   The researchers examined a number of problems in the design and implementation of teacher evaluation systems that incorporate value-added measures.
   Educational Researcher, March 2015
   Dale Ballou, Matthew G. Springer
   
   
5. Guidance for Schools Selecting Antibullying Approaches: Translating Evidence-Based Strategies to Contemporary Implementation Realities
   This article synthesizes current research on bullying prevention and intervention to provide guidance to schools seeking to select and implement antibullying strategies.
   Educational Researcher, January/February 2015
   Nadia S. Ansary, Maurice J. Elias, Michael B. Greene, Stuart Green
   
   
6. Can Value Added Add Value to Teacher Evaluation?
   This commentary reflects on the five articles published in Educational Researcher’s special issue on value-added methods (VAMs) in light of other work in this field, offering the author’s own thoughts about whether and how VAMs may add value to teacher evaluation.
   Educational Researcher, March 2015
   Linda Darling-Hammond
   
   
7. Thinking Together and Alone
   The author studied the productivity of the increasingly popular use of collaborative intellectual engagement in classrooms.
   Educational Researcher, January/February 2015
   Deanna Kuhn
   
   
8. Exploring the Potential of Value-Added Performance Measures to Affect the Quality of the Teacher Workforce
   This article explores various mechanisms through which the use of value-added measures might affect teacher quality, describing what researchers know empirically about the potential of each mechanism.
   Educational Researcher, March 2015
   Dan Goldhaber
   
   
9. Value Added: A Case Study in the Mismatch Between Education Research and Policy
   This commentary questions a simplistic notion of how policymakers might make effective use of research by sketching how the various levels of the education hierarchy might collaborate, noting that in combination with a wide range of related research and a coherent theory of action, research on teacher effectiveness indicators can increase the potential for educational improvement.
   Educational Researcher, March 2015
   Stephen W. Raudenbush
   
   
10. Make Room Value Added: Principals’ Human Capital Decisions and the Emergence of Teacher Observation Data
    Research suggests that data generated by high-quality teacher observation systems allow principals to rely less on test scores to inform human capital decisions.
    Educational Researcher, March 2015
    Ellen Goldring, Jason A. Grissom, Mollie Rubin, Christine M. Neumerski, Marisa Cannata, Timothy Drake, Patrick Schuermann

Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics

1. Multiple Imputation of Multilevel Missing Data—Rigor Versus Simplicity
   In this article, the author theoretically and empirically evaluates the impacts of preferring a fixed effects imputation model with dummies over a multilevel imputation model.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, February 2015
   Jörg Drechsler
   
   
2. An Evaluation of Empirical Bayes’s Estimation of Value-Added Teacher Performance Measures
   In this article, researchers review the theory of Empirical Bayes’s (EB) estimation and use simulated and real student achievement data to study the ability of EB estimators to properly rank teachers. They find that EB estimators’ performance suffers under nonrandom teacher assignment.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, April 2015
   Cassandra M. Guarino, Michelle Maxfield, Mark D. Reckase, Paul N. Thompson, Jeffrey M. Wooldridge
   
   
3. Practical Issues in Estimating Achievement Gaps From Coarsened Data
   Researchers extend previous work to obtain practical estimates of the imprecision resulting from the data-coarsening process and of the bias imparted by measurement error.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, April 2015
   Sean F. Reardon, Andrew D. Ho
   
   
4. Pseudo-Equivalent Groups and Linking
   Researchers link 29 administrations from a testing program via the method of pseudo-equivalent groups to compare the reasonableness of results from pseudo-equivalent groups to results from kernel equating.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, June 2015
   Shelby J. Haberman
   
   
5. Equating Without an Anchor for Nonequivalent Groups of Examinees
   The author developed an equating procedure for a testing program with evolving distribution of examinee profiles where no anchor is available because the original scoring scheme was based on expert judgment of the item difficulties and applies it to 2 years of testing.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, June 2015
   Nicholas T. Longford
   
   
6. Weakly Informative Prior for Point Estimation of Covariance Matrices in Hierarchical Models
   In this article, researchers use Bayes modal estimation to obtain positive definite covariance matrix estimates and recommend a class of Wishart (not inverse-Wishart) priors for S with a default choice of hyperparameters.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, April 2015
   Yeojin Chung, Andrew Gelman, Sophia Rabe-Hesketh, Jingchen Liu, Vincent Dorie
   
   
7. The Asymptotic Distribution of Ability Estimates: Beyond Dichotomous Items and Unidimensional IRT Models
   This article considers tests that include a mix of dichotomous and polytomous items and gives a proof of the asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of the ability parameter for such tests under a set of regularity conditions.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, October 2015
   Sandip Sinharay
   
   
8. Assessment of Person Fit for Mixed-Format Tests
   The author discusses how researchers successfully tested new approaches for assessing person-fit for mixed format tests.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, August 2015
   Sandip Sinharay
   
   
9. Ratio-of-Mediator-Probability Weighting for Causal Mediation Analysis in the Presence of Treatment-by-Mediator Interaction
   In this article, researchers demonstrate how the ratio-of-mediator-probability weighting method can be used to decompose total effects into natural direct and indirect effects in the presence of treatment-by-mediator interactions.
   Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, June 2015
   Guanglei Hong, Jonah Deutsch, Heather D. Hill
   
   
10. Modeling Information Accumulation in Psychological Tests Using Item Response Times
    In this article, a latent trait model that is based on the linear transformation model and subsumes popular models from survival analysis is proposed for the response times in psychological tests.
    Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, June 2015
    Jochen Ranger, Jörg-Tobias Kuhn

Review of Educational Research

1. The Potential for School-Based Interventions That Target Executive Function to Improve Academic Achievement: A Review
   A federally funded meta-analysis of 25 years’ worth of research found no conclusive evidence that developing students’ executive function skills leads to better academic performance.
   Review of Educational Research, December 2015
   Robin Jacob, Julia Parkinson
   
   
2. Does College Teach Critical Thinking? A Meta-Analysis
   The authors estimate that the overall effect of college on critical thinking skills is comparable to moving a student who starts at the 50th percentile to the 72nd percentile by the end of 4 years.
   Review of Educational Research, September 2015
   Christopher R. Huber, Nathan R. Kuncel
   
   
3. Benefits and Pitfalls of Multimedia and Interactive Features in Technology-Enhanced Storybooks: A Meta-Analysis
   A meta-analysis on the effects of technology-enhanced stories for children’s literacy development found that animated pictures, music, and sound effects improved story comprehension and vocabulary, while interactive elements were distracting.
   Review of Educational Research, December 2015
   Zsofia K. Takacs, Elise K. Swart, Adriana G. Bus
   
   
4. Effects of Feedback in a Computer-Based Learning Environment on Students’ Learning Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis
   In this meta-analysis, the authors investigated the effects of methods for providing item-based feedback in a computer-based environment on students’ learning outcomes.
   Review of Educational Research, December 2015
   Fabienne M. Van der Kleij, Remco C. W. Feskens, Theo J.H.M. Eggen
   
   
5. The Trans-Contextual Model of Autonomous Motivation in Education: Conceptual and Empirical Issues and Meta-Analysis
   A meta-analysis of the last decade of research on the trans-contextual model.
   Review of Educational Research, May 2015
   Martin S. Hagger, Nikos L.D. Chatzisarantis
   
   
6. Gameplay Engagement and Learning in Game-Based Learning: A Systematic Review
   In this review, the authors investigated design features that promote engagement and learning in game-based learning (GBL) settings to address the lack of empirical evidence on the impact of game design on learning outcomes. They identify how the design of game-based activities may affect learning, and develop a set of recommendations for GBL instructional design.
   Review of Educational Research, December 2015
   Azita Iliya Abdul Jabbar, Patrick Felicia
   
   
7. Digital Games, Design, and Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
   This meta-analysis found that digital games significantly enhanced student learning relative to nongame conditions and that augmented game designs were associated with significant learning benefits for K–16 students.
   Review of Educational Research, April 2015
   Douglas B. Clark, Emily E. Tanner-Smith, Stephen S. Killingsworth
   
   
8. The Theory and Practice of Culturally Relevant Education: A Synthesis of Research Across Content Areas
   In this synthesis of research, the authors sought examples of research connecting culturally relevant education to positive student outcomes across content areas to create a reference useful to educational researchers, parents, teachers, and education leaders.
   Review of Educational Research, April 2015
   Brittany Aronson, Judson Laughter
   
   
9. Transitioning Normalcy: Organizational Culture, African American Administrators, and Diversity Leadership in Higher Education
   Researchers posit that the inclusion of minority experiences must shape the recruitment, retention, and assessment of minority representation at the university administrative level to achieve true diversity leadership at that level at predominantly White institutions.
   Review of Educational Research, December 2015
   Brandon L. Wolfe, Paulette Patterson Dilworth
   
   
10. Do First-Year Seminars Improve College Grades and Retention? A Quantitative Review of Their Overall Effectiveness and an Examination of Moderators of Effectiveness
    Using first-year grades and 1-year retention rates to review the effectiveness of first-year seminars, researchers found that first-year seminars have a small effect on both first-year grades and the 1-year retention rate.
    Review of Educational Research, May 2015
    Vahe Permzadian, Marcus Credé

Review of Research in Education

1. Knowing What Teachers Know
   Authors examine the history of testing teacher knowledge and philosophical and scientific developments in the assessment of teacher knowledge.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Drew H. Gitomer, Robert C. Zisk
   
   
2. The Changing Nature of Educational Assessment
   This chapter concerns the evolution of educational assessment from a paper-based technology to an electronic one, describes the stages of development, and uses it to place the new generation of assessments.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Randy Elliot Bennett
   
   
3. Assessment of English Language Learners in the Era of New Academic Content Standards
   The authors provide a detailed review of current language assessment policies and practices with ELL students under the federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act and discuss relevant research in order to evaluate their technical quality and validity. The authors examine the intersection of language assessment and academic content assessment in terms of their purposeful interpretation and use by educators in decision making.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Alison L. Bailey, Patricia E. Carroll
   
   
4. Developing Teacher’s Knowledge and Skills at the Intersection of English Language Learners and Language Assessment
   The authors expand on past reviews of literature delineating the challenges in assessing English learners in their nondominant language, primarily reviewing the issues relevant to teaching English learners in the United States.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Kip Téllez, Eduardo Mosqueda
   
   
5. Assessment of Teachers From a Social Psychological Perspective
   The authors focus on the description and assessment of teachers’ social psychological factors, using scientific literature as a base, with the ultimate goal of producing assessments capable of populating classrooms with teachers who can model and incite behaviors that assist students in their learning.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Ayesha Madni, Eva L. Baker, Kirby A. Chow, Girlie C. Delacruz, Noelle C. Griffin
   
   
6. Promoting Validity in the Assessment of English Learners
   In this article, researchers define English learners and evaluate the challenges inherent in assessing their academic knowledge, skills, and abilities through standardized tests and discuss actions that can be taken to promote valid interpretations for ELs and accommodations that should be made.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Stephen G. Sireci, Molly Faulkner-Bond
   
   
7. Advancing Accessibility and Accommodations in Content Assessments for Students With Disabilities and English Learners
   This article reviews what has happened as accessibility and accommodations research and practice for content assessments are advanced to ensure the appropriate inclusion and validity of assessment results for English learners and students with disabilities.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Martha L. Thurlow, Rebecca J. Kopriva
   
   
8. Transformation in K–12 English Language Proficiency Assessment: Changing Contexts, Changing Constructs
   The researchers examine literature that explores the merits and shortcomings of English language proficiency testing as they have evolved over time, examine the evolving construct and operationalization of academic language, explore expanded conceptualizations of assessment, and offer a set of questions as a heuristic for test developers and educational professionals to continue to think critically about the role of English language proficiency assessments.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Timothy Boals, Dorry M. Kenyon, Alissa Blair, M. Elizabeth Cranley, Carsten Wilmes, Laura J. Wright
   
   
9. Psychometric Challenges in Assessing English Language Learners and Students With Disabilities
   The authors address the psychometric challenges in assessing English language learners and students with disabilities by addressing some general considerations in their assessment and discussing the efficacy of test accommodations and modifications.
   Review of Research in Education, March 2015
   Suzanne Lane, Brian Leventhal
   
   
10. Adaptations and Access to Assessment of Common Core Content
    Authors introduce the theory that undergirds the role of testing adaptations in assessment to document the substantial research that has been completed on testing adaptations and to push the field to reexamine the methods used to answer questions about the appropriateness of evidence that has typically been collected.
    Review of Research in Education, March 2015
    Ryan J. Kettler

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