Marta Pellegrini, University of Florence, Italy

The Campbell Collaboration has recently published a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for K-6 students at risk for failure in mathematics and reading. To be included in the review, studies had to use randomized or quasi-experimental designs and evaluate interventions conducted during the regular school day. A total of 205 studies were included in the review. Of these, 93% were randomized experiments and 86% took place in the United States. The included studies were placed in the following categories based on the intervention characteristics: coaching of personnel; computer-assisted instruction; incentives; peer-assisted instruction; progress monitoring; small-group instruction.

Overall, results showed significant positive effect for outcomes measured immediately after the intervention (ES = +0.30) as well as for follow-up outcomes (up to 2 years; ES = +0.27). Consistent with findings of previous reviews on students at risk for failure, peer-assisted instruction and small-group instruction…