Category: Review

The impact of shared book reading on children’s language skills (Best Evidence in Brief)

There is a new Best Evidence in Brief  with – amongst others – this meta-analysis: This meta-analysis, published in Educational Research Review, explores whether shared reading interventions are equally effective across a range of study designs, across a range of different outcome variables, and for children from different socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Studies were included… Read More The impact of shared book reading on children’s language skills (Best Evidence in Brief)

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Two very similar theories but from two different backgrounds: CLT and the Scarcity Mindset

John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory has been quite successful for the past few years, with e.g. Dylan Wiliam calling it the most important theory in present day education. The essence is that our short term memory is limited in the number of elements it can contain simultaneously. I do prefer the distinction Sweller originally made… Read More Two very similar theories but from two different backgrounds: CLT and the Scarcity Mindset

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New review of evidence on parental engagement (Best Evidence in Brief)

This review in the latest Best Evidence in Brief focuses on an important partner in education that often is overlooked: A review of evidence published by the Education Endowment Foundation in the UK shows how parental engagement can have a positive effect on a child’s academic achievement – regardless of age or socioeconomic status. The review, conducted by… Read More New review of evidence on parental engagement (Best Evidence in Brief)

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A new meta-analysis about interleaved practice, some nuances

Interleaving is a very effective tool in every teachers’ toolbox, but this new meta-analysis shows some interesting nuances: Interleaving is clearly effective for inductive learning of complex visual material with high similarity between categories but not within categories. In contrast, results concerning the interleaving effect for learning with expository texts are mixed. Thus, interleaving should… Read More A new meta-analysis about interleaved practice, some nuances

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Do higher teacher qualifications mean better early childhood education and care? (Best Evidence in Brief)

A slightly smaller Best Evidence in Brief this time it appears, still this seems a relevant review: This Campbell systematic review examines the evidence on the correlation between teacher qualifications and the quality of early childhood learning environments, as measured by the Environment Rating Scale (ERS). The review summarizes findings from 48 studies with 82 independent… Read More Do higher teacher qualifications mean better early childhood education and care? (Best Evidence in Brief)

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Nudging in education proves difficult to scale up (Best Evidence in Brief)

There is a new Best Evidence in Brief, with bad news for nudging: Small-scale trials of “nudge” approaches, where, for example, students are encouraged via a series of text messages to apply for financial support for college, have shown positive results. These trials have involved a few thousand students, but could the approach be scaled up… Read More Nudging in education proves difficult to scale up (Best Evidence in Brief)

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