Perspectives on Evidence-Based Research in Education—What Works? Issues in Synthesizing Educational Program Evaluations

Syntheses of research on educational programs have taken on increasing policy importance. Procedures for performing such syntheses must therefore produce reliable, unbiased, and meaningful information on the strength of evidence behind each program. Because evaluations of any given program are few i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational researcher 2008-01, Vol.37 (1), p.5-14
Main Author: Slavin, Robert E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Effect Size
Meta Analysis
Pretests Posttests
Program Evaluation
Research Design
Sample Size
Synthesis
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Summary:Syntheses of research on educational programs have taken on increasing policy importance. Procedures for performing such syntheses must therefore produce reliable, unbiased, and meaningful information on the strength of evidence behind each program. Because evaluations of any given program are few in number, syntheses of program evaluations must focus on minimizing bias in reviews of each study. This article discusses key issues in the conduct of program evaluation syntheses: requirements for research design, sample size, adjustments for pretest differences, duration, and use of unbiased outcome measures. It also discusses the need to balance factors such as research designs, effect sizes, and numbers of studies in rating the overall strength of evidence supporting each program.
ISSN:0013-189X
1935-102X
DOI:10.3102/0013189X08314117