Of Research reviews and practice guides: Translating rapidly growing research on adolescent literacy into updated practice recommendations.

The demand for evidence-based instructional practices has driven a large supply of research on adolescent literacy. Documenting this supply, Baye, Inns, Lake, and Slavin’s 2019 article in Reading Research Quarterly synthesized far more studies, with far more rigorous methodology, than had ever been collected before. What does this mean for practice? Inspired by this article, I investigated how this synthesis compared with the 2008 U.S. Institute of Education Sciences practice guide for adolescent literacy. I also include two contemporary documents for context: Herrera, Truckenmiller, and Foorman’s (2016) review and the U.K. Education Endowment Foundation’s 2019 practice guide for secondary schools. I first examine how these documents define adolescent, reading, and evidence, and propose more inclusive definitions. I then compare their respective evidence bases, finding that the quality and quantity of evidence have dramatically changed. Only one of the 34 studies in the 2008 U.S. practice guide met Baye et al.’s inclusion criteria in 2019, and the average sample size in Baye et al.’s studies was 22 times as large as those in the 2008 U.S. practice guide. I also examine the potential implications for a new practice guide’s instructional recommendations and comment on the expansion of research in technology, disciplinary literacy, and writing—topics scarcely covered in the 2008 U.S. practice guide but which have been extensively researched since then. Finally, I call for revision of the U.S. practice guide and the establishment of standing committees on adolescent literacy to help educators translate the latest research findings into updated practices

The effect of team-based learning on content knowledge: A meta-analysis

This article reports a synthesis and meta-analysis of intervention studies investigating the effects of team-based learning on content knowledge outcomes. Team-based learning is a particular set of instructional components most often used in higher education classrooms. Authors of team-based learning reviews report that team-based learning improves students’ end of course grades, test performance, and classroom engagement. Students report that team-based learning is interesting, allows for deeper understanding of content, and prepares them more effectively for assessment and course performance. A total of 30 studies were located and synthesized. In total, 17 studies met criteria for a meta-analysis, yielding a mean effect size estimate of 0.55, p < 0.001 across all measures. Moderator analysis indicated that group size moderated the magnitude of effect to a statistically significant degree, with smaller group sizes contributing to additional effects. The meta-analysis is followed by a confirmatory synthesis of the remaining 13 studies. Implications for instruction incorporating the use of team-based learning are described

The effect of team-based learning on content knowledge: A meta-analysis

This article reports a synthesis and meta-analysis of intervention studies investigating the effects of team-based learning on content knowledge outcomes. Team-based learning is a particular set of instructional components most often used in higher education classrooms. Authors of team-based learning reviews report that team-based learning improves students’ end of course grades, test performance, and classroom engagement. Students report that team-based learning is interesting, allows for deeper understanding of content, and prepares them more effectively for assessment and course performance. A total of 30 studies were located and synthesized. In total, 17 studies met criteria for a meta-analysis, yielding a mean effect size estimate of 0.55, p < 0.001 across all measures. Moderator analysis indicated that group size moderated the magnitude of effect to a statistically significant degree, with smaller group sizes contributing to additional effects. The meta-analysis is followed by a confirmatory synthesis of the remaining 13 studies. Implications for instruction incorporating the use of team-based learning are described

Implementing Music as a Formative Assessment Strategy to Improve Student Cognition

This article provides teaching strategies for implementing music and/or poetry in a health classroom as a formative assessment to improve and evaluate student learning