Visible learning

Compiled by Instructional Consultants/Brenda Hatfield Sorensen Page 1
Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement
By John Hattie
Meta-analyses by rank order purple = high d = ≥ .6
(as identified by the author) green = medium d = .4
yellow = low d = .2
red = negative d = < .2
Rank Effect
size
Domain Influence Additional information
1 1.44 student Self-report grades Students have reasonably accurate understandings of their
levels of achievement, typically formed from past experiences
in learning. High school students had very accurate
understandings of their achievement levels across all
subjects, and are very knowledgeable about their chance of
success. These expectations of success may become a barrier
for some students as they may only perform to whatever
expectations they already have of their ability.
2 1.28 student Piagetian programs The relationship between Piagetian stage and achievement is
very high. Knowing the ways in which students think and how
this thinking may be constrained by their stages of
development may be most important to how teachers choose
materials and tasks, how the concept of difficulty and
challenge can be realized in different tasks, and the
importance of developing successive and simultaneous
thinking.
3 .90 teaching
approaches
Providing formative
evaluation of programs
Feedback that provides teachers with formative information
on attention to the purposes of innovations, the willingness
to seek evidence on where students are not doing well, the
keenness to see the effects on all students, and openness to
new experiences make a difference. The major issue is for
teachers to pay attention to the formative effects of their
teaching.
4 .88 teacher Micro teaching Microteaching typically involves student-teachers conducting
mini-lessons to a small group of students, often in a
laboratory setting, and then engaging in post-discussions
about the lesson.
5 .88 school Acceleration for gifted
students
Acceleration involves progress through an educational
program at rates faster or ages younger than is conventional,
and may include curriculum compacting, telescoping, and
advanced placement. Acceleration is successful, but one of
the least used methods for gifted students. There may be a
negative social impact on gifted students if they are not
accelerated.
6 .80 school Classroom behavioral See classroom management, climate, decreasing disruptive
behavior, and peer influences on behavior for specifics.
7 .77 teaching
approaches
Comprehensive
intervention for LD
students
A combined direct instruction and strategy instruction model
was an effective procedure for remediating learning
disabilities. These two approaches are somewhat

independent, so it’s important to use both to maximize the
effect on achievement. Important instructional components
included attention to sequencing, drill-repetition-practice,
segmenting information into parts or units for later synthesis,
controlling task difficulty through prompts and cues, use of
technology, systematically modeling problem solving steps,
and making use of small interactive groups.
8 .75 teacher Teacher clarity Teacher clarity is defined as organization, explanation,
examples and guided practice, and assessment of student
learning.
9 .74 teaching
approaches
Reciprocal teaching The emphasis of reciprocal teaching is on enabling students
to learn and use cognitive strategies such as summarizing,
questioning, clarifying, and predicting when supported
through teacher-student dialogue. The effect size is very
high, and this high effect was evident regardless of who
delivered the intervention. Effects were highest when there
was explicit teaching of cognitive strategies before beginning
reciprocal teaching dialogue, showing the importance of
modeling and practice as well as giving instruction in use of
the strategies close to the time students used them.
10 .73 teaching
approaches
Feedback Feedback is most powerful when it is from the student to the
teacher. When teachers seek feedback from students as to
what students know, what they understand, where they
make errors, when they have misconceptions, when they are
not engaged- then teaching and learning can be synchronized
and powerful. The most effective feedback forms provide
cues or reinforcement to the learner, are in the form of video,
audio, or computer-assisted instruction feedback, or relate
feedback to learning goals. The key is feedback that is
received and acted upon by students. At best, each student
receives moments of feedback in a single day. Programmed
instruction, praise, punishment, and extrinsic awards were
the least effective forms of feedback for enhancing
achievement. Providing feedback is not about giving rewards,
but rather providing information about the task. Feedback is
more effective when it provides information on correct rather
than incorrect responses. Impact is highest when goals are
specific and challenging but when task complexity is low. The
art is to provide the right form of feedback at, or just above,
the level where the student is learning. Feedback at the self
or personal level, such as praise, is rarely effective. When
feedback is combined with effective instruction in classrooms,
it can be very powerful in enhancing learning.
11 .72 teaching
approaches
Teacher-student
relationships
In classes with more person-centered teachers, there is more
engagement, more respect of self and others, fewer resistant
behaviors, greater non-directivity (student initiated and
student regulated activities), and higher achievement
outcomes.
From high to low in effect size, 9 teacher-student relationship
variables are non-directivity, empathy, warmth,
encouragement of higher order thinking, encouraging

learning, adapting to differences, genuineness, and learner-
centered beliefs.
12 .71 teaching
approaches
Spaced vs. mass
practice
It is the frequency of different opportunities, rather than
merely spending more time on task that makes the difference
in learning. This is not drill and practice, but rather
deliberative practice involving specific skills, complex
performance, and attainment of success criteria. Students
often need 3-4 exposures to the learning- usually over several
days- before there is reasonable probability they will learn.
Students in spaced practice perform higher than in mass
practice. The effectiveness of the length of pacing is related
to the challenge/complexity of the task: stronger effects
were found for simple tasks with brief rest periods, and
longer rest periods (at least 24 hours) for more complex
tasks.
13 .69 teaching
approaches
Meta-cognitive
strategies
Meta-cognitive activities can include planning how to
approach a given learning task, evaluating progress, and
monitoring comprehension. Programs are effective when
implemented using small group instruction, with students in
higher grades, with remedial students, and in less intensive
programs. The most effective meta-cognitive strategies were
awareness of text inconsistency and use of self-questioning.
14 .67 student Prior achievement
15 .67 curricula Vocabulary programs Students who experienced vocabulary instruction had major
improvements in reading comprehension of passages
containing taught words. The most effective teaching
methods include providing definitional and contextual
information, involving students in deeper processing, and
giving students more than one or two exposures to the
words.
16 .67 curricula Repeated reading
programs
Repeated reading consists of re-reading a short and
meaningful passage until a satisfactory level of fluency is
reached. The skills of automaticity in word recognition and
decoding generally develop in grades 2 and 3. These skills
need to be specifically assessed and taught, especially to
learning disabled students. Repeated reading has marked
positive effects on reading comprehension as well as fluency.
17 .65 curricula Creativity programs An emphasis on instructional strategies and direct instruction
makes a major difference in the effectiveness of creativity
programs. Creativity programs with a high level of
structuring, questioning, and responding to student
questioning had high constant effects across all subject areas.
Creativity programs that include explicit instruction were
most successful, as were those based on developing thinking
strategies.
18 .64 teaching
approaches
Self-verbalization/
Self-questioning
Of the cognitive mediation strategies taught to students, self-
verbalization was among the most effective and worked
better for task oriented skills such as writing or mathematics.
The effects of student self-questioning are higher with low
ability students, because high-ability students are generally

using a variety of self-regulation strategies already. The
effects are higher for pre- and post-lesson questioning,
compared to questioning interspersed during the lesson;
when questionings were delayed rather than immediate; and
where there was teacher modeling compared to none.
19 .62 teacher Professional
development
Four types of instruction found to be most effective on
teacher knowledge and behavior are: observation of actual
classroom methods, microteaching, video/audio feedback,
and practice. Lowest effects are from discussion, lectures,
games/simulations, and guided field trips, as were coaching,
modeling, and production of printed or instructional
materials.
20 .61 teaching
approaches
Problem-solving
teaching
Significant direct links were found between problem solving
and various measures of basic performance, in particular
basic skills in mathematics. For surface knowledge, problem-
based learning can have limited and even negative effects.
For deeper learning, when students already have the surface
level knowledge, problem-based learning can have positive
effects. Application of knowledge, not development of
knowledge, is the heart of the success of problem-based
learning.
21 .61 teacher Not labeling students Labels often help “classify” students and can lead to extra
funding, but rarely does it make a difference as to what works
best.
22 .60 curricula Phonics instruction Though the findings of the NRP on phonemic awareness have
been hotly contested, other studies have confirmed their
conclusions. Phonological awareness training should be seen
as a causal factor in learning to read. Also, phonological
training in groups is more effective, and training that
combines phonological and letter training combined is more
effective. Phonics with additional language and literacy
activities were the most effective.
23 .60 teaching
approaches
Teaching strategies For students with learning disabilities, there are higher effect
sizes for models of instruction that include direct and strategy
instruction, with the most successful being sequencing, drill
repetition, and strategy cues. Marzano found that when the
instructional technique was designed for the student, the
effect was higher than when the technique was designed for
the teacher.
24 .59 teaching
strategies
Cooperative vs.
individualistic learning
Both cooperative and competitive learning are more effective
than individualistic methods- pointing to the power of peers
in the learning equation. Under cooperative conditions
interpersonal relations have the strongest effect on
achievement, clearly pointing to the value of friendship in the
achievement equation.
25 .59 teaching
strategies
Study skills Courses in study skills alone can have an effect on surface
level information, but it is necessary to combine study skills
with the content to have an effect on the deeper levels of
understanding. The highest ranked study skill is organizing
and transforming (rearranging of instructional materials to

improve learning, such as making an outline). Teaching note
taking has higher effects when students are given instructor’s
notes to work from, as the reviewing of notes is more
effective than the taking of notes.
26 .59 teaching
strategies
Direct instruction In a nutshell, the teacher decides the learning intentions and
success criteria, demonstrates them by modeling, evaluates if
students understood what they have been told by checking
for understanding, and re-telling them what they have told by
tying it all together with closure. The effects of direct
instruction are similar for regular and special ed/lower ability
students, higher for reading than mathematics, similar for low
level word attack and also for high level comprehension, and
similar for elementary and high school students. The
messages of the meta-analyses underline the power of
stating the learning intentions and success criteria, then
engaging students in moving toward these.
27 .58 curricula Tactile stimulation
programs
The evidence of the effectiveness of tactile stimulation used
with infants and young children as a form of early
intervention to stimulate the senses points to its
effectiveness.
28 .58 curricula Comprehension
programs
Reading comprehension programs have a greater effect on
vocabulary than on reading comprehension outcomes. A
higher effect results from programs that focus on processing
strategies such as inferential reasoning, rules for
summarizing, and chunking texts. Guthrie’s concept-oriented
reading program intervention has had positive effects on
multiple text comprehension, fluency, story comprehension,
and motivation.
29 .58 teaching
strategies
Mastery learning Features of mastery learning include providing students with
a clear explanation of what is to be mastered, high levels of
cooperation among classmates, high levels of frequent and
specific teacher feedback, use of diagnostic formative tests,
and regular corrections of mistakes. The notion is that
learning should be held constant and time should be allowed
to vary. It is the most successful of several innovative
systems, with highest effects at the elementary level,
followed by high school and college.
30 .57 teaching
strategies
Worked examples Worked examples typically consist of a problem statement
and the appropriate steps to the solution. Instruction using
worked examples generally helps to reduce cognitive load.
31 .57 home Home environment
32 .57 home Socioeconomic status
33 .57 teaching
strategies
Concept mapping Concept mapping involves developing graphical
representations of the conceptual structure of content to be
learned. The importance of it relates to its emphasis on
summarizing the main ideas in what is to be learned. It can
assist in synthesizing and identifying major ideas, themes, and
interrelationships- particularly for learners who do not have
organizing and synthesizing skills. Effects were greater when
done after initial exposure to the material to be mapped, and

when the emphasis was on understanding central rather than
detailed ideas of the topic to be mapped.
34 .56 teaching
strategies
Goals Goals are critical for enhancing performance. Achievement is
enhanced to the effect that students and teachers set
challenging, rather than “do your best” goals. More difficult
goals are more effective in that they lead to a clearer notion
of success and direct students’ attention to relevant
behaviors or outcomes. Any school with a “do your best”
goal should change it to “face your challenges” or “strive to
the highest.” Effective teachers set appropriately challenging
goals and then structure situations so students can reach
them. Encouraging students to share commitment to the
goals and providing feedback on how successful learning has
been increases the likelihood of attainment. Challenging
goals are also effective with special ed students.
35 .55 curricula Visual-perception
programs
Visual perception refers to the process of organizing and
interpreting letters on the page. Both auditory and visual
perception were important predictors of reading for both
average students and students with disabilities.
36 .55 teaching
strategies
Peer tutoring The overall effect of the use of peers as co-teachers is quite
powerful. It is an excellent method to teach students to
become their own teachers. Peer tutoring has many
academic and social benefits for both those tutoring and
those being tutored. If the peer intervention is more student
controlled, such as peers being involved in setting goals,
monitoring performance, evaluating performance, and
selecting rewards, the effects are greater than when the
teacher controls the situation. When students become
teachers of others, they learn as much as those they are
teaching.
37 .54 teaching
strategies
Cooperative vs.
competitive learning
Both cooperative and competitive learning are more effective
than individualistic. For rote decoding and correcting tasks,
cooperation does not seem to be superior. Cooperative
learning is more effective in reading than in mathematics.
The positive effects of cooperative learning increased as
students moved through elementary to junior high and high
school, particularly when there was individual accountability
and group rewards.
38 .54 student Pre-term birth weight
39 .53 school Climate of the
classroom: Classroom
cohesion
A key factor in positive classroom climate is classroom
cohesion- the sense that all are working towards positive
learning gains. Common attributes that optimize student
learning include goal directedness, positive interpersonal
relations, and social support. In situations with greater
cohesiveness, it is more likely there are co-peer learning,
tolerance and welcoming of error, increased feedback, and
more discussions of goals, success criteria, and positive
relationships.
40 .53 teaching
strategies
Keller’s Personalized
System of Instruction
Students using PSI had higher grades and higher satisfaction
rates than students in conventional classes. Key features of

the program include students proceed through the course at
their own pace, students demonstrate mastery of each
component before proceeding to the next, materials and
communication are largely text based, and teachers primarily
provide tutorial support and student motivation.
41 .53 school Peer influences Low classroom peer acceptance can be consistently linked
with student disengagement. Friendships can play an
important part in the classroom environment, as they often
involve higher levels of caring, support, and help, can ease
conflict resolution, and thus lead to more learning
opportunities and enhanced academic achievement,
particularly from early adolescence on.
42 .52 school Classroom
management
The attributes of teachers that had the greatest influence on
ensuring well-managed classrooms and reducing disruption
came from having an appropriate mental set or “with-it-ness”
by the teacher; the teacher had the ability to identify and
quickly act on potential behavioral problems and retain
emotional objectivity.
43 .52 curricula Outdoor/adventure
programs
The most successful programs were Outward Bound or
Adventure programs. Those run by teachers were least
successful, and those that were more cognitively based than
emotionally or affective based were more successful. Major
reason for a program’s success include the way activities are
structured to emphasize very challenging learning intentions,
clear success criteria, optimized peer support, and feedback
that is actively sought by participants.
44 .52 teaching
strategies
Interactive video
methods
Cognitive achievement from interactive video instruction is
influenced by a wide range of variables such as the nature of
instructional content, environmental factors, instructional
methods, and the learning materials. Hypermedia (multiple
representations of information and interactivities between
users and this information) has positive effects over
traditional instruction, with effects greater in regular
classrooms, in elementary school, and when used to
supplement rather than substitute regular instruction.
45 .51 home Parental involvement
46 .50 curricula Play programs For younger children, play makes a difference. It promotes
improved performance outcomes in cognitive-linguistic and
affective-social domains. Socio-dramatic play had the most
striking effect and the smallest effect was with imaginative
play.
47 .50 curricula Second/third chance
programs
Well-designed, reliably implemented, one-to-one
interventions (e.g., Reading Recovery) can make a significant
contribution to improved reading outcomes for many
students whose poor reading skills place them at risk of
academic failure.
48 .49 school Small group learning Small group learning typically involves assigning a task to a
small group and then expecting them to complete the task.
Small group learning has significantly more positive effects
than individual learning with computer technology on student

achievement, group task performance, and several process
and affective outcomes. The effects of small group learning
were significantly enhanced when students had group work
experience or instruction, where specific learning strategies
were employed, and when group size was small. Simply
placing students in small or more homogeneous groups is not
enough. For grouping to be maximally effective, materials
and teaching must be varied and maximally effective
materials and teaching must be varied and made
appropriately challenging to accommodate student needs.
49 .48 student Concentration/
Persistence/
Engagement
50 .48 school School effects Classrooms are far more important than schools in
determining how children perform at school. Effective
schools are only as effective to the extent they have effective
teachers. Many of the influences that really make a difference
to student learning in developed nations are within schools,
from the influence of specific teachers, specific curriculum,
and strategies teachers use to teach.
51 .48 student Motivation
52 .47 student Early intervention
53 .46 teaching
practices
Questioning The overall effects of questioning vary, depending on the type
of question. Higher cognitive questioning strategies have a
small positive effect on learning measures. Factual pre-
questions can facilitate learning if they are directly related to
the materials to be learned. Teacher training in questioning
matters, especially when attention is paid to teachers
monitoring their own actions. Of more importance than
teacher questioning is analyzing the questions students ask.
54 .45 curricula Mathematics Highest effects accrued when teachers provided feedback
data or recommendations to students, peer-assisted learning,
explicit teacher-led instruction, direct instruction, and
concrete feedback to parents. Providing teachers and
students with specific information on how each student was
performing seemed to consistently enhance mathematics
achievement. Overall, the use of manipulative materials does
not detract from, but does little to support the learning of
mathematics.
55 .45 student Preschool programs
56 .44 teacher Quality of teaching The highest correlations involved items relating to:
1. Teachers challenging students, encouraging them to think
through and solve problems, either by themselves or
together as a group. 2. High expectations. 3. Monitoring
and evaluation, getting students to think about the nature
and quality of their work; encouraging them to test
mathematical ideas and discover mathematical principals.
4. Teaching the language, love, and details of mathematics.
Having poor teachers can be devastating. The residual effects
of relatively ineffectual teachers from prior years can be

measured in subsequent student achievement scores. The
effect of poor teaching quality tends to persist for years after
a student has had such a teacher.
57 .44 curricula Writing programs It is powerful to teach strategies for planning, revising, and
editing compositions, particularly with struggling writers.
There is power in teaching students the processes and
strategies involved in writing, structuring teaching of writing
by having students work together in an organized fashion,
and setting of clear and specific goals as to the purpose of
each piece of writing. Workshop instructional treatments
have a greater effect size than computer support or teaching
of inquiry skills.
58 .43 teacher Expectations Teachers must stop overemphasizing ability, and start
emphasizing progress, seek evidence to surprise themselves
regarding student performance, find ways to raise the
achievement of all, and be evidence informed about the
talents and growth of all students, by welcoming diversity
and being accountable for all.
59 .43 school School size Some research indicates optimal size of a high school to be
about 800. The curriculum advantages of larger schools start
to reduce in their effectiveness as they grow much beyond
800. Achievement gains in mathematics and reading over the
course of high school were largest in middle-sized high
schools (600-800). Teachers and students at smaller schools
are more likely to have positive perceptions of their school
environment.
60 .43 student Self-concept
61 .41 teaching
practices
Behavioral objectives/
advance organizers
Using advance organizers to introduce new materials, by
providing a bridge from previous knowledge, did facilitate
long-term learning, but effects were lower for written
advance organizers compared to non-written ones, and had
no effect with low-ability or low-knowledge learners.
62 .41 teaching
practices
Matching style of
learning
Authors noted it was hard to discern the meaning of some of
the meta-analyses related to this topic. One conclusion was
that learning style is somewhat important. One possible
explanation is that when students enjoy learning, then
achievement is higher.
63 .41 teaching
practices
Cooperative learning Cooperative learning is effective, especially when contrasted
with competitive and individualistic learning. Cooperation
was superior to competition in promoting achievement
across all subjects, for all age groups, and for tasks involving
concept attainment, verbal problem solving, categorizing,
spatial problem solving, retention, memory, motor
performance, and guessing-judging-predicting. It is more
effective in reading than in math. The effects increased as
students moved through elementary through high school.
Under cooperative conditions, interpersonal relations have
the strongest influence on achievement, and this clearly
points to the value of friendship in the achievement equation.
64 .40 curricula Science Meta-analyses in science investigated skills based programs

vs. traditional programs. Skills based programs emphasize
analytic and process skills, integrated lab activities, higher
cognitive skills, and science appreciation. Traditional
curricula emphasize knowledge of facts, laws, theories, and
applications. Students in skills based programs generally
outperformed those in traditional ones on attitudes, process
skills, analytic skills, and achievement.
65 .40 curricula Social skills programs The effects of social skills programs are stronger on
enhancing peer relations and social outcomes; lower when
students are initially identified as social problems; and lowest
when academic achievement is the outcome.
66 .40 student Reducing anxiety
67 .39 curricula Integrated curriculum
programs
The most important elements in integrated programs were
thematic instruction and an emphasis on process skills. They
were more successful in elementary and middle school than
in secondary; for lower achieving and ethnically diverse
students; and when more experienced teachers implemented
the program.
68 .39 school Enrichment for gifted
students
Enrichment has less effect than acceleration. Programs in
which students mastered more mature ideas had higher
effects than those with a broader investigation of the regular
curriculum.
69 .38 curricula Career education
interventions
Career counseling has generally positive effects, with class
interventions the most effective, but also requiring the most
hours.
70 .38 teaching
practices
Time on task Time on learning can involve longer school days or years,
procedural time, time off or on task, and so on. At best, half
of student time in class involves engagement in the class
activity, largely because so much time is spent listening to
teachers talking. Engagement is highest when students are
working in groups or laboratories. Also, time spent on
practice needs to be deliberate, with a focus on effort to
improve performance, requiring students to stretch
themselves to higher levels of performance, and requiring
concentration and effort over extended periods.
71 .37 teaching
practices
Computer assisted
instruction
Computers are used effectively when there is a diversity of
teaching strategies; when there is pre-training in the use of
computers as a teaching/learning tool; when there are
multiple opportunities for learning; when the student is in
control of learning, when peer learning is optimized; and
when feedback is optimized.
72 .37 teaching
practices
Adjunct aids Adjunct aids such as animation and illustrations can assist
learning when they function to attract and direct attention,
when they highlight main ideas and comprehension, and
when the text assists readers to see details in the pictures.
73 .37 curricula Bilingual programs Bilingual programs are programs where two languages are
used as a medium for instruction. A meta-analysis of a Santa
Fe Bilingual Education program found the initial impact was
greater in the early grades, and had a significant effect on
mathematics achievement, while reading gains were small.

74 .36 school Principals/school
leaders
Two major forms of leadership include instructional and
transformational leadership. Evidence supports the power of
the former over the latter in terms of student outcomes.
School leaders who promote challenging goals, and then
establish safe environments for teachers to critique, question,
and support other teachers to reach these goals together that
have most effect on student outcomes. Leaders who focus
on student achievement and instructional strategies are the
most effective. Leaders who place more attention on
teaching and focused achievement domains have higher
effects.
75 .36 student Attitude to
mathematics/science
76 .36 curricula Exposure to reading Parent-preschooler joint book reading experiences were
shown to be related to positive outcomes in language growth,
emergent literacy, and reading achievement. Reading to
children, however, is not sufficient to lead to competent
readers- instruction is also needed.
77 .35 curricula Drama/arts programs Creative drama activities have positive effects on children’s
achievement at elementary grade levels in oral language
skills, self-esteem, moral reasoning, role-taking abilities, and
drama skills.
78 .35 student Creativity
79 .34 teaching
practices
Frequent testing/
effects of testing
Repeated testing is only effective if there is feedback from
the tests to teachers such that they modify their instruction
to attend to the strengths and gaps of student performance.
Although performance is increased with more frequent
testing, the amount of improvement in achievement
diminishes as the number of tests increase.
80 .34 school Decreasing disruptive
behavior
Teachers need skills to ensure no student unnecessarily
disrupts their own or the learning of any other students in
class. Targeting classroom disruptions via a behavioral
approach is the most efficacious. The most successful
programs included social or token reinforcement,
cooperation, behavioral consultation, and cognitive behavior
modification; the least successful involved social skills
training.
81 .33 student Drugs
82 .33 teaching
practices
Simulations Simulations and gaming had a small positive effect over
alternative instructional techniques, although somewhat
larger effects when compared with lecture only. Simulations
are more effective with lower rather than high ability
students. Simulation and gaming had higher effect sizes in
achievement when used with students in higher grade levels.
83 .33 teaching
practices
Inductive teaching Induction is usually described as moving from the specific to
the general. In science teaching, results indicated it makes no
difference if educational experiences are provided to
students prior to formalizing generalizations, or if
generalizations are formulated prior to any illustrative
examples.

84 .32 student Positive view of own
ethnicity
85 .32 teacher Teacher effects See individual teacher items for more description.
86 .31 teaching
practices
Inquiry based teaching Effect sizes of inquiry teaching are greater on process than on
content, and higher for biology and physics than for
chemistry. Effects were greatest at elementary level and
decreased as students progressed through their school years.
Results indicate inquiry based instruction can foster critical
thinking which was transferable, improved achievement, and
improved attitude towards the subject.
87 .30 school Ability grouping for
gifted students
Gifted students, when placed in special, homogeneous classes
with challenging curricula, achieved more than gifted
counterparts in regular classes.
88 .29 teaching
practices
Homework The positive effects of homework are higher in secondary
than junior high and higher in junior high than in elementary.
The positive effects of homework were negatively related to
the duration of the homework. Shorter is better, but for
elementary students, the correlation is near zero between
time spent on homework and achievement. Effects were
higher when the material was not complex or if it was novel.
Homework involving higher level conceptual thinking and
project based was the least effective. Effects are greater for
higher than for lower ability students and for older rather
than younger students.
89 .29 home Home visits
90 .28 student Exercise/relaxation
91 .28 school Desegregation Some studies found students in desegregated schools
performed at higher achievement levels than students in
control groups. Others found virtually no effect from
desegregation on the achievement of African American
students in reading and mathematics.
92 .28 school Mainstreaming Mainstreaming is the concept that students with disabilities
should be integrated with their non-disabled peers to the
maximum extent possible, and certainly placed in the least
restrictive environment. It is often argued more on equity
and social justice reasons than in terms of optimal effects on
learning. There are small but positive advantages for
mainstream over special classes, for achievement, and for
social/personality outcomes.
93 .27 curricula Use of calculators The calculator is neither a help nor a hindrance to students’
overall mathematics achievement, and at minimum their use
helps reduce cognitive load and enhance students’ attitudes
towards the study of mathematics. Across all grades and
ability levels, students using calculators led to greater effects
in students’ basic skills in operations and particularly in
problem solving.
94 .24 curricula Values/moral
education programs
The effects of social skills programs are stronger on
enhancing peer relations and social outcomes; lower when
students are identified as social problems; and lowest when
academic achievement is the outcome of the social skills

programs. Most programs resulted in short term gains,
indicating a need to provide social skills training on a regular
and sustained basis.
95 .24 teaching
practices
Programmed
instruction
There are very low effects from programmed instruction.
When compared to other teaching methods, programmed
instruction often comes near the bottom.
96 .24 teaching
practices
Special college
programs
Remediation programs for college students had higher effects
for new programs and weaker effects in institutionalized
programs. Thus, colleges seem more proficient at setting up
programs for high-risk students than they were at keeping
these programs going.
97 .24 teaching
practices
Competitive vs.
individualistic learning
Competitiveness can be toward beating a standard- either a
personal best standard or a standard of the curriculum.
Cooperative learning has higher effects than competitive, and
both are superior to individualistic learning.
98 .23 school Summer school Going to summer school does not make much of a difference,
but it is difficult to ignore the small gains if they are critical to
students who may be already marginal. In studies, higher
achievers gained more than lower achievers, and middle and
higher SES students gained more than lower SES students.
99 .23 school Finances One claim is that there is no consistent statistical relation
between educational expenditure and measures of student
performance. The emphasis of research may need to be not
on the notion of “Does money make a difference?” but on
“How does money make a difference, particularly beyond the
fixed costs of running a school?”
100 .23 teaching
practices
Individualized
instruction
An individualized teaching system had only a small effect on
student achievement in high school courses. There was
limited contribution to student self-esteem, critical thinking
ability, or attitude toward subject matter taught when using
individualized programs.
101 .23 school Religious schools The dividend of attending religious schools is supposedly
greater for those from lower socioeconomic background, and
effects are slightly stronger for high schools and middle
schools.
102 .23 student Lack of illness
103 .22 teaching
practices
Teaching test taking Coaching is instruction given or practice undertaken in
preparation for taking a test. While coaching did raise SAT
scores, the length of the training seems important. Programs
continuing for 5 weeks or more produced better effects than
shorter ones, the effects were higher with students in upper
rather than lower grades, and higher for students from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds.
104 .22 teaching
practices
Visual/audio-visual
methods
Very small effects resulted from use of television, film, slides,
and tapes. Providing audio tapes of lessons had a small
overall effect on student achievement in college courses.
105 .22 teaching
practices
Comprehensive
teaching reforms
Comprehensive teaching reform programs, such as Success
for All, Core Knowledge, and Accelerated Schools, are often
“imposed” on schools in an effort to reduce the achievement
gap. Their low effects provide little confidence these

programs alone will reduce the achievement gap between at-
risk students and their more advantaged peers.
106 .21 school Class size It appears the effects of reducing class size may be higher on
teacher and student work-related conditions, which then may
or may not translate into effects on student learning. Merely
reducing the number of students in front of teachers appears
to change little- in teaching and in outcomes.
107 .20 school Charter schools It is striking how little we currently know about the effect of
charter schools on student achievement. There is close to
zero effect when comparing achievement in charter and
regular schools.
108 .19 teaching
practices
Aptitude/treatment
interactions
This refers to instruction being altered for different types of
students. Researchers noted existing studies cannot be used
with any confidence to construct general principles of
instructional design.
109 .19 student Personality
110 .19 teaching
practices
Learning hierarchies A different form of learning intention is to structure learning
in some form of hierarchy, such that it is more effective to
acquire first a set of skills that will support later learning.
Overall effects are very low, but it is more effective in
promoting learning at the elementary level than at high
school.
111 .19 teaching Co-teaching/
team teaching
Little research is available on the effects of team teaching.
112 .18 teaching
practices
Web-based learning Use of the world wide web is a fairly recent phenomenon in
our classrooms, so little research is available to analyze its
merits at this time.
113 .17 home Family structure
114 .17 curricula Extra-curricular
programs
If we wish students to enhance achievement, extra-curricular
activities relating to academic types of skills is optimal, and
sport has the least effect on most outcomes. The greatest
effects on achievement came from participation in school-
based extracurricular activities, then pro-social activities such
as scouting, with performing arts having the least effect on all
outcomes.
115 .16 teaching
practices
Teacher immediacy The immediacy and closeness of responses to students shows
them that teachers are listening and responding. The effects
of teacher immediacy were much stronger on affective
learning such as attitudes toward the teacher or course, or
engaging in the learning experience, than on achievement.
116 .16 school Within class grouping There are two major forms of in class grouping:
ability/achievement grouping and small group learning which
is more spontaneous and usually for specific tasks over a
shorter time period. The mean effects size of within class
grouping is low overall, but slightly more advantageous for
high ability students and less for low ability students. In
classes with over 35 students, the mean effect of grouping is
.35.
117 .16 teaching
practices
Home-school programs Use of technology to develop home-school connections in
student learning has limited effects on reading, slightly higher

for mathematics, and is highest for writing.
118 .15 teaching
practices
Problem-based
learning
With this topic, it is important to separate the effects on
surface and deep knowledge and understanding. For surface
knowledge, problem-based learning can have limited and
even negative effects; for deeper learning, when students
have the surface level knowledge, it can have positive effects.
119 .15 curricula Sentence combining
programs
Sentence combining is an instructional activity that requires
students to combine sentences to create compound,
complex, or compound-complex sentence. The effects are
small, but more effective at the elementary than high school
levels.
120 .15 teaching
practices
Mentoring Mentoring usually involves older persons providing academic
or social assistance to younger people. It has close to zero
effect on performance outcomes, but does have higher
effects on attitudes, motivation, and involvement.
121 .12 school Ability grouping Results show that tracking had minimal effects on learning
outcomes and profound negative equity effects. Many low
track classes are deadening, non-educational environments.
Low track classes are more fragmented, less engaging, and
taught by fewer well-trained teachers.
122 .12 student Gender
123 .12 student Diet
124 .11 teacher Teacher training The effect size of teacher education on subsequent student
outcomes is negligible, although the effect on specific skills is
quite high.
125 .09 teacher Teacher subject matter
knowledge
There is not a large corpus of evidence to defend the thought
that teaching begins with a teacher’s understanding of what
is to be learned and how it is to be taught.
126 .09 teaching
practices
Distance education Results indicate similar effects between distance programs
and traditional face-to-face classroom programs.
127 .09 school Out of school
curriculum experiences
The more successful out of school programs were shorter
rather than longer, involved one-on-one tutoring, and were
for students from lower elementary and high school. The
overall effects are negligible compared to what effective
teachers can attain in regular classrooms using many other
methods of instruction.
128 .08 curricula Perceptual-motor
programs
Perceptual motor training is an intervention more often used
with learning-difficulty students. Overall, they are not
effective in improving academic or cognitive learning and
there were no major improvements associated with
perceptual/sensory outcomes.
129 .06 curricula Whole language Whole language programs have negligible effects on learning
to read. Low socioeconomic status children receiving basal
readers did consistently better than their counterparts
receiving whole language instruction.
130 .05 school College halls of
residence
It did not matter whether a student lived in a college, at
home, in a fraternity or sorority house, or in off-campus
housing.
131 .04 school Multi-grade classes Overall, the effects from multi-grade classes compared to
single-age classes are not compelling enough to argue for the

effectiveness of one over the other. It is likely teachers teach
in a similar way regardless of the distribution of age range in
the class.
132 .04 teaching
practices
Student control over
learning
The effect of student choice and control over learning is
somewhat higher on motivation outcomes than on
subsequent student learning.
133 .01 school Open vs. traditional Too often, classroom architecture may be open, but that is no
guarantee that the principles of open teaching are present.
Students performed slightly better on achievement tests in
traditional compared to open teaching, but did worse on
tests of creativity and had slightly less positive attitudes and
self-concepts.
134 -.09 School Summer vacation Students lost some achievement gains over the summer, and
negative effects were slightly larger in mathematics than in
reading and language.
135 -.12 home Welfare policies
136 -.16 school Retention Retention has a negative effect on academic achievement in
language arts, reading, mathematics, work-study skills, social
studies, social studies, and GPA. There are also negative
equity effects- it is four times more likely students of color
will be retained. Also, the threat of non-promotion is not a
motivating force for students; retention does not generally
improve achievement or adjustment for developmentally
immature students, and increases the risk of dropping out of
school twofold.
137 -.18 home Television
138 -.34 school Mobility The effect of student mobility between schools is quite
marked. The effects on reading and mathematics are
negative. The most important reason for these declines
relates to peer effects. Whenever there is a major transition
in schools, the key success factor is whether a child makes a
friend in the first month. It is incumbent for schools to attend
to student friendships and ensure the class makes
newcomers welcomed.

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