Abstract

Adesope, O. O., Trevisan D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research. Advance online publication. (Original DOI: 10.3102/0034654316689306)
In the initial OnlineFirst version of this article, on page 4 under the section “The Need for a New Meta-Analysis on the Testing Effect,” the third bullet may be open to misinterpretation. Thus, we now provide clarity on how the present study builds on previous research by Phelps (2012) and added Ahn, Ames, and Myers (2012) and Harwell and Maeda (2008) in the References.
The present meta-analysis is different from Phelps (2012) in at least four ways. First, Phelps (2012) conducted an extensive review of quantitative, survey, and qualitative studies on testing effects published up to 2010 and provided results separately for each, while our study focuses on quantitative studies published up to 2015. Indeed, of the 282 independent effect sizes that we extracted and included in our meta-analysis, 84 were published between 2011 and 2015. Second, Phelps (2012) examined both low-stakes and high-stakes testing effects while our meta-analysis only examined the effects of low-stakes practice tests. Third, our meta-analysis reported key methodological information such as study selection criteria, index of inter-rater reliability (Kappa) and presented weighted mean effect sizes with concomitant statistics such as standard errors, 95% lower and upper confidence intervals, and tests of heterogeneity (e.g., Q and I2 statistics). Researchers have recommended that such information be reported as they help readers understand and interpret the precision and heterogeneity of the effect sizes so as to provide more reliable and valid inferences from meta-analyses (Ahn, Ames, & Myers, 2012; Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, & Rothstein, 2009; Harwell & Maeda, 2008). Fourth, while we acknowledge the extensive review and report of several moderators by Phelps, our meta-analysis examined several moderators not reported by Phelps. These moderators include, but are not limited to, comparison treatment, practice and final test format, transfer appropriate processing, study settings, measure reliability, prior knowledge, treatment fidelity.
Ahn, S., Ames, A. J., & Myers, N. D. (2012). A review of meta-analyses in education: Methodological strengths and weaknesses. Review of Educational Research, 82, 436–476. doi:10.3102/0034654312458162
Harwell, M., & Maeda, Y. (2008). Deficiencies of reporting in meta-analyses and some remedies. The Journal of Experimental Education, 76, 403–430. doi:10.3200/JEXE.76.4.403-430
This has been corrected in the subsequent versions of the article.
