Review of Educational Research

In the search for factors that influence school effectiveness, the role of the elementary school principal has emerged as critical. Yet the bulk of past research focused on that role has provided limited insights to explain how principals go about improving the effectiveness of their schools; surprisingly few studies have asked that question directly. Using a framework for planned change, this study assessed the status of knowledge about effective and ineffective principal behaviours. Obstacles that principals face in their attempts at school improvement were also reviewed. Results point to areas of existing knowledge in which confidence can be placed and to useful approaches to subsequent research

Multivariate statistical methods have been strongly recommended in educational and psychological research, which employs multiple dependent variables. While the techniques are readily available there is still controversy as to the proper use of the methods. This paper reviews the available methods for analyzing and interpreting data with multivariate analysis of variance and provides some guidelines for their use. In addition, causal models that underlie the various methods are presented to facilitate the use and understanding of the methods

School climate has been studied with a multitude of variables, methodologies, theories, and models, resulting in a not easily defined body of research. This analysis of the school climate literature, based on over 200 references, uses an organizational theory taxonomy to organize the diverse body of research and to draw conclusions about common findings. The history of school climate research is reviewed, noting the influence of climate instruments developed to study climate in settings other than the total school building, such as business, college, and classroom settings. The difficulty of defining school climate is reflected in the diversity of climate typologies that have evolved, despite their often common roots. The debate about school climate is tied to differences among researchers in theory base, variables to study (and their hypothesized interrelationships), unit of measurement choices, and the validity of subjective and qualitative data (based on participant or observer perception). Some common conclusions about school climate (considered as an independent, intervening, or dependent variable) do emerge in the literature. The paper concludes with a summary of the methodological issues common to school climate studies and suggestions for dealing with the concomitant problems

While research on learning in cooperative small groups has greatly increased during the past several years, few studies have focused on the interaction processes occurring within groups. This review focuses on the role of the student’s experience in small group interaction in learning. Research bearing on three aspects of small group learning is examined: (1) the relationship between interaction and achievement, (2) cognitive process and social-emotional mechanisms bridging interaction and achievement, and (3) characteristics of the individual, group, and reward structure that predict interaction in small groups. Methodological and substantive issues are discussed to evaluate and integrate research findings, and as guidelines for further research. The conclusion is that an individual’s role in group interaction is an important influence on learning, and that interaction can best be predicted from multiple characteristics of the individual, group, and setting

Critics have referred to the influence of an instructor’s personality on student ratings of instruction as the “Dr. Fox effect” or “educational seduction.” In reviewing earlier research, we found inconsistencies from study to study and conducted a meta-analysis to attempt an empirical integration of this literature. Overall, we found that instructor expressiveness had a substantial impact on student ratings but a small impact on student achievement. In contrast, lecture content had a substantial impact on student achievement but a small impact on student ratings. We discuss these findings and offer a new interpretation of the implications of the educational seduction literature for the validity of student ratings