This article systematically reviews what is known empirically about the association between executive function and student achievement in both readingand math and critically assesses the evidence for a causal association between the two. Using meta-analytic techniques, the review finds that there is a moderate unconditional association between executive function and achievement that does not differ by executive function construct, age, or measurement type but finds no compelling evidence that a causal association between the two exists.

This study uses a randomized design to assess the impact of the Balanced Leadership program on principal leadership, instructional climate, principal efficacy, staff turnover, and student achievement in a sample of rural northern Michigan schools. Participating principals report feeling more efficacious, using more effective leadership practices, and having a better instructional climate than control group principals. However, teacher reports indicate that the instructional climate of the schools did not change. Furthermore, we find no impact of the program on student achievement. There was an impact of the program on staff turnover, with principals and teachers in treatment schools significantly more likely to remain in the same school over the 3 years of the study than staff in control schools.

Commentaries regarding appropriate methods for researching professional development have been a frequent topic in recent issues of Educational Researcher as well as other venues. In this article, the authors extend this discussion by observing that randomized trials of specific professional development programs have not enhanced our knowledge of effective program characteristics, leaving practitioners without guidance with regard to best practices. In response, the authors propose that scholars should execute more rigorous comparisons of professional development designs at the initial stages of program development and use information derived from these studies to build a professional knowledge base. The authors illustrate with examples of both a proposed study and reviews of evidence on key questions in the literature.

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