How Responsive Is a Teacher’s Classroom Practice to Intervention? A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Field Studies

Abstract

While teacher effectiveness has been a particular focus of federal education policy, and districts allocate significant resources toward professional development for teachers, these efforts are guided by an unexplored assumption that classroom practice can be improved through intervention. Yet even assuming classroom practice is responsive, little information is available to inform stakeholder expectations about how much classroom practice may change through intervention, or whether particular aspects of classroom practice are more amenable to improvement. Moreover, a growing body of rigorous research evaluating programs with a focus on improving classroom practice provides a new opportunity to explore factors associated with changes in classroom practice, such as intervention, study sample, or contextual features. This study examines the question of responsiveness by conducting a meta-analysis of randomized experiments of interventions directed at classroom practice. Our empirical findings indicate that multiple dimensions of classroom practice improve meaningfully through classroom practice-directed intervention, on average, but also find substantial heterogeneity in the effects. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

For unto every one that hath shall be given: teachers’ competence profiles regarding the promotion of self-regulated learning moderate the effectiveness of short-term teacher training

“…Research question 1: Is the training effective for developing teachers' competence to promote SRL, their SRL practice, and their students' SRL? (Garrett et al, 2019). In the next step, we expected teachers' promotion of SRL in the classroom to improve students' SRL (Dignath & Veenman, 2021).…”

“…Thus, teacher interventions should include similar didactical methods to transmit knowledge and develop teaching skills. Third, several meta-analyses and review studies on the effectiveness of teacher interventions on classroom practice demonstrate that neither the length nor intensity of the intervention moderate its effect (Basma & Savage, 2018;Garrett et al, 2019;Lipowsky & Rzejak, 2015;Timperley et al, 2007). Even short workshops of a few hours produce effects (e.g., Bernacki et al, 2020).…”

“…Eighth, another limitation is that our study provides teachers with a short PD training, so we cannot generalize our results to other types of PD. Although a short PD training is time-efficient, it would be notable to compare its effectiveness with that of a long-term PD training on SRL (Garrett et al, 2019) to investigate how teachers can be supported best in developing an effective SRL practice.…”

Lernen aus Unterrichtsvideos?

“…Im Bereich der Unterrichtskommunikation wurden in den letzten Jahren ebenso Interventionen durchgeführt, die Ansätze des dialogic teaching fokussieren (Chen, C. Chan, K. Chan, Clarke & Resnick, 2020;Gröschner, 2020;Mercer et al, 2020;Resnick, Asterhan & Clarke, 2015). Ein aktueller Trend der empirischen Unterrichtsforschung weist grundsätzlich in Richtung randomisierter Feldstudien, in denen die Unterrichtspraxis von Lehrpersonen generell im Mittelpunkt steht (Garrett, Citkowicz & Williams, 2019). Allerdings kommen Unterrichtsvideografien bislang noch selten zum Einsatz und es bleibt abzuwarten, welchen Beitrag videografische Ansätze und Artefakte zukünftig hierbei liefern werden.…”

Strengthening STEM Instruction in Schools: Learning From Research

“…Examining the impact of teacher coaching interventions on instructional practices-operationalized using classroom observation scores from measures of teachers' pedagogical practices, teacher-student interactions, student engagement, and/or classroom climate-a recent study found a moderate pooled effect size (Kraft, Blazar, & Hogan, 2018); however, the analysis could not evaluate the measurement properties of the teacher practice measures, and did not differentiate between outcomes on standardized versus researcher-developed teacher practice measures. Finally, a meta-analysis of PD interventions (Garrett, Citkowicz, & Williams, 2019) reviewed the literature on the impacts of programs aimed at improving classroom practice-defined broadly to include domains such as classroom management, classroom environment, and instructional practices. Although generally positive, impacts on classroom observation outcomes were variable.…”