Despite the multiple meta-analyses documenting the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and achievement, none have examined this question outside of English-speaking industrialized countries. This study is the first meta-analytic effort, to the best of our knowledge, to focus on developing countries. Based on 49 empirical studies representing 38 countries, and a sample of 2,828,216 school-age students (grades K–12) published between 1990 and 2017, we found an overall weak relation between SES and academic outcomes. Results for attainment outcomes were stronger than achievement outcomes, and the effect size was stronger in more economically developed countries. The SES-academic outcome relation was further moderated by grade level and gender. There were no differences in the strength of the relation by specific SES measures of income/consumption, education, and wealth/home resources. Our results provide evidence that educational inequalities are wider in higher income countries, creating a serious challenge for developing countries as they expand school access.

This meta-analysis examined the effects of family-school interventions on children’s social-behavioral competence and mental health. One hundred and seventeen group design studies yielding 592 effect sizes constituted the current sample. Random effects models were estimated when calculating each pooled effect size estimate, and mixed effects models were calculated for each moderator analysis. The analyses yielded significant effects of family-school interventions on children’s social-behavioral competence and mental health ([Formula: see text]s = 0.332 and 0.391, respectively). Effects on children’s mental health were moderated by race/ethnicity (effects were larger for African American students) and locale (effects were smaller in urban settings relative to nonurban/rural settings). Components found to be significantly related to positive outcomes included both interpersonal, relational processes (i.e., communication, collaboration, and parent-teacher relationship) and tangible, structural elements (i.e., home-based involvement, behavioral supports). These findings indicate the benefits of family-school interventions and have implications for tailoring interventions to family characteristics and communities.

Does more education lead to less political violence, and may education thus be a tool for peace? This article provides the first systematic review of the existing quantitative literature on education and political violence. Looking at arguments pertaining to levels, expansion, inequality, and content of education, we identify 42 quantitative studies from the time period 1996 to 2016 that test the relationship between various measures of education and political violence. An emerging scholarly consensus seems to be that education has a general pacifying effect. However, this general conclusion is challenged by recent evidence showing above-average levels of education among terrorists and genocide perpetrators. This, as well as other findings, underscore that the relationship between education and political violence is complex and multidimensional, depending on type of political violence, mediating factors, and level of analysis. We conclude with policy implications from our findings and discuss directions for future analysis.

In recent decades, K–12 school discipline policies and practices have garnered increasing attention among researchers, policymakers, and educators. Disproportionalities in school discipline raise serious questions about educational equity. This study provides a comprehensive review of the extant literature on the contributors to racial, gender, and income disparities in disciplinary outcomes, and the effectiveness of emerging alternatives to exclusionary disciplinary approaches. Our findings indicate that the causes of the disparities are numerous and multifaceted. Although low-income and minority students experience suspensions and expulsions at higher rates than their peers, these differences cannot be solely attributed to socioeconomic status or increased misbehavior. Instead, school and classroom occurrences that result from the policies, practices, and perspectives of teachers and principals appear to play an important role in explaining the disparities. There are conceptual and open empirical questions on whether and how some of the various alternatives are working to counter the discipline disparities.

This article is intended to synthesize the broader literature investigating the effectiveness and salient features of interventions designed to enhance the social competence of youth and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Outcomes for adults with autism spectrum disorder remain poor with only minimal improvement shown for decades. Among 796 articles reviewed, 42 representative social skill intervention studies met the selection criteria and were coded descriptively for design elements and findings. The review synthesizes and classifies the major categories and issues associated with the key features of the intervention (e.g., the intervention method, agent, tools, and measures), nature of the learning tasks, the implementation setting and length, research methodology, and key findings related to social competence.

This article provides an integrative review of the extant literature on K–12 student mobility in the United States. Student mobility is a widespread phenomenon with significant policy implications. Changing schools is most prevalent among minority and low-income students in urban school districts. There is an ongoing debate about whether student mobility is helpful or harmful. Earlier research compared movers with nonmovers using cross-sectional data and did not always include controls for the students’ prior achievement and demographic characteristics. Studies in the past decade compared movers with themselves over time using longitudinal data and provided more convincing estimates. Overall, switching schools is associated with a negative impact on students’ educational outcomes; however, transferring to higher quality schools may offset and outweigh the transition costs of moving. Strong causal claims are elusive due to considerable data and methodological challenges and the inability to account for the motivating reasons for changing schools.

Research has consistently shown that inquiry-based learning can be more effective than other, more expository instructional approaches as long as students are supported adequately. But what type of guidance is adequate, and for whom? These questions are difficult to answer as most previous research has only focused on one type of guidance and one type of learner. This meta-analysis therefore synthesized the results of 72 studies to compare the effectiveness of different types of guidance for different age categories. Results showed facilitative overall effects of guidance on learning activities (d = 0.66, 95% CI [0.44, 0.88]), performance success (d = 0.71, 95% CI [0.52, 0.90]), and learning outcomes (d = 0.50, 95% CI [0.37, 0.62]). Type of guidance moderated the effects on performance success but not on the other two outcome measures. Considerable variation was found in the effects of guidance on learning activities, but the relatively low number of studies do not allow for any definitive conclusion on possible age-related differences.

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between psychosocial factors and community college student success. Informed by college persistence models and motivational theory, we statistically integrated past research on five psychosocial categories (motivation, self-perceptions, attributions, self-regulation, and anxiety), examining their relationship with two student success outcomes: community college persistence (58 samples, N = 23,372) and achievement (186 samples, N = 56,095). Results indicated that psychosocial factors had small but meaningful relationships with community college persistence and achievement. Correlations were larger overall for motivation and self-perceptions, and when outcomes were more proximally related with student engagement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

In the current review, we examined teacher leadership research completed since York-Barr and Duke published the seminal review on teacher leadership in 2004. The review was undertaken to examine how teacher leadership is defined, how teacher leaders are prepared, their impact, and those factors that facilitate or inhibit teacher leaders’ work. Beyond this, the review considered theories informing teacher leadership, teacher leadership within disciplinary contexts, and the roles of teacher leaders in social justice and equity issues. The most salient findings were (a) teacher leadership, although rarely defined, focused on roles beyond the classroom, supporting the professional learning of peers, influencing policy/decision making, and ultimately targeting student learning; (b) the research is not always theoretically grounded; (c) principals, school structures, and norms are important in empowering or marginalizing teacher leaders; and (d) very little teacher leadership research examines issues of social justice and equity.