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This meta-analysis examined which classroom management strategies and programs enhanced students' academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and motivational outcomes in primary education. The analysis included 54 random and nonrandom controlled intervention studies published in the past decade (2003–2013). Results showed small but significant effects (average g = 0.22) on all outcomes, except for motivational outcomes. Programs were coded for the presence/absence of four categories of strategies: focusing on the teacher, on student behavior, on students' social-emotional development, and on teacher–student relationships. Focusing on the students' social-emotional development appeared to have the largest contribution to the interventions' effectiveness, in particular on the social-emotional outcomes. Moreover, we found a tentative result that students' academic outcomes benefitted from teacher-focused programs.

Background Integration of physical active academic lessons in the school curriculum may be an innovative way to improve academic outcomes. This study examined the effect of physically active academic lessons (Fit en Vaardig op school) on academic engagement of socially disadvantaged children and children without this disadvantage. In addition, the relationship between lesson time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity and academic engagement was examined. Methods From four elementary schools, 86 children who participated in the 22-weeks intervention were recruited (23 socially disadvantaged children). Academic engagement was determined by observing time-on-task during three classroom observation moments (start, midway and end observation). Every moment consisted of lesson observations after intervention lessons (post-intervention) and after regular classroom lessons (post-control). Differences in time-on-task between socially disadvantaged children and children without this disadvantage were analyzed using independent samples t-test. Differences between post-intervention and post-control observations were analyzed using multilevel analysis. Heart rate monitors measured the lesson time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. The relationship between percentage of moderate to vigorous physical activity during the intervention lessons and time-on-task was analyzed by calculation of partial correlations. Results Time-on-task of socially disadvantaged children was lower than that of children without this disadvantage, differences were significant at the start post-control (t(65) = 2.39, p < 0.05) and post-intervention (t(71) = 2.75, p < 0.05) observation and at the midway post-control (t(68) = 2.45, p < 0.05) observation. Multilevel analysis showed that the time-on-task of all children was significantly higher during post-intervention in comparison with post-control lessons (ES = 0.41). No significant difference was found at the start observation, but there were significant differences at the midway (ES = 0.60) and end (ES = 0.59) observation. On average, the children were exercising in moderate to vigorous physical activity during 60% of de lesson time (14 minutes of an average lesson of 23 minutes). No significant relationships were found between percentage of moderate to vigorous physical activity during the intervention and time-on-task in the post-intervention lessons. Conclusions Physically active academic lessons may positively influence time-on-task in children, which can contribute to academic success in the long term.

In previous studies, the effects of physically active academic lessons on academic achievement have been shown. Less is known about follow-up effects and the effects for disadvantaged groups. The first aim of this study was to examine 7–9 months follow-up effects of a physically active academic intervention on academic achievement. The second aim was to examine the effects of the 2-year intervention for a subgroup of socially disadvantaged children. A cluster-randomized controlled trial with 499 children (113 socially disadvantaged children) from second- and third-grade classes was conducted. Children’s academic achievement was measured before the intervention started, after the first and second intervention year, and 7–9 months after the intervention ended. At the 7–9 months follow-up, the intervention group showed significantly greater gains in math performance in comparison with the control group. No significant follow-up effects were found on language performance. Furthermore, the lessons significantly improved the math and spelling performance of socially disadvantaged children after two intervention years. These children did not benefit more from the lessons than other children. In conclusion, effects of physically active academic lessons on math achievement persist when the lessons are no longer taught, and the lessons are an innovative way to improve the academic achievement of socially disadvantaged children. The findings suggest that physically active academic lessons should be considered for inclusion in school curriculums in order to improve the academic achievement of all children. Trial Registration : This study is registered at www.isrctn.com (No. ISRCTN17021806).

To implement, and learn. The implementation and subsequent lessons of a module aimed at enhancing home-based parental literacy involvement With this study, we (a) analyze the implementation of the parental involvement module of Success for All aimed at enhancing home-based parental literacy involvement in the first, second, and third Grade, and (b) draw lessons from that implementation. For three school years, seven Dutch elementary schools with relatively many students from low socio-economic backgrounds, have implemented the parental involvement module. Afterwards, in-depth interviews with 22 professionals have been conducted. Based on the interview data, two dimensions of implementation have been analyzed: the level of structural implementation and the process of implementation. We distinguished three levels of structural implementation: low, medium, and high. Our analyses reveal that one school obtained a medium level of structural implementation, and the other six a low level. With knowledge of the process of implementation, we interpreted this outcome. Our analyses show that a higher level of structural implementation relies on (1) how the innovation is embedded in the school’s organizational structure, (2) whether or not a program champion (who is supported by coworkers and supervisors) is present, (3) the necessity felt for successful implementation of core elements of the module, (4) the enthusiasm of the school’s staff for the innovation, (5) asking the help of external experts in order to, with joint forces, help solve a blockage in the implementation process and (6) active involvement of parents and positive parental responses.

This study focuses on the stability and changes in primary school results over an eight-year period, and stems from the tradition of school effectiveness research. To estimate the (in)stability of results, a longitudinal, multilevel design with repeated measurements at school level was used. It shows that the effects of the student background characteristics gender and ethnicity on schooling results changed over the eight-year period. The results of estimating the stability of effectiveness are in line with earlier research and can be judged 'middling'. About two-thirds of schools and classes approximately retained their position in the rank order of schools. This implies that there is also a certain amount of change which might be related to changes in school characteristics and indicate real improvement or decline in results.

Estimating added value as an indicator of school effectiveness in the context of educational accountability often occurs using test or examination scores of students. This study investigates the possibilities for using scores of educational positions as an alternative indicator. A number of advantages of a value added indicator based on educational positions of students can be formulated, such as: (a) the societal significance of educational position as output measure; (b) the fact that a single indicator can be estimated for an entire school in a differentiated educational system, where not all schools provide education in all tracks; and (c) the expectation that value added based on educational positions leads to other incentives for schools than value added based on test scores. Empirical analysis of Dutch cohort data (VOCL'99) for secondary education showed considerable differences in effectiveness between schools in the positions of students. Furthermore, differential school effects were found for both socio-economic status and prior achievement. The phenomena of differential school effects for socio-economic status and prior achievement are linked to differences between schools in the kind of tracks in which the schools provide schooling.

To implement, and learn. The implementation and subsequent lessons of a module aimed at enhancing home-based parental literacy involvement With this study, we (a) analyze the implementation of the parental involvement module of Success for All aimed at enhancing home-based parental literacy involvement in the first, second, and third Grade, and (b) draw lessons from that implementation. For three school years, seven Dutch elementary schools with relatively many students from low socio-economic backgrounds, have implemented the parental involvement module. Afterwards, in-depth interviews with 22 professionals have been conducted. Based on the interview data, two dimensions of implementation have been analyzed: the level of structural implementation and the process of implementation. We distinguished three levels of structural implementation: low, medium, and high. Our analyses reveal that one school obtained a medium level of structural implementation, and the other six a low level. With knowledge of the process of implementation, we interpreted this outcome. Our analyses show that a higher level of structural implementation relies on (1) how the innovation is embedded in the school’s organizational structure, (2) whether or not a program champion (who is supported by coworkers and supervisors) is present, (3) the necessity felt for successful implementation of core elements of the module, (4) the enthusiasm of the school’s staff for the innovation, (5) asking the help of external experts in order to, with joint forces, help solve a blockage in the implementation process and (6) active involvement of parents and positive parental responses.

This paper compares the effectiveness of two interventions aimed to improve teaching quality and student achievement in Indonesia. The first intervention was the use of education standards, while the second one was the combination of education standards with a teacher improvement program. The study involved 50 schools, 52 teachers, and 1660 students. Teaching quality was measured through classroom observations and student achievement was assessed with a performance test. The multilevel analysis showed student achievement improved only in the second intervention group, whereas the analyses of difference and effect size showed teaching quality in the same group improved only in the first half of the intervention program.

This paper addresses the relationship between class size and student-teacher interactions as an explanation for effects of class size on achievement. Observations were conducted in kindergarten and Grade 1 classes from 46 Dutch primary schools in order to address the effect of class size on the amount and type of student-teacher interactions. The relationship between these interactions and class size was negative: more student-teacher interactions of all types occurred in smaller classes. Furthermore, the effect of smaller class size is similar for all students, regardless of their cognitive and behavioral characteristics.

In the Netherlands, three \"organizations in the education support structure\" joined to develop a \"more scientifically based instrumentation of school self-evaluation for primary schools.\" The resulting project was called ZEBO (Zelfevaluatie in het Basisonderwijs). The instrument \"consists of a pupil-monitoring part that depends heavily on psychometric theory and central issues of adaptive instruction (ZEBO-PM), an assessment of the educational content covered with central concepts of curriculum planning and curricuum planning evaluation at its background (ZEBO-CC), and the measurement of school process indicators, with school effectiveness and school improvement modeling as its conceptual background (ZEBO-PI).\" The article gives an overview of the whole project, its context, the \"basic ideas and the strategy behind the total project ... in general\" and a detailed description of the ZEBO-PI element. (DIPF/ Orig./Bi.).