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December 6, 2015
Abstract: None Requested
Education Questions
Is the demographics of the demographics of the participants accurately described, and are they appropriate to this study? 
Yes, 66 students were eighth-graders tested by the grade 7 2008 PSSA scores. The testing evaluated all 3 administrators used both conditions of the “independent variable.” P2 had 5 subjects in the experimental group and 5 in the control. P3 had 8 experimental with 10 control subjects. This study evaluated each student in each group for improvement in reading scores. The students in the experimental group participated in a meeting with each principal before testing did improve their reading scores. The control students had their meetings after the testing phase, suggesting that the control students were left alone and tested on their own merits. The only element in question is no data is supplied for the actual details of each discussion with the students or check questionnaire. (Silva et al, 2011).
Was an appropriate method of sampling used, given the purpose of the study?
The experimental group suggests that one-to-one deliberations between an administrator and a non-proficient student about the pupil’s 2008 reading score and a new goal for the 2009 reading score had a noteworthy effect on the student’s successive reading scores. Learners in the experimental group held conferences with administrators prior to the reading exam showed better scores than students in the control group who had their conferences after the state reading exam.

The two groups were interviewed. The control group had no meeting prior to testing. Those meetings did not have any effect on testing scores.
Were enough participants included in the study using based on Cohen’s sample and power analysis table? 
More student test results can add more consistency to the statistics. This baseline study using the Cohen effect is considered suitable when presenting realistic research findings. Removing the value of the outliers provides a stable base using the Cohen method to produce reliable results in the study. The Cohen is used commonly in social research studies. More data equals better results.
Are the research instruments reliable and valid for the participants used in the study?
Key gauges of the quality of a measuring instrument are the dependability and strength of the measures. Instruments reduce study errors. No documentation is available about what the talked about in the interviews, or that the discussion is identical between groups. This poses a potential problem with subjectivity in the results.
Did the manipulation of the independent variable adequately represent the causal construct of interest?
Study results suggest that preliminary outcomes show that pre-testing meetings with students can assist in improving scores. The validity could be suspect because no data is available for what information was discussed in these meetings. The findings suggest improvement of scores do make the principals appear better at their jobs.
Were the participants randomly assigned to conditions?
The members of the group were picked randomly from a list of those students with lower than recommended scores. The study states students were randomly picked to be in each group of 20 and 21. The study states that the principals were also randomly assigned (Silva et al, 2011).Are there elements in the procedure that might have biased the results?
Qualitative analysis can have an element of bias because the questions are subjective.
No information is provided on the topics that the principals discussed in the meetings or the Check questionnaire. They should be included in the study. The study reported on the outlier students. More data is necessary to provide the true picture.
Did the researchers take appropriate actions to control for extraneous variables?
Yes, they took steps to remove those extreme outlier values that were way above or below the mean values. Extreme differences in value do skew the overall numbers that can mispresent the true results. As mentioned above, perhaps a larger number of students could produce a better overall result or a least reconfirm the results of this preliminary study.
Were the participants treated ethically?
The survey after the fact, by the students suggests that this discussion had a positive effect on the reading scores, except one student. The only issue is the lack of documentation on the topic scope of the interviews and the survey results. This could have an effect on results.
References
Silva, J., White, G. P., and RK Yoshida, (2011) The direct Effects of Principal-Student
Discussions on Eighth-grade Students’ Gain in Reading Achievement, An Experimental Study Educational Administration Quarterly 2011 47: DOI: 10.1177/0013161X11404219
http://eaq.sagepub.com/content/47/5/772