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Applied comparative effectiveness researchers must measure learning rates: A commentary on efficiency articles
Author(s) -
Skinner Christopher H.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.20461
Subject(s) - plea , psychology , remedial education , measure (data warehouse) , interpretation (philosophy) , psychological intervention , mathematics education , cognitive psychology , computer science , political science , law , programming language , database , psychiatry
Almost all academic skills deficits can be conceptualized as learning rate problems as students are not failing to learn, but not learning rapidly enough. Thus, when selecting among various possible remedial procedures, educators need an evidence base that indicates which procedure results in the greatest increases in learning rates. Previous research is reviewed that shows how failure to measure learning rates can lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the relative effectiveness of interventions. Different procedures for measuring learning rates are described and cautions regarding the interpretation of these learning rate data are provided. The article concludes with a plea for all researchers to include measures of learning rates in their applied studies. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.