There is a recent surge in the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) within education globally, with disproportionate claims being made about what they show, ‘what works’, and what constitutes the best ‘evidence’. Drawing on up-to-date scholarship from across the world, Taming Randomized Controlled Trials in Education critically addresses the increased use of RCTs in education, exploring their benefits, limits and cautions, and ultimately questioning the prominence given to them. While acknowledging that randomized controlled trials do have some place in education, the book nevertheless argues that this place should be limited. Drawing together all arguments for and against RCTs in a comprehensive and easily accessible single volume, the book also adds new perspectives and insights to the conversation; crucially, the book considers the limits of their usefulness and applicability in education, raising a range of largely unexplored concerns about their use. Chapters include discussions on: The impact of complexity theory and chaos theory. Design issues and sampling in randomized controlled trials. Learning from clinical trials. Data analysis in randomized controlled trials. Reporting, evaluating and generalizing from randomized controlled trials. Considering key issues in understanding and interrogating research evidence, this book is ideal reading for all students on Research Methods modules, as well as those interested in undertaking and reviewing research in the field of education.

The Handbook of Philosophy of Education is a comprehensive guide to the most important questions about education that are being addressed by philosophers today. Authored by an international team of distinguished philosophers, its thirty-five chapters address fundamental, timely, and controversial questions about educational aims, justice, policy, and practices. Part I (Fundamental Questions) addresses the aims of education, authority to educate, the roles of values and evidence in guiding educational choices, and fundamental questions about human cognition, learning, well-being, and identity. Part II (Virtues of Mind and Character) is concerned with the educational formation of personal attributes that are often seen as essential to flourishing individuals and societies. This section includes chapters on the cultivation of intellectual and character virtues, the nature and formation of expertise, Stoic virtues, and intellectual vices. Part III (Education and Justice) addresses fundamental and emerging issues of educational justice, from equal educational opportunity, racial domination, and linguistic justice in education, to educational problems of mass migration, global educational justice, the education of working children around the world, and the costs of higher education and upward mobility. Part IV (Educational Practices) addresses controversial aspects of contemporary education – pedagogical, curricular, and managerial practices – that deserve careful examination. These include controversies surrounding free speech and instruction in controversial issues; anti-racist, sustainability, and sex education; and the unfulfilled promises and demoralizing impact of high-stakes accountability schemes. The format and jargon-free writing in this volume ensure that topics are interesting and accessible, helping facilitate the work of advanced students and professionals in Education.

Providing an overview of key issues in theory and practice, Replication Research in Education is designed to identify and discuss the benefits and challenges facing replication studies in education. Both clear and practical, this groundbreaking volume covers how to introduce, develop, conduct, report, and discuss these studies, and the issues they raise for policy and practice. Bridging theory and practice, this book considers what replication research should look like, how it should be conducted, and how to judge when it has been successful. It enables researchers to plan and conduct studies successfully, from their earliest stages through to completion. This key text: brings together in a single volume, existing issues, claims and counterclaims, discourses, and practices of replication; introduces, covers, and extends this field of research, indicating its possibilities and limits; expands and adds to existing discussions and practices; will enable researchers to design, conduct, evaluate, and critique studies. The comprehensive and exhaustive coverage of issues and practices within Replication Research in Education make it a 'must read' for all novice and experienced educational researchers who are considering, conducting, and reviewing replication studies in education.

“What a provocative and refreshing stance on evidence-informed education! Evidence-informed education may currently be a divided field, but this must-read book offers hope that a reunion of existing approaches may be possible for a ‘productive tension’ where researchers, school leaders and teachers work together... The disconnect in education between research, policy and practice needs this intellectual reboot!” Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope, Provost and Professor of Education, Plymouth Marjon University, UK “As a school leader, this book is an invaluable guide to evidence-informed educational research... It is a hopeful vision of a united evidence-informed education field in which practitioners, policymakers and researchers all play an active role as discerning creators and users of evidence.” Sam Mason, Deputy Headteacher, Thornton Primary School, UK “This is a wonderful book that deserves to be widely read and, more importantly, widely acted on. It presents a robust and detailed critique of current orthodoxies in how we have tried to improve educational practice through the use of evidence. Researchers, practitioners, policymakers and funders with an interest in evidence and school improvement should take note.” Professor Robert Coe, Director of Research and Development at Evidence Based Education, UK, and Senior Associate at the Education Endowment Foundation, UK A Critical Guide to Evidence-Informed Education analyses the role of research in education and its potential for improving education policy and practice. The book considers how divisions, both between different research traditions and between theory and practice, are hindering progress. Additional online content gives readers access to extra resources such as reflective questions and technical annexes to deepen understanding. Drawing on their experiences both as teachers and researchers, the authors expertly review fundamental questions about what research is, what it is for and the challenges of generating, communicating and using evidence. The book skilfully synthesises perspectives on evidence-informed education, forming connections across the ‘divided field’ and championing a more collaborative and eclectic approach. For education students, teachers, and school leaders, this book is an accessible and invaluable guide to the methods, problems, and key findings from several interconnected areas of education research. For researchers, this book offers an extended critical commentary and methodological critique of several related research communities and their current and potential contribution to educational improvement. The authors invite and equip readers to take their own stance on current and perennial debates about the role of research and evidence in improving education. Thomas Perry is an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick. He is a former schoolteacher who now teaches about education research methods and advises and supervises researchers at all levels, including leading the Education Doctorate (EdD) programme at Warwick. His research and teaching are focused on research methodology and the role of research and evidence in improving education policy and practice. Rebecca Morris is an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick. She is a former secondary English teacher and has previously worked at Durham University and University of Birmingham. Rebecca’s research interests include education policy, teacher education and the teacher workforce, English and literacy, and widening participation. She is an editorial board member for the British Educational Research Journal and Educational Review.

Student engagement is a catch-all term, irresistible to educators and policy makers, and serving many agendas and purposes. This ground-breaking book provides a powerful theory of student engagement, rooted in critical theory and social justice. It sets out a compelling argument for student engagement to promote social justice and to repel neoliberalism in, and through, higher education, addressing three key questions: Student engagement in what? Student engagement for what? Student engagement for whom? The answers draw on Habermas, Honneth, Gramsci, Foucault, and Giroux in examining ideology, power, recognition, resistance, and student engagement, with examples drawn from across the world. It sets out key features, limitations, and failures of neoliberalism in higher education, and indicates how student engagement can resist it. Student engagement calls for higher education institutions to be sites for challenge, debate on values and power, action for social justice, and for students to engage in the struggle to resist neoliberalism, taking action to promote social justice, democracy, and the public good. This book is essential reading for educators, researchers, managers and students in higher education, social scientists, and social theorists. It is a call to reawaken higher education for social justice, human rights, democracy, and freedoms.

As education becomes more dependent on data-intensive algorithmic systems, private corporate power continues to grow. Left unregulated, the implications for children's basic rights and future life chances are not to be underestimated. In this book, Velislava Hillman argues that datafication, i.e. turning all human actions into data, and surveillance have been normalised in eductional settings and shows how edtech products are not improving education equally for all children. She calls for a licensing regime which drives the edtech industry towards ethical practices and meeting appropriate standards before they are allowed to operate in schools. Looking beyond edtech's potentials, this book outlines a governance framework across socio-technical, ethical, critical pedagogic, and human rights imperatives for governing the digitisation of education.

This book presents current evidence of new perspectives for the prevention and appropriate management of depression in people across the life course. Special attention has been dedicated to facilitating factors for the development of health system capacity and the effectiveness of the different types of interventions. The first part of the book reviews the innovations in global prevention and non-pharmacological treatments for children, adolescents, and youths. The second part reviews interventions for adults across the lifespan, including older adults and caregivers. Despite the efforts to tackle depression, the COVID-19 pandemic directly or indirectly affected the mental health of the population, including an increase in the incidence of depressive disorders, which are underdiagnosed and undertreated in young and older people. Because of the characteristics of adolescence and older adulthood, people can consider depression signs and symptoms as natural, neglecting a proper diagnosis. To address these challenges in the clinical management of depression, Prevention and Early Treatment of Depression Through the Life Course presents a life course perspective on the analysis and treatment of depression to help clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals understand the mechanisms associated with the onset of depression and identify/develop proper evidence-based treatments for different ages and in different circumstances.

Targeted at educators and researchers wishing to use virtual environments in their teaching practice, this work provides practical advice specifically for educators in higher education. It focuses on the use of Second Life - a free, readily-accessible virtual world which is increasingly being used for both formal and informal learning.

This book examines assessment and treatment methods for anxiety disorders in four- to- seven-year-olds. It discusses risk and protective factors in the preschool years, comorbidities, and how conditions such as separation anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and selective mutism present in this age group. The book examines limitations of current definitions, assessment methods, and interventions. Chapters offer a theoretical framework from which to understand how traditional cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) strategies can be used effectively in this age group. It offers a detailed description of the Taming Sneaky Fears program, an innovative, evidence-based group CBT program for four- to seven-year-old anxious children and their parents. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to implement Taming Sneaky Fears. The book concludes by addressing common challenges, influences, and outcomes for four- to seven-year-old anxious children and their families and provides recommendations for reducing the barriers to healthy development. Topics featured in this book include: Screening and assessment tools for young anxious children. Innovative assessment approaches for young anxious children. The use of Bravery Ladders to teach young children to overcome their fears and anxieties. Specific adaptations of the Taming Sneaky Fears program for selective mutism and social anxiety disorder. The pivotal role of parents in the success of the Taming Sneaky Fears program. Assessing and Treating Anxiety Disorders in Young Children is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and related professionals, and graduate students in child and school psychology, pediatrics, social work, and psychiatry.