In one synthesis of group-based mastery learning, five observational studies found more time-on-task in mastery classes and one community-college evaluation found lower attrition in seven of eight disciplines¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r? · q2–q3 · i2–i3
Currency · newest study 1985 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on an ERIC document (a report, conference paper or thesis). It is kept because 7 design pages cite it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Five studies that measured time-on-task by classroom observation yielded an average time-on-task effect size of .68 favoring mastery classes. → Guskey 1985 q2 i3 In one evaluation (Guskey & Monsaas 1979, an eight-campus community college system, over 7000 students in 77 sections), course attrition rates were lower in mastery-taught classes in seven of eight disciplines, with an average effect size of .85. → Guskey 1985 (2)

Evidence¶

Guskey 1985¶

Guskey, Thomas R.; Gates, Sally L. (1985). A Synthesis of Research on Group-Based Mastery Learning Programs. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED262088

q3 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2

Synthesis of time-related variables: five studies gathering time-on-task data through classroom observations of students at regular intervals, recording overt behaviors as on- or off-task; the printed effect size of .68 is the positive average effect size across the five studies, a printed effect size with its value.

"Comparisons between mastery and nonmastery classes yielded a positive average effect size across the five studies of .68."

Guskey 1985 (2)¶

Guskey, Thomas R.; Gates, Sally L. (1985). A Synthesis of Research on Group-Based Mastery Learning Programs. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED262088

q2 · single programme evaluation, reported second-hand in a synthesis · i3 · average effect size .85 · causal · r?

Evaluation by Guskey and Monsaas (1979) of a mastery learning program in an eight-campus community college system involving over 7000 students in seventy-seven class sections; the printed effect size of .85 is the average effect size for lower attrition in mastery-taught classes, a printed effect size with its value.

"In seven of eight academiclisciplines, attrition rates were lower in classes taught by mastery learning, with an average effect site of_:-.85."

Discussion¶

Both findings come from one conference-paper synthesis (Guskey & Gates 1985). The time-on-task result averages five studies whose data are classroom observations of on- and off-task behaviour; the attrition result is a single programme evaluation the synthesis reports, not a pooled estimate, and its design is not described in the entry beyond mastery versus non-mastery sections. No entry here compares group-based mastery learning with the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), so this page makes no claim about a contrast with PSI findings.

Learner Variables¶

• Time and Continuity — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Mastery learning effects are larger with a higher mastery standard, group-based pacing, local tests, and less feedback for the comparison group — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Group-based mastery learning programs yield positive achievement effects in every included study, but effect sizes vary so widely that an average was deemed inappropriate — related
• Mastery learning sections show higher earned credit rates than comparable non-mastery sections at the City Colleges of Chicago — related
• Group-based mastery learning improves retention of learned material, with an average effect size of .62 across four studies — related
• Non-instructional time averages 23 percent in observed Chicago elementary classrooms, with half of teachers at 14 percent and half at 30 percent — related
• Achievement effects of group-based mastery learning are larger for elementary students than for high school or college students — related
• Self-paced mastery programs (PSI) reduce college course completion, though not by enough to explain their examination advantage — reports the opposite