Review of Educational Research Fall 1990, Vol 60, No. 3, pp. 373-417 Coaching for the Scholastic Aptitude Test: Further Synthesis and Appraisal Betsy Jane Becker Michigan State University Analyses of results ofstudies documented in 23 reports on coachingfor the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) indicated that, on average, coaching can help increase SAT scores. However, considerable variability in results for 48 studies reflected the fact that not all coaching is necessarily effective and that all studies of coaching do not provide similar views of coaching's effectiveness. Results of published and unpub- lished studies were analyzed separately. Characteristics related to the magnitudes of coaching effects included date of publication of the study, whether the study was sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and used as a comparison group, whether instruction included test practice and attention to test-taking skills, and whether homework was assigned to students. Coaching effects were stronger for the SA T Mathematical subtest. Published comparison studies gave consistent results with coached groups exceeding controls by 0.09 standard deviations on SAT-V and 0.16 on SAT-M. Studies of coaching were found to be rather poorly reported and designed without much attention to the issues discussed in reviews of the coaching literature. During the 1980s the topic of performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) attracted much attention in academic circles (e.g., Benbow & Stanley, 1980; Powell & Steelman, 1984) as well as in the popular press (e.g., Owen, 1985; Staples, 1985). Because SAT scores are widely used in college admissions decisions, potential examinees (often urged on by their parents) are highly motivated to perform as well as they possibly can. Strong public interest is reflected in the proliferation of commercial coaching schools, computerized coaching programs (e.g., Owens, 1983; Staples, 1985), and school policies on SAT preparation (National School Boards Association, 1984). Scholarly interest in the effectiveness of coaching for the SAT extends back over 30 years (e.g., Dyer, 1953). The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which develops and administers the SAT, has long claimed that coaching does little to raise SAT scores (e.g., College Entrance Examination Board [CEEB], 1983, p. 10); many of the studies of coaching conducted by ETS seem to support this claim. Yet contro- versy still surrounds the question of SAT coaching. Since 1980, six reviews of the research on SAT coaching have been published (Bond, 1989; Cole, 1982; DerSimonian & Laird, 1983; Kulik, Bangert-Drowns, & I would like to thank Christine M. Schram for her assistance with data evaluation and analysis and Larry V. Hedges and the anonymous referees for their suggestions of revisions to earlier versions of this manuscript. 373 at Bibliothekssystem der Universitaet Giessen on June 11, 2015 http://rer.aera.net Downloaded from