No single study establishes the validity of a product such as a set of instructional materials; rather an accumulation of evidence is required to support the validity of the educational benefits and efficacy attributed to the product. Each study in this portfolio provides further evidence that builds the educational foundation used in the development of each product.

Every product developed by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill has been designed specifically to meet the needs of today's teachers and students. At each stage of development, research is incorporated into the curriculum:

• Materials are field tested and revised based upon the input from both teachers and students.
• Focus groups and teacher advisory boards are essential in creating materials to meet the ever-changing needs of today's classroom.
• Experts in content areas and special needs (including specialists in such areas as differentiated instruction, cognitive development, and ELL) review and revise lesson manuscript.

And once the curriculum is published, research continues in order to help inform the next revision. The cycle below illustrates some of the research activities we undertake.

Research Documents Available on this website include:

Formative Research

• Development Research Development Research summarizes all of the academic research used to develop a series, showing the commonalities across programs.
  


• Pedagogical Research-Base/White Paper These papers frame the product in existing scientifically-based research. A white paper might include research supporting the rationale of including specific content in the product (e.g., matching state standards) as evidence of the efficacy of specific instructional design features.
  


• Signature Feature Trials Specific program features are tested in classrooms prior to publication.
  


• Classroom Field Tests Field tests are conducted in classrooms prior to publication of the program and the results are compiled into reports.
  

Summative Research

• Evidence of Increased Test Scores Student, school, and district test scores are gathered and analyzed from schools using McGraw-Hill programs.
  


• Efficacy Research In this type of study, an intervention is administered to all students participating in the study. Results between the experimental group and the control group are then compared. The gain from pre-test to post-test provides one measure of evidence of effectiveness.
  


• Qualitative Program Evaluations Qualitative research is conducted through teacher and student evaluations and case studies.
  

To access any PreK–12 Research Documents:
In the blue box on this page, choose your state and your subject and click Enter.

Documents found on this website address current themes in education and support current published programs. Postings will change. Please visit frequently.