This guide for district and school leaders shows how to recognize opportunities to embed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) into planned policies or programs. Opportunistic RCTs can generate strong evidence for informing education decisions--with minimal added cost and disruption. The guide also outlines the key steps to conduct RCTs and responds…

Short comparative interrupted times series (CITS) designs are increasingly being used in education research to assess the effectiveness of school-level interventions. These designs can be implemented relatively inexpensively, often drawing on publicly available data on aggregate school performance. However, the validity of this approach hinges on…

Human raters are normally involved in L2 performance assessment; as a result, rater behavior has been widely investigated to reduce rater effects on test scores and to provide validity arguments. Yet raters' cognition and use of rubrics in their actual rating have rarely been explored qualitatively in L2 speaking assessments. In this study three…

Many districts are expanding and diversifying the school options available to parents--a trend that shows no signs of reversing. While all public schools are required to test and publically report results, it remains nearly impossible for families and education and civic leaders to make school-to-school comparisons, especially across district-run…

This report provides a content comparison for the 2002 Series GED® test and the current GED® for the following test topic areas: (1) Mathematical Reasoning; (2) Reasoning through Language Arts; (3) Science; and (4) Social Studies.

This "What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 3.0)" provides a detailed description of the standards and procedures of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The remaining chapters of this Handbook are organized to take the reader through the basic steps that the WWC uses to develop a review protocol, identify…

This document provides guidance about how to describe studies and report their findings in a way that is clear, complete, and transparent. This document does not include information about how studies are judged against What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards. For information about What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards, please refer to…

This guide is designed to help adult educators and administrators better understand the content of the GED® test. This guide is tailored to each test subject and highlights the test's item types, assessment targets, and guidelines for how items will be scored. This 2016 edition has been updated to include the most recent information about the…

The K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent a major advance in standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts. They are grounded in evidence about what it takes for high school graduates to be ready for college and careers and build on the finest state and international standards. The Common Core State Standards offer an…

This report serves as a quick reference guide for elected officials to compare key education policies and data in their states to the rest of the nation. The first section highlights major state policies for all 50 states in both table and chart formats (see Summary Charts ). The second section provides key state data, such as per-student spending…

This document contains (1) a monograph investigating and describing conditions under which it is cost-beneficial to operate an enriched YCCIP (Youth Community Conservation and Improvement Project) design and (2) a guidebook to work project enrichment. The first sections of the monograph focus on the attributes of an enriched YCCIP activity in…

This guide is designed as a resource for leaders and evaluators of K-12 online learning programs. In this guide, the term "online learning" is used to refer to a range of education programs and resources in the K-12 arena, including distance learning courses offered by universities, private providers, or teachers at other schools;…

Increasing demands for evidence-based early childhood services and the need by policymakers to know whether a program is effective or whether it warrants a significant investment of public and/or private funds--coupled with the often-politicized debate around these topics--make it imperative for policymakers and civic leaders to have independent…

This guide is designed to assist older worker program operators and managers as well as advocates for older workers in the field of employment and training. Described in the first two sections are the major components of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). The next two sections…

Four basic models of the organization of college and university communications offices are described: advancement, news bureau model, agency, and marketing models. Pros and cons of each are discussed, and the structure of this function at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) is presented as an ideal…