This NCEE Technical Methods Paper compares the estimated impacts of an educational intervention using experimental and regression discontinuity (RD) study designs. The analysis used data from two large-scale randomized controlled trials--the Education Technology Evaluation and the Teach for America Study--to provide evidence on the performance of…

In this paper, we examine the validity and precision of two nonexperimental study designs (NXDs) that can be used in educational evaluation: the comparative interrupted time series (CITS) design and the difference-in-difference (DD) design. In a CITS design, program impacts are evaluated by looking at whether the treatment group deviates from its…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has been conducting comparative studies for 50 years. SITES 2006 is the fifth wave of surveys related to information and communication technology (ICT), a wave that IEA started with its Computers in Education Study (two studies with data collection in 1989 and 1992),…

This paper argues that research assessment is of increasing importance as an instrument of New Public Management and within the context of efforts to establish a European Research Area. Specifically, it compares the procedures of research assessment in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany in an attempt to distil basic design…

Fifty-eight studies relating to the "knowledge gap" hypothesis (a theory that correlates public knowledge to educational level and mass media exposure) are examined in this report. In the opening sections, the theory is defined, and the early information diffusion studies and public opinion polls that led to its formulation in 1970 are…

This paper addresses two audiences--those who design education trend studies that simultaneously have longitudinal and intercohort implications, and the secondary analysts who use such trend data. Four study series conducted for the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provide material for the paper: the…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) developed and administered tests and questionnaires in three student populations to document the quality of mathematics and science education in 45 participating countries. Study design, instrument development, and research procedures were achieved through a complex collaborative…

The Anchor Test Study provides a method for translating a pupil's score on any one of eight widely used standardized reading tests for Grades 4, 5, and 6 to a corresponding score on any of the other seven tests, as well as furnishing new nationally representative norms for each of the eight tests. In addition, the Study presents new estimates of…

The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ) is an instrument designed to determine how community college students spend their time and what quality of effort they put into learning. Specifically, the content of the questionnaire focuses on four elements: who students are and why they are at the college; how extensively and…

The Anchor Test Study provides a method for translating a pupil's score on any one of eight widely used standardized reading tests for Grades 4, 5, and 6 to a corresponding score of any of the other seven tests, as well as furnishing new nationally representative norms for each of the eight tests. In addition, the Study presents new estimates of…

A comprehensive assessment of the literacy proficiencies of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and Employment Service/Unemployment Insurance (ES/UI) participants was conducted by the Department of Labor. The survey responses of a sample of 2,501 JTPA applicants and 3,277 ES/UI participants were scored, weighted, analyzed, and used to develop a…