An aspect of a study is considered a confounding factor if it is not possible to tell whether the difference in outcomes is due to the intervention, the confounding factor, or both. In What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) study reviews, certified reviewers look for a specific type of confounding factor: those that occur when a component of the study…

School-based evaluations of interventions are increasingly common in education research. Ideally, the results of these evaluations are used to make evidence-based policy decisions for students. However, it is difficult to make generalizations from these evaluations because the types of schools included in the studies are typically not selected…

Researchers and policy makers are increasingly dissatisfied with the "average treatment effect." Not only are they interested in learning about the overall causal effects of policy interventions, but they want to know what specifically it is about the intervention that is responsible for any observed effects. In the U.S., using…

In a competitive employment climate, college graduates with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) face challenges securing work. Employment barriers among visually impaired individuals include: limited early work experience, negative employer attitudes, transportation issues, lack of exposure to successful role…

Students learn or progress at their own paces. Each needs different amounts of support, at different points in a school career and at different times of the school year. Some need very little help to stay on track, while others are facing serious challenges in learning, in their behavior, or at home, and need significant interventions. It would…

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. Prior studies (see Tuttle et al. 2013) have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term…

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. Prior studies (see Tuttle et al. 2013) have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term…

This report summarizes the complex research literature on quantitative methods for assessing how impacts of educational interventions on instructional practices and student learning differ across students, educators, and schools. It also provides technical guidance about the use and interpretation of these methods. The research topics addressed…

The purpose of this 4-year efficacy trial, funded by IES under the Mathematics and Science Education topic, is to study the efficacy of a (Tier 1) core kindergarten math curriculum, "Early Learning in Mathematics" (ELM), when implemented under rigorous experimental conditions. In the first year of this study (2008-09), kindergarten…

During the 2009-2010 school year, Marzano Research Laboratory (MRL) was commissioned by Promethean Ltd. to conduct a second year evaluation study of the effects of Promethean ActivClassroom on student academic achievement. This executive summary highlights the key findings. [For "A Second Year Evaluation Study of Promethean ActivClassroom. Final…

Studies that examine the impacts of education interventions on key student, teacher, and school outcomes typically collect data on large samples and on many outcomes. In analyzing these data, researchers typically conduct multiple hypothesis tests to address key impact evaluation questions. Tests are conducted to assess intervention effects for…

Comments on S. Pogrow's suggestion that educational programs should be judged by the degree to which schools using them achieve "surprising scores." Emphasizes the importance of the use of control groups in program evaluation. (SLD)

This booklet contains questions and answers about random assignment in program evaluation and intervention research. The main purpose of program evaluation research in education is to determine whether programs help the students they are designed to serve and whether new ideas for education programs still under development are worthy of extension…

Explores issues in evaluating exemplary programs, including the measurement of the degree to which the program is exemplary or promising. Suggests that comparison (control) group analysis can mislead researchers about the effectiveness of a program and suggests the use of gain scores to identify exemplary programs. (SLD)

Object box and environmental print card activities and kinesthetic/oral activities used in two before school programs for Title 1 students are presented for teaching phonological awareness concepts to students in primary grades. A small program evaluation study in which the two experimental groups made similar improvements and larger gains than a…