Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent public health response led to an unprecedented disruption in educational instruction in the U.S. and around the world. Many schools quickly moved to virtual learning for the bulk of the 2020 spring term and many states cancelled annual assessments of student learning. The 2020-21 school year…

Background: Efficacy trials in education often possess a motivating theory of change: how and why should the desired improvement in outcomes occur as a consequence of the intervention? In scenarios with repeated measurements, certain subgroups may be more or less likely to manifest a treatment effect; the theory of change (TOC) provides guidance…

Background: In fall 2020, community colleges (CCs) served nearly five million students, representing 29% of U.S. undergraduates. Despite providing unprecedented access to postsecondary education, rates of degree attainment are low. Among first-time, full-time, degree/certificate-seeking students whose first postsecondary school is a CC, only 31%…

Most community college students are referred to developmental education courses to build basic skills. These students often struggle in these courses and college more broadly. CUNY Start is a prematriculation program for students assessed as having significant remedial needs. CUNY Start students delay matriculation for one semester and receive…

Most community college students are referred to developmental education courses to build basic skills. These students often struggle in these courses and college more broadly. CUNY Start is a prematriculation program for students assessed as having significant remedial needs. CUNY Start students delay matriculation for one semester and receive…

The Grade 2 learner results of the Early Grade Reading Study (EGRS) randomised control trial (RCT) in the North West province showed that the structured pedagogic intervention model that included instructional coaching, lesson plans, and quality learning materials was more cost-effective than a similar intervention model that excluded coaching.…

Policymakers, experts and advocates have promoted many different types of education reform over the past few decades, but what is the evidence about the efficacy of these programs? EdChoice partnered with Hanover Research to find out what research has been conducted in nine major education reform areas focusing on outcomes related to student…

Community colleges are a large sector of postsecondary education. In 2016-2017, the United States had nearly 1,000 public 2-year postsecondary institutions (community colleges), serving almost nine million students, representing 39% of all undergraduates. The majority of entering community college students require developmental (or remedial) math.…

We report here the type of problems and solutions that 38 school teams reported during a randomized wait-list controlled trial of one problem-solving approach (Team Initiated Problem Solving [TIPS]). The experimental results from that analysis are reported elsewhere. The purpose of this article is to summarize companion descriptive data from this…

Beginning in 2002, researchers developed, implemented, and evaluated the efficacy of an English reading intervention for first-grade English learners using multiple randomized control trials (RCTs). As a result of this efficacy work, researchers successfully competed for an IES Goal 4 effectiveness study using the same intervention. Unlike the…

This article illustrates the value of large-scale impact evaluations with counterfactual components. It begins by exploring the limitations of small-scale impact studies, which do not allow reliable inference to a wider population or which do not use valid comparison groups. The paper then describes the design features of a recent large-scale…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an important cross-national study of 15-year-olds' academic knowledge and skills. Educationalists and public policymakers eagerly await the tri-annual results, with particular interest in whether their country has moved up or slid down the international rankings, as compared to earlier…

Background/Context: School choice reforms could strengthen parents' influence on school behaviors, since schools must appeal to parents in order to operate. If parents' desires for schools differ from the broader public's desires for schools, then schools might pursue different goals and activities in systems emphasizing school choice. One popular…

The "'Literacy Octopus' Dissemination Trial" aimed to test the impact on pupil outcomes of disseminating research summaries and evidence-based resources to schools. The materials aimed to support teaching and learning of Key Stage 2 literacy and were created by leading organisations with experience of engaging schools in evidence use.…

Recognizing that standardized instructional treatments may not be equally effective across contexts, a growing number of scholars are arguing that the strategy of adopting packaged programs and striving to implement them faithfully is neither realistic nor desirable. An alternative view is that scaling up educational treatments requires balancing…