In a pretest-posttest cluster-randomized trial, one of the methods commonly used to detect an intervention effect involves controlling pre-test scores and other related covariates while estimating an intervention effect at post-test. In many applications in education, the total post-test and pre-test scores that ignores measurement error in the…

Multilevel modeling (MLM) is frequently used to detect group differences, such as an intervention effect in a pre-test--post-test cluster-randomized design. Group differences on the post-test scores are detected by controlling for pre-test scores as a proxy variable for unobserved factors that predict future attributes. The pre-test and post-test…

Researchers have become increasingly interested in programs' main and interaction effects of two variables (A and B, e.g., two treatment variables or one treatment variable and one moderator) on outcomes. A challenge for estimating main and interaction effects is to eliminate selection bias across A-by-B groups. I introduce Rubin's causal model to…

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…

Multiple uses of the same assessment may present challenges for both the design and use of an assessment. Little advice, however, has been given to assessment developers as to how to understand the phenomena of multiple assessment use and meet the challenges these present. Particularly problematic is the case in which an assessment is used for…

The Bologna Declaration brought reforms into higher education that imply changes in teaching methods, didactic materials and textbooks, infrastructures and laboratories, etc. Statistics and mathematics are disciplines that traditionally have the worst success rates, particularly in non-mathematics core curricula courses. This research project,…

"How New York City's Charter Schools Affect Achievement" estimates the effects on student achievement of attending a New York City charter school rather than a traditional public school and investigates the characteristics of charter schools associated with the most positive effects on achievement. Because the report relies on an…

The regression-discontinuity approach to evaluating educational programs is reviewed, and regression-discontinuity post-program mean differences under various conditions are discussed. The regression-discontinuity design is used to determine whether post-program differences exist between an experimental program and a control group. The difference…