Group design research studies can provide evidence to draw conclusions about "what works," "for whom," and "under what conditions" in special education. The quality indicators introduced by Gersten and colleagues (2005) have contributed to increased rigor in group design research, which has provided substantial…

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…

The three RMC models endorsed by the U.S. Office of Education for the evaluation of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I programs are based on narrowly conceived approaches to evaluation--the measurement of cognitive achievement gains. Each model requires the comparison of observed student performance with an estimate of what level of…

In order to make policy decisions, educators must evaluate educational research proposals and projects. Findings immediately related to practice are often inadequate, omitting the theoretical establishment of principles by which we can explain and predict the phenomena of our world. These theoretical linkages to the practical world of…

The National Job Corps Study was conducted in 1994-1996 to provide a thorough and rigorous assessment of the impacts of the Job Corps on key participant outcomes. To ensure that the study was well implemented, a study team from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., (MPR) investigated outcome and admission (OA) procedures in each Job Corps region and…