Although advances have been made in facilitating the implementation of evidence-based treatments, little is known about the most effective way to sustain their use over time. The current study examined the sustainability of one evidence-based treatment, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), following a statewide implementation trial testing…

Empowerment is a core construct in health behavior and an emerging trend in pediatrics. Although it has been suggested as an approach that may promote the person's participation in health care decisions and positive outcomes, little is known about the nature and effectiveness of interventions to support empowerment in families and preschool-age…

Technology-assisted parent-mediated interventions improve accessibility and are acceptable but not proven to be effective. We conducted a systematic search of 6 databases. We included and analysed results from studies on social and communication outcomes. Sixteen Randomised-Controlled-Trials (RCTs) with 748 participants were included. Most studies…

In 2015, Abt Associates received a grant from the Institutes for Education Sciences (IES) for a five-year "Development and Innovation" study of PTC. The purposes of the study were to gauge progress in implementing PTC and to develop and test improvements where needed. Fein et al. (2020) summarize the IES study's approach and findings. A…

We conducted a systematic review to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and single case research design (SCRD) studies of children with autism spectrum disorder that evaluate the effectiveness of responsivity intervention techniques for improving prelinguistic and/or language outcomes. Mean effect sizes were moderate and large for RCTs…

During drug development, a biomarker is sometimes identified as separating a patient population into those with more and those with less benefit from evaluated treatments. Consequently, later studies might be targeted, while earlier ones are performed in mixed patient populations. This poses a challenge in evidence synthesis, especially if only…

Narration has been shown to be a foundational skill for literacy development in school-age children. Elementary teachers routinely conduct classroom lessons that focus on reading decoding and comprehension, but they rarely provide instruction in oral narration (Hall et al., 2021). This multisite randomized controlled trial was designed to…

Background: Weight stigma is prevalent among adolescents and can negatively impact physical and mental health. This study examined the effects of a combined physical activity and attitude education intervention on weight stigma and related outcomes among high school students. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 524 high…

In randomized control trials (RCT), the recent focus has shifted to how an intervention yields positive results on its intended outcome. This aligns with the recent push of implementation science in healthcare (Bauer et al., 2015) but goes beyond this. RCTs have moved to evaluating the theoretical framing of the intervention as well as differing…

This paper describes a 12-week cluster randomized controlled trial that examined the efficacy of BookNook, a virtual tutoring platform focused on reading. Cohorts of first- through fourth-grade students attending six Rocketship public charter schools in Northern California were randomly assigned within grades to receive BookNook. Intent-to-Treat…

Background: When well-designed and implemented, cluster randomized trials can meet the high standards federal agencies and other funders increasingly require for evidence on the effectiveness of school health programs and services. However, designing and implementing these studies can present more challenges than at first appears. Methods: I…

For researchers seeking to improve education, a common goal is to identify teaching practices that have causal benefits in classroom settings. To test whether an instructional practice exerts a causal influence on an outcome measure, the most straightforward and compelling method is to conduct an experiment. While experimentation is common in…

Objective: Our study aimed to compare the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI)-based immersive training with human-led workshops to improve the English language skills of non-English early career researchers (NEECRs) in a Nigerian public university. Methods: Our study employed a randomized pretest/posttest control group design. A total of 124…

Indirect comparisons are used to obtain estimates of relative effectiveness between two treatments that have not been compared in the same randomized controlled trial, but have instead been compared against a common comparator in separate trials. Standard indirect comparisons use only aggregate data, under the assumption that there are no…

This article reviews important statistical methods for estimating the impact of interventions on outcomes in education settings, particularly programs that are implemented in field, rather than laboratory, settings. We begin by describing the causal inference challenge for evaluating program effects. Then four research designs are discussed that…