Education Policy Research


	Scientifically based methods are the hallmark of our work evaluating education programs and studying education policy issues. Our studies cover the earliest learning experiences of infants as well as education in the K-12 grades and college years. Our education studies have provided important counsel to policymakers as they seek ideas for improving American education. We have also played an important role in advancing the state of the science in education research. Read more about our work on specific education topics.

Highlights

What Works Clearinghouse

Mathematica has been awarded a $50 million contract to administer the next generation of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) for the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. The WWC was established in 2002 by IES to provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. Read more.

Educational Technology

A report to Congress presents results from a national evaluation of 15 computer-based reading and math products to assess their effectiveness. The report notes that after one year, products did not increase or decrease test scores by amounts that were statistically different from zero. In addition, effects were correlated with some classroom and school characteristics. Read more.

Latest Work

	Reports:
	“Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Results from the First Year of a Randomized Controlled Study.” Steven Glazerman, Sarah Dolfin, Martha Bleeker, Amy Johnson, Eric Isenberg, Julieta Lugo-Gil, Mary Grider, and Edward Britton, October 2008. Comprehensive teacher induction provides novice teachers with carefully selected and trained full-time mentors, as well as a curriculum of intensive and structured support. This report presents the first round of results from a large-scale randomized controlled study of the effects of two comprehensive teacher induction programs. Intensive mentoring and professional development for teachers just entering the profession did not increase teacher retention or generate any significant improvements in classroom practices or student achievement during the first year of teaching. Read the press release. Back to Top
	“High School Reform in Boston Public Schools: The Effect of Focus on High Schools on Student Academic Outcomes.” Susanne James-Burdumy, Irma Perez-Johnson, and Sonya Vartivarian, June 2008. The Focus on High Schools initiative is intended to transform Boston’s 12 comprehensive high schools into more effective institutions by breaking them down into smaller, more intimate learning communities and reforming their English and language arts programs. This report focuses on changes in students’ academic outcomes after implementation of the initiative. The study found reductions in math and English scores. On the positive side, days absent and tardy were lower, along with student suspensions. There was also an overall increase in promotions to the next grade, concentrated among special education students. Back to Top
	“Passport to Teaching: Career Choices and Experiences of American Board Certified Teachers.” Steven Glazerman, Elizabeth Seif, and Gail Baxter, June 2008. A growing number of states now recognize an alternative teaching credential called the Passport to Teaching, offered by the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE). This new report describes the experiences of those who obtain the credential. Mathematica’s survey of more than 500 Passport holders reveals that nearly 6 out of 10 were teaching K-12 in the U.S.; of this group, 71 percent were in public schools, 12 percent in charter schools, and 15 percent in private schools. Passport teachers remain in the classroom at comparable rates to other teachers, with 85 percent of teachers who were certified by ABCTE through 2005 still in the classroom during the 2007-2008 school year. Back to Top
	"Guidelines for Multiple Testing in Impact Evaluations of Educational Interventions." Peter Z. Schochet, May 2008. Statistical procedures that correct for multiple testing typically result in hypothesis tests with reduced statistical power because adjustment methods reduce the likelihood of identifying real differences between contrasted groups. There is disagreement among researchers about the use of multiple testing procedures and the appropriate trade-off between type I error and statistical power (type II error). These guidelines were developed to handle multiple testing in education research. In addition, the report provides details on the nature of the multiple testing problem and the statistical solutions that have been proposed; the creation of composite outcomes measures; and the Bayesian hypothesis testing approach. Back to Top
	"The Nation's Report Card: Technical Report of the NAEP Mathematics Assessment in Puerto Rico: Focus on Statistical Issues." G.P. Baxter, S. Ahmed, E. Sikali, T. Waits, M. Sloan, and S. Salvucci, September 2007. In 2003, a trial National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics assessment was administered in Spanish to public school students in grades 4 and 8 in Puerto Rico. On the basis of preliminary analyses of the 2003 data, changes were made in administration and translation procedures for 2005. This report describes the content and administration of the trial assessments in Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2005, problems with item misfit in the 2003 data, results of a special validity analysis, and plans to integrate Puerto Rico into the national sample in future administrations. More Reports Back to Top

	Journal Articles:
	“Statistical Power for Random Assignment Evaluations of Education Programs.” Peter Z. Schochet, Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, March 2008. This article examines theoretical and empirical issues related to the statistical power of impact estimates for experimental evaluations of education programs. The author considers designs where random assignment is conducted at the school, classroom, or student level, and employs a unified analytic framework using statistical methods from the literature. Focusing on standardized test scores of elementary school students, this article discusses appropriate precision standards and, for each design, the required number of schools to achieve those standards using empirical values of intraclass correlations, regression R2 values, and other parameters. Clustering effects vary by design but are typically large. As a result, large school samples are required for education trials, and many evaluations will have sufficient power to detect precise impacts only for relatively large subgroups of sites. Back to Top
	“After-School Program Effects on Behavior: Results from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program National Evaluation.” Susanne James-Burdumy, Mark Dynarski, and John Deke, Economic Inquiry, January 2008. This paper presents evidence on after-school programs’ effects on behavior from the national evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school program. Findings come from both of the study’s components: (1) an elementary-school component based on random assignment of 2,308 students in 12 school districts, and (2) a middle-school component based on a matched comparison design including 4,264 students in 32 districts. Key findings include higher levels of negative behavior for elementary students and some evidence of higher levels of negative behaviors for middle school students. Back to Top
	"Academic Achievement and School Functioning Among Non-Incarcerated Youth Involved with the Juvenile Justice System." Jonathan D. Brown, Anne W. Riley, Christine M. Walrath, Philip J. Leaf, and Carmen Valdez, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, January-March 2008. This article reports on the education problems of youth involved with the juvenile justice system but not incarcerated. More than half demonstrated deficits in academic functioning, with standard achievement scores as low as five standard deviations below the normative mean. Non-Caucasian youth and those who received special education services or lived in an urban area had lower achievement. These findings suggest that youth involved with the justice system but not incarcerated demonstrate problems in academic achievement similar to incarcerated youth and may benefit from targeted education interventions. More Journal Articles Back to Top

	Other:
	The latest What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) intervention report in the area of Middle School Math looks at MathThematics, a curriculum for grades 6 through 8. MathThematics combines activity-based, discovery learning with direct instruction. The textbook for each grade level has eight instructional modules, each focused on a theme. Open-ended questions and projects are utilized throughout the curriculum to assess problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate mathematically. Back to Top
	The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) released a new Accelerated Reader intervention report. The report has been updated to include reviews of 62 studies that have been released since 2005. Accelerated Reader is a guided reading intervention that involves two components: Accelerated Reader software, a computerized supplementary reading program that facilitates reading practice by providing students and teachers with feedback from quizzes based on the books the students read Accelerated Reader Best Classroom Practices, a set of recommended principles on guided independent reading Back to Top
	Mission and Money: Understanding the University. Burton A. Weisbrod, Jeffrey P. Ballou, and Evelyn D. Asch, Cambridge University Press, 2008. Many academic institutions pursue mission-related activities that are unprofitable and engage in profitable revenue raising activities to finance them. This book presents research on schools’ revenue sources from tuition, donations, research, patents, endowments, and other activities. It considers lobbying, distance education, and the world market, as well as advertising, branding, and reputation. The pursuit of revenue, while essential to achieve the mission of higher learning, is sometimes in conflict with that mission. The tension between mission and money is also highlighted in a chapter on the profitability of intercollegiate athletics. Back to Top
	“Going Beyond Test Scores: Evaluating Charter School Impact on Educational Attainment in Chicago and Florida.” Kevin Booker, Tim R. Sass, Brian Gill, and Ron Zimmer, August 2008. Unlike past charter school studies focused on student achievement, the authors analyzed the relationship between attendance and educational attainment in charter high schools. They found that these schools in Florida and Chicago had substantial positive effects on both high school completion and college attendance. For students who attended a charter middle school, those who went on to attend a charter high school were 7 to 15 percentage points more likely to earn a standard diploma than students who attended a traditional public high school. Similarly, those attending a charter high school were 8 to 10 percentage points more likely to attend college. More Back to Top