Low-Cost, Short Duration Evaluation of Education Interventions

Overview

<p><span>The program is designed to support rigorous evaluations of education interventions that state or local education agencies expect to produce meaningful improvements in student education outcomes within a short period (for example, within a single semester or academic year). These evaluations are to be conducted for $250,000 or less and completed within two years. The program will be carried out by research institutions and state or local education agencies working together as partners. The evaluations will use randomized controlled trials or regression discontinuity designs to determine the impact of interventions on student education outcomes, and will rely on administrative data or other sources of secondary data to provide measures of these student outcomes. The costs of interventions and their implementation are to be covered by the state and/or local education agency. Evaluation results are to be disseminated throughout the education agency and to the public before the end of the grant. </span></p> <p><span>Applicants may propose to evaluate interventions for students in prekindergarten, K–12, postsecondary, or adult education. At every level, the Institute is mainly interested in interventions that are expected to improve outcomes for students who are struggling or at risk of failure. The Institute is not specifying categories of interventions beyond those that can be evaluated prospectively, in a timely fashion, and are of high importance to the education agency</span></p>