Education Topics

• Research Methods and Reviews
• Teacher Quality and Compensation
• Value-Added Methods
• Curricula and Computers in the Classroom
• Charter Schools and School Choice
• College Access
• Career-Focused Education
• At-Risk Youth
• School Leadership
• After-School Initiatives
• Academic and Nonacademic Competencies
• Clients

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Education Policy Research

Rigorous Research Methods and Reviews

Educators are faced with a bewildering array of choices in curricula, instructional approaches, and student services. Scientifically based research can help them by supporting better decisions. Mathematica plays an important role in advancing the rigor of education research. For the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, we run the What Works Clearinghouse, which offers educators and researchers a central and trusted source on what works in education. We also provide technical assistance and review of randomized controlled trials of education interventions, as well as peer review of studies by the Regional Educational Laboratories. Our staff produce reports on important methodological topics, such as sample sizes needed to achieve statistical power in education experiments with clustered designs, relative accuracy of nonexperimental and experimental designs, and control group contamination’s effect on estimates of program impacts.

Teacher Quality and Compensation

School quality depends on attracting the best teachers, helping them improve their skills, and retaining them. We evaluated Teach For America (TFA), an initiative that steers graduates of top colleges into the nation’s poorest districts, in elementary schools, finding that students of TFA teachers made stronger gains in math than students of other teachers. We are now evaluating TFA and the Teaching Fellows programs in middle and high schools. To determine whether high-intensity teacher induction can help struggling schools hold on to their best new teachers, we are conducting a randomized experiment involving 1,000 teachers in 400 schools from 17 high-poverty school districts around the country. We have also studied the impact of alternative routes to the classroom. One study examined teacher preparation programs that allow educators to enter the classroom before completing teacher training coursework, finding no impact on achievement. We also studied alternative certification through a portable credential based on teacher exams. Our studies of teacher compensation reform, such as performance-based pay and career ladder bonuses, are shedding light on how to recruit and retain top teachers in high-need schools. We are examining the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), a $600 million federal grant program that supports performance-based teacher and principal compensation to help attract and retain top talent in high-needs schools and support all teachers and principals to improve. In addition, we are assessing whether high-performing teachers can be compensated to move to low-performing schools and whether moving them improves achievement. Read more.

Value-Added Methods

To track students’ achievement over time and their readiness for postsecondary success, schools need precise, objective tools. Detailed information on academic growth can also help guide decisionmaking on student instruction. We are a national leader in calculating, analyzing, and interpreting measures of student achievement growth in ways that are useful to educators. Our value-added models, which document individual student achievement from one year to the next, are designed to be technically sound, flexible, transparent, and responsive to stakeholders’ concerns. Mathematica helps districts refine, compare, and combine measures of teacher effectiveness based on both value-added and classroom observations. We translate the results of growth models into language and graphics that district administrators and educators can use. Read more.

Curricula and Computers in the Classroom

Reading and math skills are critical foundations, yet many children struggle to acquire them. Further, teachers are faced with conflicting advice from experts about how best to teach these skills. We evaluated the effectiveness of remedial programs to inform the debate about how best to help struggling readers, finding that programs improved some skills but not test scores. We are also looking at approaches for teaching reading comprehension strategies to fifth graders and conducting a large-scale rigorous study to evaluate early elementary math curricula that show promise for improving achievement in disadvantaged schools. Furthermore, although computers are common in classrooms, little is known about technology’s effectiveness in improving learning. Our random assignment study to learn how well technology works to improve math and reading skills showed that most products did not affect test scores.

School Choice and Charter Schools

To address diverse educational needs and encourage schools to continually improve, policymakers have expanded options available to parents. Mathematica is a leader in evaluating school choice programs. We have examined impacts of school vouchers in student attendance, achievement, and other factors. In addition, we are conducting a rigorous national evaluation of the effectiveness of charter schools, including KIPP Academies and networks of schools affiliated with charter management organizations. Read more.

College Access

Not everyone has the same preparation for and access to college. We evaluated Upward Bound and Talent Search, two national programs that prepare economically disadvantaged students to enter and succeed in college. We also examined Upward Bound’s math and science initiative, designed to strengthen the skills of disadvantaged high school students and encourage them to pursue postsecondary degrees and careers in these fields. Mathematica is evaluating initiatives such as Roads to Success, designed to improve postsecondary and career planning and outcomes for disadvantaged students.

Career-Focused Education

Helping students develop the skills, knowledge, and habits they need to prepare for postsecondary programs, jobs, and successful careers is a critical challenge for today’s educators. Mathematica has conducted a variety of studies examining issues and initiatives related to career-focused education. We assess the effectiveness of programs in reducing dropout rates and improving other outcomes, examine efforts to improve curricula, help identify career-related challenges for students leaving high school, and evaluate other efforts to enhance career-focused programs. Read more.

At-Risk Youth

As a nation, we cannot afford to leave any segment of our population behind. Mathematica has been in the forefront of identifying ways to address the educational needs of at-risk youth. We conducted case studies of dropout recovery programs that help youth ages 16 to 21 return to school, earn a high school credential, and prepare for further education and jobs. We also evaluated efforts to raise achievement, reduce dropout rates, and help at-risk students prepare for postsecondary education and productive careers. Read more.

School Leadership

School principals have been understudied despite the fact that their skills and experience relate to school quality and improvement. Information on their retention and mobility is critical to understanding their career paths. In a multi-mode survey, the first of its kind, we are using paper questionnaires, the web, and telephone interviews to collect information from 1,200 principals who have moved from one school to another. In another survey, we are using computer-assisted telephone interviewing to collect information from 1,200 principals who have left their principal positions.

After-School Initiatives

What students do after school has long been a source of national concern. Our study of after-school programs showed that they changed where and with whom students spent some of their after-school time and increased parental involvement in school activities. But it also revealed that programs had a limited influence on academic performance.

Academic and Nonacademic Competencies

The use of test scores to measure performance has heightened an old debate about which competencies students should develop. To shed light on this issue, Mathematica estimated effects of math and reading achievement and other competencies on postsecondary earnings and educational attainment. The findings are summarized in an issue brief and a final report.