Get Updates
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
Finding Out What Works in Education
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) established the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. The WWC collects, reviews, and reports on studies of education programs, products, practices, and policies in selected topic areas, using a set of standards based on scientifically valid criteria.
Mathematica's $50 million, five-year contract to administer the next generation of the WWC is putting more high-quality research and interpretive products into the hands of decision makers. The No Child Left Behind Act, with its focus on using high-quality scientifically based research to inform education decisions, has heightened the demand for the type of information produced by the WWC.
Mathematica assembled a multi-tiered team of research partners to bring wide-ranging depth and expertise to bear on the WWC's ambitious set of products. The initiative is also tackling special education research, developing practice guides to provide practical recommendations to help educators address the challenges they face in their classrooms and schools, and providing a public and easily accessible registry of education evaluation researchers to assist schools, school districts, and program developers with designing and carrying out rigorous evaluations.