New Guide Offers Help on Education Evaluation for States Launching ARRA-Funded Education Reform Initiatives
Washington, D.C. – A new guide prepared by experts from the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Mathematica Policy Research and Chesapeake Research Associates offers information and strategies to help states evaluate the success of education reform efforts they are conducting under funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The guide, Evaluating ARRA Programs and Other Educational Reforms: A Guide for States, provides easy-to-use tools and resources – including tips and checklists – that can be used to gauge the effectiveness of reform efforts on schools, staff and students. The tips include suggesting ways to reduce the need for special data collection efforts and making it easier to combine information and build on existing data systems.
Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, the guide provides a general evaluation framework to help states maximize what they learn about their reform initiatives. It also provides examples that focus on three ARRA priority areas: increasing the effectiveness of teachers and leaders through professional development; promoting the equitable distribution of effective teachers and leaders; and turning around the lowest-performing schools.
The full report is available to download free of change on the websites of AIR, www.air.org, and Mathematica, www.mathematica-mpr.com/.
About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.
About Mathematica
Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, education, international, disability, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.
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