Propensity Score Matching in Multilevel Educational Settings: A Review and Guide for Applied Researchers

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Abstract

Methodological advances over the past decade for matching in multilevel settings have not been consolidated and communicated for applied education researchers. Education researchers looking to use matching must either rely on guidance simplified for a single-level setting or piece together advice from individual studies that are limited in scope. This paper addresses the need for more comprehensive and education-focused guidance regarding the use of matching methods in multilevel educational settings. Drawing on advances in the matching literature, we developed a typology for planning a matching study with multilevel education data and guidance to help applied researchers understand the design choices required to estimate causal effects with matching methods under different multilevel settings common in education research.

Authors

• Jordan Rickles, University of California - Los Angeles

• Alberto Guzman-Alvarez, American Institutes for Research

• Qi Zhang, American Institutes for Research