RCT-YES: A New Tool to Support Lower-Cost Program Evaluation in Schools

Session Type: Workshop

Abstract

There is increasing interest for state and local agencies to conduct low-cost opportunistic experiments to test promising interventions and policies in their service areas. The increased availability of administrative data provide a rich data source for such evaluations. This workshop will introduce participants to RCT-YES, a free tool developed with the support of the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education to estimate and report impacts for a wide range of designs used in education research. RCT-YES is based on a new design-based theory that conforms with the roots of experimental designs. The workshop will feature presentations by the ED officials and external researchers involved with developing this tool and using it with school districts.

Sub Unit

• Division H - Research, Evaluation and Assessment in Schools / Division H - Section 2: Program Evaluation in Schools

Chair

• Peter Z. Schochet, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc

Papers

• New Approaches for Encouraging "Evaluation in the Course of Things" - Joy Lesnick, Institute of Education Sciences

• Assisting Race to the Top–District Grantees in Conducting Quick-Turnaround Evaluations - Andrea Browning, U.S. Department of Education

• What Is RCT-YES? - Alexandra Resch, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

• Evaluation of Nearpod in Springdale Public Schools - Ignacio Martinez, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc

• Demonstration of RCT-YES Software - Steven Bates, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc