Offered Services

Our comprehensive evaluation services cover a broad range of projects that serve to build or expand on our clients’ evidence portfolio, including the following:

Instructional design and curriculum review

Instructional design and curriculum review involves an expert review of teacher and student materials, including the written, taught, and learned curriculum. We evaluate the quality of curriculum design, including content, professional development, and user support, to determine strengths and weaknesses. We use unique and existing rubrics to examine the program design framework and process, content selection, evaluation processes, and materials/interface design. These reviews provide formative feedback to program developers or school districts.

Implementation evaluation

Implementation evaluations generally involve qualitative case studies that generate formative information. Case studies may involve observations, interviews, and surveys that focus on a program implementation or rollout, including how programs and/or products are received and used by target consumers (e.g., teachers, students, parents, etc.). Implementation evaluations generally yield a number of specific recommendations for product and/or program improvements related to design, support, and operations.

Efficacy evaluation

Efficacy evaluations are smaller-scale formative studies that focus on how a program operates and affects educational outcomes in pilot schools, with both a treatment and comparison group. These studies may meet What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards with reservations and may be eligible for review for ESSA Tier 2 or Tier 3 levels of evidence.

Effectiveness evaluation

Larger-scale summative studies focus on the success of a program in improving outcomes in rigorous, nonrandomized (“quasi”) experimental studies or randomized controlled trials with both a treatment and comparison group. These studies may meet What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards without reservations and may be eligible for review for ESSA Tier 1 level of evidence.

Assessment/survey design and administration

Assessment/survey design and administration includes the development, validation, and administration of surveys, observation instruments, and assessments. Researchers recommend methods for manipulation and analysis of usage or outcomes data for research purposes.

Building an Evidence Portfolio

CRRE senior staff, who are experts in research methods and the evidence criteria for the What Works Clearing House and ESSA, work closely with education providers to develop personalized goals and plans for obtaining evidence to support their products and services.  Such support may include assistance in identifying appropriate formative and summative studies, developing logic models, lowering costs, increasing implementation fidelity, and identifying and recruiting schools and school districts as research partners.