As we start a new year, our team at the Center for Education Policy Research is looking forward to the exciting work we have planned across our various projects. After a year of many challenges in education, as schools grapple with issues from pandemic recovery to chronic absenteeism, we are energized to build on our progress and continue in our efforts to serve teachers, schools, and districts nationwide through the power of quality research and evidence. We asked CEPR project teams:
What are you excited to dive into in 2024?
Leveraging Technology and Engaging Students (LTES)
"We’re excited to dig into the core of our analytic work in 2024, including producing descriptive charts showing trends in student enrollment, course modality selection, and success in Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), analyzing data from our pilot surveys of faculty and students, and using quasi-experimental techniques to evaluate the relative effectiveness of the various course modality options offered in LACCD. We’re also looking forward to continued data collection, through faculty and student surveys, focus groups, and observations. Finally, we can’t wait to have our first results sharing/sense-making workshop with LACCD faculty and stakeholders—we think these will be a great opportunity for us to ensure that our interpretation of results is appropriately contextualized/nuanced and for our results to have an impact on policy and practice in the district."
The Leveraging Technology and Engaging Students (LTES) project is a collaboration between the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR), and the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California. The project's goal is to provide actionable insights into the challenges and responses of LACCD to the Covid-19 pandemic. Learn more about LTES.
National Center for Rural Education Research Networks
"We’re excited to continue developing and evaluating districts’ efforts to prepare students for any of a variety of postsecondary pathways, including higher education, the workforce, or the military. As we engage in this important work, we’ve appreciated ongoing conversations with our partners about their use of data and how they are making this data actionable. Looking forward, we are eager to explore new partnerships as we extend our focus beyond our current grant, aiming to deepen and establish connections with states and rural districts nationwide."
The National Center for Rural Education Research Networks is a research and development center with a mission to expand the use of evidence-based decision-making in rural education. To this end, NCRERN seeks to contribute to the body of rigorous research and proven solutions in rural education. Learn more about NCRERN.
Partnering in Education Research (PIER)
"PIER is a program built on the theory that to generate actionable research we need to bring together practitioners and researchers to design studies and share what works in education. This year, six doctoral students will match with partner agencies and will share in the process of co-constructing a study that is relevant to the most urgent needs in the field and then sharing findings across the PIER network. We are looking forward to re-launching our annual summit, in person, in 2024. What used to be pitch competition for a research project that might happen will now evolve into an opportunity to share the results of projects designed and executed with our fellows’ partners."
The Partnering in Education Research (PIER) Fellowship is designed to train Harvard University doctoral students on how to conduct quantitative education research in partnership with school districts and state education agencies. Learn more about PIER.
READS Lab
"We’re excited to begin to scale the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE), an elementary science and social studies program that builds schemas and improves academic achievement – including literacy and math! Leveraging random assignment and following students over time, we found MORE scholars out performed the the control group on state end-of-grade tests in reading comprehension and math. The difference in reading was equal to more than two months’ worth of literacy learning without any additional time spent in school. At the 14 month follow-up, these differences persisted in both 4th grade reading comprehension and math scores. In other words, treatment students performed better even 14 months later with no additional MORE lessons.
Ensuring MORE is effective is an important first step. Many programs insist on strict fidelity to replicate similar results, but our program takes a different approach. Our program invests in teachers and central office staff, helps turn data into action, and collaborates with new partners to tailor the program to its needs with minimal additional staff time required. These next steps ensure that all students have access to high-quality instructional materials in science and social studies that boost academic achievement. We’ll be offering MORE to school districts with more than 20,000 students starting in school year 2024-25."
The READS lab is a university-based research initiative dedicated to improving children’s literacy at scale; creating relevant, rigorous, and replicable science; and advancing systemic equity through collective action with teachers and education leaders. Learn more about READS Lab.
Strategic Data Project
"2024 will lead SDP into new territory, as we begin to work with 10 new state agencies and school districts interested in linking and examining early education data. Presently, it is difficult for states and districts to understand what is happening with their earliest learners. These are some of the most important years of a person’s education! The fragmented structure of early education governance and the siloed collection, tracking and analysis of data make it challenging to unlock new insights about equitable access to a quality education for children.
2024 will also bring new insights from our working group of state fellows examining the implementation and impact of high dosage tutoring, in partnership with Accelerate. Though we don’t expect a full report until 2025, the work of bringing together process data with outcomes data starts in 2024 and should yield early insights for the sector.
In 2024, SDP will release its insights from diagnostic research using P20W data from two partner states, as well as an open source toolkit for other states to use with their own data. We look forward to figuring out how to scale what we’ve learned and build out new diagnostic services into the future."
Harvard's Strategic Data Project (SDP) works with education organizations to transform their use of data to improve student outcomes. Learn more about SDP.
MQI Coaching
"In 2024, MQI Coaching will be exploring how to integrate automated feedback into coaching. We are excited to see how automated feedback can support instructional coaches to be more efficient and productive in the work of supporting teachers and improving instruction. We will be collaborating with colleagues at Stanford, University of Maryland, and school district partners to develop and pilot new coaching routines.
MQI Coaching will be wrapping up the HEAR-MI Coaching intervention, in collaboration with University of Delaware, University of Virginia, and school district partners. We are eager to shift into the data analysis phase to understand the impact of this math-specific, equity-focused coach training program on instruction, teacher beliefs, students beliefs, and student achievement."
MQI Coaching provides high-quality professional development to help teachers, schools, and districts improve their mathematics instruction. MQI's work is based on the Mathematical Quality of Instruction (MQI) instrument, a math-specific rubric that provides teachers with a framework for analyzing math instruction. Learn more about MQI.
Across all of our work, 2024 will be a year of growth and progress as we strive to generate knowledge that can help improve educational opportunities and outcomes. Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter to stay up to date on our progress.