# School Improvement & Redesign

The evaluation of new models, policies, and programs has the potential to inform and improve the future of education. Since there is so much potential for impact, CEPR is engaging the best minds in social science to learn what’s working and what’s not in our schools. We are evaluating new instructional delivery models, new ways of using data and evaluating school outcomes, and the impact of introducing new standards on teachers and students.

# Boston Charter Research Collaborative

The multi-year partnership between six Boston-area charter schools or charter management organizations (CMOs), CEPR, MIT, and TransformEd, focuses on research and practice to support students’ cognitive and social-emotional development.... Read more about Boston Charter Research Collaborative

# Boston Teacher Residency Evaluation

Sponsored by the Boston Plan for Excellence, this work examined characteristics of Boston Teacher Residents relative to other Boston novices, relative retention rates, and, most importantly, student outcomes.... Read more about Boston Teacher Residency Evaluation

# DreamBox Learning Achievement Growth

An impact study on the use of DreamBox Learning software on student achievement in the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) and the Rocketship Education charter school network.

Aided by $200 million in private philanthropy, city and state leaders launched a major school reform effort in Newark, New Jersey. In this study, researchers evaluate the impacts of Newark’s education reform efforts, starting in the 2011–2012 school year. # National Center for Research in Policy and Practice Through a partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder and Northwestern University, this project studies how educational leaders—including school district supervisors and principals—use research when making decisions and what can be done to make research findings more useful and relevant for those leaders.... Read more about National Center for Research in Policy and Practice # Partnering in Education Research (PIER) Fellowship The Partnering in Education Research (PIER) Fellowship, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, is designed to train Harvard University doctoral students on how to conduct quantitative education research in partnership with school districts and state education agencies.... Read more about Partnering in Education Research (PIER) Fellowship # Proving Ground Proving Ground works with school districts to help them identify and test solutions to specific challenges, such as chronic absenteeism, that are obstacles to student achievement.... Read more about Proving Ground # Social-Emotional Measures for California Office to Reform Education A collaborative effort with Transforming Education to develop measures of social-emotional learning for school accountability and improvement within the California Office to Reform Education (CORE). # Strategic Data Project Since 2008, the Strategic Data Project (SDP) has partnered with school districts, charter school networks, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations to bring high-quality research methods and data analysis to bear on strategic management and policy decisions.... Read more about Strategic Data Project View all Projects in Focus Area # Derek Briggs Co-Principal Investigator Professor of Research and Evaluation Methodology University of Colorado Boulder # Cynthia Coburn Co-Principal Investigator Professor at the School of Education and Social Policy Northwestern University # Michael Goldstein Visiting Scholar Mike Goldstein is the founder of Match Education in Boston: a college prep charter school for low-income kids; an embedded Graduate School of... Read more about Michael Goldstein # Joshua Goodman Affiliated Researcher, SDP Fellowship Faculty Advisor, PIER Fellowship Faculty Mentor Associate Professor Harvard Kennedy School # Andrew Ho SDP Fellowship Faculty Advisor; PIER Fellowship Faculty Mentor Professor of Education Harvard Graduate School of Education # Thomas J. Kane Faculty Director Walter H. Gale Professor of Education and Economics Harvard Graduate School of Education # Bill Penuel Principal Investigator Professor of Educational Psychology & Learning Sciences University of Colorado Boulder # Marguerite Roza SDP Fellowship Faculty Advisor Senior Research Affiliate; Director Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington; Edunomics Lab, Georgetown University # James Spillane Co-Principal Investigator Professor in Learning and Organizational Change Northwestern University # Martin West Steering Committee Member, Principal Investigator, SDP Fellowship Faculty Advisor; PIER Fellowship Faculty Mentor Associate Professor of Education Harvard Graduate School of Education Chin, M., Kane, T., Kozakowski, W., Schueler, B., & Staiger, D. (Working Paper). School District Reform in Newark: Within- and Between- School Changes in Achievement Growth. NBER Working Paper 23922 . Publisher's VersionAbstract In 2011-12, Newark launched a set of educational reforms supported by$20 million gift. Using data from 2009 through 2016, we evaluate the change in Newark students’ achievement growth relative to similar students and schools elsewhere in New Jersey. We measure achievement growth using a “value-added” model, controlling for prior achievement, demographics and peer characteristics. By the fifth year of reform, Newark saw statistically significant gains in English and no significant change in math achievement growth. Perhaps due to the disruptive nature of the reforms, growth declined initially before rebounding in recent years. Aided by the closure of low value-added schools, much of the improvement was due to shifting enrollment from lower-to higher-growth district and charter schools. Shifting enrollment accounted for 62 percent of the improvement in English. In math, such shifts offset what would have been a decline in achievement growth.
Chin, M., Kane, T., Kozakowski, W., Schueler, B., & Staiger, D. (2017). Assessing the Impact of the Newark Education Reforms . Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.Abstract
Aided by \$200 million in private philanthropy, city and state leaders launched a major school reform effort in Newark, New Jersey, starting in the 2011–2012 school year. In a coinciding National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, we assessed the impact of those reforms on student achievement growth, comparing students in Newark Public Schools (NPS) district and charter schools to students with similar prior achievement, similar demographics, and similar peers elsewhere in New Jersey. This report includes key findings.
Kane, T. J. (2016). Let the Numbers Have Their Say: Evidence on Massachusetts' Charter Schools . Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.Abstract

In Massachusetts, the charter school debate has centered on four concerns:

• that the achievement of the high-scoring charter schools is due to selective admission and retention policies and not the education that the charter schools provide,
• that charter schools are underserving English language learners and special education students,
• that charter schools are disciplining students at higher rates in order to drive troublesome students back to traditional schools, and
• that charter schools are undermining traditional public schools financially.

This report summarizes the evidence pertaining to these four concerns.

West, M. R., Morton, B. A., & Herlihy, C. M. (2016). Achievement Network’s Investing in Innovation Expansion: Impacts on Educator Practice and Student Achievement.Abstract

Achievement Network (ANet) was founded in 2005 as a school-level intervention to support the use of academic content standards and assessments to improve teaching and learning. Initially developed within the Boston charter school sector, it has expanded to serve over 500 schools in nine geographic networks across the United States. The program is based on the belief that if teachers are provided with timely data on student performance from interim assessments tied to state standards, if school leaders provide support and create structures that help them use that data to identify student weaknesses, and if teachers have knowledge of how to improve the performance of students who are falling behind, then they will become more effective at identifying and addressing gaps in student learning. This will, in turn, improve student performance, particularly for high-need students.

In 2010, ANet received a development grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) Program. The grant funded both the expansion of the program to serve up to 60 additional schools in five school districts, as well as an external evaluation of the expansion. The Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University partnered with ANet to design a matched-pair, school-randomized evaluation of their program’s impact on educator practice and student achievement in schools participating in its i3-funded expansion.

(2015). Changing the Culture of Data Use in Delaware:How State Leaders Used Analytics to Create Education Policies That Matter . Strategic Data Project.Abstract

This case illustrates how the work of leaders and analysts in the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) and the agency’s partnership with the Strategic Data Project (SDP), a program of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, created momentum for statewide policy change.  By exploring Delaware leaders’ use of data and analytics to challenge assumptions and inform the development of better policies and practices, the case illustrates the importance of leadership, analytic and technical competency, and strategic partnerships when leading education reform.  The case specifically highlights the power of human capital analytics to diagnose the current status of Delaware’s educator pipeline, from preparation through development and retention, and how effectively communicating with these analyses built coalitions of support and drove a culture of data use at both the state and district level.

West, M. R., Kraft, M. A., Finn, A. S., Duckworth, A. L., Gabrieli, C. F. O., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2014). Promise and Paradox: Measuring Students' Non-cognitive Skills and the Impact of Schooling.Abstract

The authors used self-report surveys to gather information on a broad set of non-cognitive skills from 1,368 eighth-grade students attending Boston Public Schools and linked this information to administrative data on their demographics and test scores. At the student level, scales measuring conscientiousness, self-control, grit, and growth mindset are positively correlated with attendance, behavior, and test-score gains between fourth- and eighth-grade. Conscientiousness, self-control, and grit are unrelated to test-score gains at the school level, however, and students attending over-subscribed charter schools with higher average test-score gains score lower on these scales than do students attending district schools. Exploiting charter school admissions lotteries, the authors replicate previous findings indicating positive impacts of charter school attendance on math achievement, but find negative impacts on these non-cognitive skills. The authors provide suggestive evidence that these paradoxical results are driven by reference bias, or the tendency for survey responses to be influenced by social context. The results therefore highlight the importance of improved measurement of non-cognitive skills in order to capitalize on their promise as a tool to inform education practice and policy.

The SDP Toolkit for Effective Data Use is a resource guide for education agency analysts who collect and analyze data on student achievement. Completing the toolkit produces a set of basic, yet essential, human capital and college-going analyses that every education agency should have as a foundation to inform strategic management and policy decisions.

Kane, T. J., Taylor, E., Tyler, J., & Wooten, A. (2011). Identifying Effective Classroom Practices Using Student Achievement Data. The Journal of Human Resources , 46 (3), 587-613.Abstract

This paper combines information from classroom-based observations and measures of teachers’ ability to improve student achievement as a step toward addressing the challenge of identifying effective teachers and teaching practices. The authors find that classroom-based measures of teaching effectiveness are related in substantial ways to student achievement growth. The authors conclude that the results point to the promise of teacher evaluation systems that would use information from both classroom observations and student test scores to identify effective teachers. Information on the types of practices that are most effective at raising achievement is also highlighted.

Papay, J., West, M., Fullerton, J., & Kane, T. (2011). Does Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Increase Student Achievement? Early Evidence from the Boston Teacher Residency.Abstract

Center researchers John Papay, Martin West, Jon Fullerton, and Thomas Kane investigate the effectiveness of the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) in their working paper Does Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Increase Student Achievement? Early Evidence from the Boston Teacher Residency.  BTR is an innovative practice-based preparation program in which candidates work alongside a mentor teacher for a year before becoming a teacher of record in Boston Public Schools.

Angrist, J. D., Cohodes, S. R., Dynarski, S. M., Fullerton, J. B., Kane, T. J., Pathak, P. A., & Walters, C. R. (2011). Student Achievement in Massachusetts' Charter Schools.Abstract

Researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, MIT, and the University of Michigan have released the results of a new study that suggests that urban charter schools in Massachusetts have large positive effects on student achievement at both the middle and high school levels. Results for nonurban charter schools were less clear; some analyses indicated positive effects on student achievement at the high school level, while results for middle school students were much less encouraging.

View the Press Release

View the PowerPoint Presentation

Abdulkadiroglu, A., Angrist, J., Cohodes, S., Dynarski, S., Fullerton, J., Kane, T., & Pathak, P. (2009). Informing the Debate: Comparing Boston's Charter, Pilot, and Traditional Schools.Abstract

Whether using the randomized lotteries or statistical controls for measured background characteristics, we generally find large positive effects for Charter Schools, at both the middle school and high school levels. For each year of attendance in middle school, we estimate that Charter Schools raise student achievement .09 to .17 standard deviations in English Language Arts and .18 to .54 standard deviations in math relative to those attending traditional schools in the Boston Public Schools. The estimated impact on math achievement for Charter middle schools is extraordinarily large. Increasing performance by .5 standard deviations is the same as moving from the 50th to the 69th percentile in student performance. This is roughly half the size of the blackwhite achievement gap. In high school, the estimated gains are somewhat smaller than in middle school: .16 to .19 standard deviations in English Language Arts; .16 to .19 in mathematics; .2 to .28 in writing topic development; and .13 to .17 in writing composition with the lottery-based results. The estimated impacts of middle schools and high school Charters are similar in both the “observational” and “lottery-based” results.

# The Education Exchange: Do Students Learn More with Better Math Textbooks?

April 11, 2019

Some studies have found that schools can get substantial gains in achievement by changing textbooks. But a new analysis by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard finds little evidence of differences in achievement gains for schools using different math textbooks.... Read more about The Education Exchange: Do Students Learn More with Better Math Textbooks?

# Making Time for Mindfulness

January 23, 2019

Findings from the Boston Charter Research Collaborative about the impact of mindfulness in the classroom are featured in the following HGSE Usable Knowledge blog post.... Read more about Making Time for Mindfulness

# Why We Need to Rethink Remediation

December 16, 2018

CEPR Faculty Director Tom Kane and affiliated researcher Angela Boatman share their insights about CEPR's evaluation of the Tennessee SAILS math remediation program in the following Chronicle of Higher Education op ed.... Read more about Why We Need to Rethink Remediation

# Rejuvenating Massachusetts education reform

June 21, 2018

CEPR Faculty Director Thomas Kane shares his vision for the future of Massachusetts education reform, reflecting how innovation and improvement are best led by educators, in the following Commonwealth Magazine op ed.... Read more about Rejuvenating Massachusetts education reform

# How Do We Know If Ed Tech Even Works?

June 6, 2018

CEPR Faculty Director Thomas Kane co-authored the following Education Week op-ed, explaining the importance of rigorously evaluating ed tech before scaling up.... Read more about How Do We Know If Ed Tech Even Works?

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(2016). The Track Record of Charter Schools in Massachusetts.Abstract

Against the backdrop of a contentious ballot question, charter schools in Massachusetts have faced scrutiny across multiple dimensions. This event brings together several of the preeminent researchers on the topic to share their findings, followed by a period of directed questions, and audience Q&A.

Kane, T. J. (2016). Askwith Forum – Teaching Higher: Educators’ Perspectives on Common Core Implementation.Abstract

With the debate over the federal role in education at rest with the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), it is time to refocus attention on how to help the states move forward and succeed using the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In this Askwith Forum, Professor Thomas Kane will share findings about CCSS implementation strategies from the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. This will be followed by a panel of educators, who will share their experiences, pain points, and successes with the CCSS over this past year.