Practical Evaluation Points The Way Toward Impact

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Practical evaluation points the way toward impact

By Rebecca Taylor-Perryman, Ariana Audisio and Laura Meili

Categories: Collaboration, Data, Evaluation & impact

February 2024

As U.S. school leaders anticipate the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and contemplate possible budget shortfalls, they will have to make hard choices about how best to leverage limited resources to improve student outcomes. With the stakes high, lawmakers and experts urge school system leaders to rely on research and program evaluation to guide decisions. Unfortunately, high-quality research that demonstrates positive outcomes and aligns with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) evidence standards (U.S. Department of Education, 2023) is rare for many types of educational interventions, including professional learning. Evaluations by external researchers are expensive and often take multiple years to complete. For small organizations or districts, the investment may not be feasible. Even where studies of educational interventions do exist,

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Rebecca Taylor-Perryman

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Rebecca Taylor-Perryman (rtaylorperryman@leadingeducators.org) is the managing director of research and data at Leading Educators.

Ariana Audisio

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Ariana Audisio is a seasoned education researcher with a strong background in program evaluation and quasi-experimental methods, holding degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Catholic University “Andrés Bello.” As Director of Research at Leading Educators, she leads mixed-methods studies using advanced causal inference techniques to evaluate the impact of professional learning on student outcomes and to examine how programs can be adapted to different contexts and system needs. Her work centers on using research to answer critical questions for education leaders and policymakers, while also supporting the effective use of evidence in decision-making.