Most randomized field experiments experience some attrition. Moreover, the extent of attrition may differ by treatment condition in systematic, non-random ways, biasing estimates of treatment effects and contributing to invalid inferences. We address concerns about non-random attrition by quantifying the conditions necessary in the attritted data…

Implementation of evidence-based practices for autistic students must be informed by robust research literature. Randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) are often considered a "gold standard" methodology for determining the effectiveness of interventions. However, the complex nature of schools presents challenges for implementing successful…

RobotReviewer is a tool for automatically assessing the risk of bias in randomized controlled trials, but there is limited evidence of its reliability. We evaluated the agreement between RobotReviewer and humans regarding the risk of bias assessment based on 1955 randomized controlled trials. The risk of bias in these trials was assessed via two…

Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis projects obtain, harmonise, and synthesise original data from multiple studies. Many IPD meta-analyses of randomised trials are initiated to identify treatment effect modifiers at the individual level, thus requiring statistical modelling of interactions between treatment effect and participant-level…

Random encouragement designs are randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that test interventions aimed at increasing participation in a program or activity whose take up is not universal. In these RCTs, instead of randomizing individuals or clusters directly into treatment and control groups to participate in a program or activity, the randomization…

The Campbellian validity typology has been used as a foundation for outcome evaluation and for developing evidence-based interventions for decades. As such, randomized control trials were preferred for outcome evaluation. However, some evaluators disagree with the validity typology's argument that randomized controlled trials as the best design…

This paper seeks to raise awareness among educational researchers and practitioners of some significant weaknesses and internal contradictions of randomised control trials (RCTs). Although critiques throughout the years from education scholars have pointed to the detrimental effects of this experimental approach on education practice and values,…

In the complex world of educational policy, causal inferences will be debated. As we review non-experimental designs in educational policy, we focus on how to clarify and focus the terms of debate. We begin by presenting the potential outcomes/counterfactual framework and then describe approximations to the counterfactual generated from the…