An extensive number of studies evaluating educational interventions are conducted and disseminated through peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations annually, but there is limited uptake of research among key stakeholders--educators and administrators (henceforth, practitioners; Farley-Ripple et al, 2018; Hollands et al., 2019; Slavin,…

Background: Since the founding of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in 2002, the field of education research has seen impressive progress in its efforts to understand which interventions can effectively improve student outcomes. This success can be seen in the rise of high-quality causal studies -- including both randomized trials and…

Despite a history that can be tracked to 1867, the US Department of Education is a relative newcomer to applying evidence standards to education research. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews intervention research to support evidence-based decision making. This is done by applying standards of research quality to studies and giving those…

Background: In today's era of evidence-based policymaking, policymakers face pressure to use research evidence to inform their decisions. This is particularly salient in the United States, where federal law mandates that education leaders implement policies, programs, and strategies that have been demonstrated to improve student outcomes. Despite…

Beginning with the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB) and reinforced by the "Education Sciences Reform Act" of 2002 (ESRA), the federal government established explicit expectations for the role of research in informing decisions about education programs, policies, and practice, and it also specified new expectations for…

Background: Over the years, the quantity and quality of educational research has been rapidly improving. This can be attributed to the growing call to use evidence of effectiveness in decision-making by policymakers and practitioners. In fact, evidence sufficient to establish programs as "small", "moderate", or…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is a central and trusted source of information of scientific evidence for what works in education. Towards that end, the WWC summarizes research on a range of practices, programs, and policies (interventions) and disseminates that research in a variety of forms on the free public website. In recent years, the WWC…

Around the world during the last decade, policymakers increasingly emphasize the use of data in education to enhance student achievement. As a result, the number of reform initiatives to promote "data-based decision making" (DBDM) or "data-driven decision making" (DDDM) has increased rapidly. At the University of Twente in the…