The goal of this brief is to provide school district and school staff with tools to help make more effective and efficient use of resources, particularly American Rescue Plan ESSER III funding. ESSER III funding offers districts and schools an opportunity to not only support their immediate needs of safely reopening schools to in-person…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can be considered an important tool for professionals to reskill and upskill as well as a cost-efficient way to stay relevant. However, evidence-based research is still needed to identify why specific categories of people, especially professionals, take paid MOOCs. The paper aims to analyze the factors that…

The translation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to improve students' social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes into authentic school settings has posed significant challenges for both researchers and practitioners. Among the many barriers to the adoption and use of EBPs are their associated costs. This study presents a framework for…

Including cost-effectiveness data in the evaluation of programs is the next step in the evolution of evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice is grounded in three complementary elements: best available evidence, professional judgment, and client values and context. To fully apply the cost-effectiveness data, school administrators will have…

Making evidence-based decisions in schools seems like an impossible task when hundreds of activities are available, the evidence base fails to address most of them, and budget deadlines are immovable. In addition, different stakeholders hold different views on what it means for a program, strategy, or intervention to "work." Fiona…

Education decision makers routinely make choices among programs and strategies to implement. Policy demands increasingly require that such decisions are based on evidence regarding program effectiveness at improving student outcomes. However, research evidence is but one of the considerations that practitioners must juggle, along with local…

This brief provides guidance to decision makers in schools, districts, state education departments, and intermediary organizations about ways that cost analyses can help inform their decisions about program choices, budgets, and strategies. It addresses questions about: (1) why cost information matters in education; (2) what cost metrics are…

The evidence-based decision-making emphasis in education has largely focused on the adoption of new practices for which evidence of effectiveness exists. Following adoption, however, the focus shifts to improvement and the appropriate evidence needed to support budget decisions must be local, timely, and relevant. Existing evidence used to support…

Since 2018, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked in more than 80 countries to ensure that children and youth have access to the education and skills they need to be productive members of society. The launch of USAID's Education Policy in 2018 encouraged USAID Missions to be as adaptive, flexible, and responsive…

Systematic reviews provide high-level evidence but there are barriers to their use by policy makers. This paper reports the preparation and evaluation of an evidence briefing, using systematic reviews and other existing sources of synthesised evidence, to support a possible reorganisation of services for young people with eating disorders in an…