Our Work: School & Systems Improvement
Systems Analysis, Research & Evaluation
Educators have long known that schools and classrooms don’t operate in a vacuum but as part of a multi-layered, complex education system that influences student success or failure. It can be difficult to sort out what’s working and what’s not. Yet, to make good decisions, leaders need answers to such questions as: Does every part of our system support high levels of student learning? What parts need improvement? Do our programs and policies support student and school success?
McREL’s team of highly respected researchers finds answers to these kinds of questions. Over the years, we have conducted hundreds of research and evaluation studies according to the highest achievable standards. Our researchers are experts in a wide variety of techniques, including these:
- Focus group research
- Program evaluation
- Qualitative case studies
- Research syntheses and meta-analyses
- Rigorous, random sample, comparison studies
- Survey research
We can help you collect the data and insights you need to sort out the complexities of education systems and improve their performance. Our philosophy is to conduct the highest quality research and evaluation possible within your budget and time constraints and to report the results in a way that gives practical guidance to educators and policymakers.
Fast turnaround evaluation studies
The fast turnaround analyses that McREL conducts can help you determine
which efforts are working in your school or district. For example,
we can examine your improvement plan to ensure that it focuses your
system on doing the “right” things that research says are
most likely to improve student achievement. Or, we can help you examine
your curriculum and instructional programs in key areas (e.g., literacy,
mathematics, science, the arts) to see if they are conducive to higher
levels of student achievement. Similarly, we can conduct a technology
audit to help you determine whether your investment in technology is
paying off in better teaching and learning.
Rigorous studies of education programs and interventions
For more than 40 years, McREL has conducted scientifically based research
on a wide variety of programs and interventions. We’ve helped
major publishers evaluate their reading and mathematics programs, and
we’ve worked with states to evaluate the outcomes of grant programs,
such as Reading First and distance learning programs.
Depending on your needs and budget, we can conduct
simple, short-term studies, using such basic methods as focus groups
and surveys, or design and conduct complex, scientifically valid studies
using random control trial
(with experimental and control groups) to isolate the effects of a
particular program or initiative. In every case, we make sure our research
methods match your data needs and budget constraints.
No matter how big or small, bring us your research question; we’ll help you find the answer.