• Expertise
• Projects
• Research and Evaluation
• Professional Development
• Store
• Free Resources

Research and Evaluation

Significant Work: Improving School Performance

Current Work:

Texas Comprehensive Center Evaluation: The Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC) located at SEDL, one of 15 regional centers established by the U.S. Department of Education, provides assistance to the Texas Education Agency in its efforts to implement the goals and programs of the No Child Left Behind Act. SEDL's Research and Evaluation staff are conducting an internal evaluation to document the quality, relevance, and usefulness of the services provided by the TXCC as well as the progress made toward short- and long-term goals and objectives.

Southeast Comprehensive Center Evaluation: The Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) located at SEDL, one of 15 regional centers established by the U.S. Department of Education, provides assistance to the state education agencies in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina in their efforts to implement the goals and programs of the No Child Left Behind Act. SEDL's Research and Evaluation staff are conducting an internal evaluation to document the quality, relevance, and usefulness of the services provided by the SECC as well as the progress made toward short- and long-term goals and objectives.

National Staff Development Council Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI) Revisions and Secondary Data Analyses: This project builds on SEDL's previous work conducting reliability and validity studies to further develop the SAI for the National Staff Development Council. The study involves conducting multilevel factor analyses on large multi-state data sets and using the findings from those analyses to assess the predictive validity of the SAI in regard to student academic achievement.

Past Work:

Texas High School Completion and Success (THSCS) Grant Program Evaluation: SEDL and its partners, Gibson Consulting and Academic Information Management, Inc., conducted an evaluation study to determine the degree to which THSCS grant funds have been implemented by grantees to support high school student retention and increase graduation rates and access to higher education. SEDL coordinated and conducted site visits, surveys, and best practices research and served as quality assurance on all project deliverables.

Final Report: Evaluation of the Texas High School Completion and Success Grant Initiative, Cycle 2 Final Report (PDF 560KB)

Interim Report: Evaluation of the Texas High School Completion and Success Grant Initiative, Cycle 2 Interim Report (PDF 3.3MB)

Educator Professional Development Programs Implemented at the Regional and Local Levels Evaluation: SEDL, Gibson Consulting, Academic Information Management, Inc., and two other firms evaluated the statewide teacher training activities funded through the Texas Student Success Initiative, which encompassed the Texas Reading, Mathematics, and Science Teacher Academies. SEDL conducted a literature review of best practices in professional development; expert reviews of academy training materials and resources; and surveys to ascertain how teachers perceived the training and if they were implementing the strategies in the classroom.

Final Report: Evaluation of Educator Professional Development Programs Implemented at the Regional and Local Levels Final Report (PDF 2.6MB)

SEDL's Working Systemically Approach of Reform Evaluation: This 5-year research and development effort was intended to assess the effect of SEDL's Working Systemically approach on low-performing districts' and schools' capacity to work systemically and on student achievement in reading or mathematics. This research and development project employed a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design to compare low-performing districts involved in the project with other similar low-performing districts in the same state. The study assessed the implementation and impact of the Working Systemically approach in 12 sites distributed across the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. SEDL gathered four sets of data to assess sites' progress in developing systemic work and improving student achievement: (1) electronically maintained site contact records documenting the ongoing implementation of the approach; (2) interviews conducted twice annually with key district and school personnel to document district and school operations and the work of leadership teams at the district and school levels; (3) surveys of district and school personnel conducted annually to assess their capacity to work systemically; and (4) student scores on state achievement tests to assess student growth over the project's duration.

Final Report: SEDL's Working Systemically Model Final Report (PDF 2.3MB)

Teacher Resources and Student Achievement in High-Need Schools Investigation: As part of SEDL's recently completed 5-year regional educational laboratory contract, SEDL conducted a series of three policy research studies that addressed the relationship between educational resource allocation and student achievement. The studies assessed the benefits of using state databases from Texas and the surrounding states to document the relationship between teacher resources, including teacher salaries, education, and experience, on student achievement. SEDL designed and developed three studies to assess the relationship using large secondary state and federal data from more than 1,500 districts and provided the findings to policymakers and stakeholders through policy briefs and regional and state policy forums.

Final Report: Teacher Resources and Student Achievement in High-Need Schools (PDF 616KB)

Arkansas Education Renewal Zones (ERZ) Initiative Evaluation: SEDL staff conducted a multiyear evaluation of the ERZ initiative in eight sites across the state of Arkansas. The evaluation included both formative and summative data collection and reporting functions. The primary goals of the evaluation were to document the context in which the ERZ initiative takes place in each site, the implementation of the initiative according to the guidelines specified in the legislation, and the short- and long-term outcomes resulting from the implementation of the initiative. SEDL collaboratively developed a program logic model that was used to identify qualitative and quantitative outcome measures to be monitored as the initiative is implemented. Using a cluster evaluation framework, the evaluation was focused on identifying and describing (1) the policies, practices, and conditions that foster improvements in public school performance and student achievement; (2) the ways in which the partnerships established through the renewal zones leverage large-scale education improvement across the state; and (3) what will be needed to sustain the initiative over time.

Final Report: Arkansas Education Renewal Zones Initiative - 2007 Final Evaluation Report (PDF 1.8MB)

AERA Presentation: Education Renewal Zones: Increasing Partnerships and Sharing Resources for School Improvement (PDF 376KB)

Arkansas Delta Academic Initiatives Evaluation: SEDL evaluated a multiyear district-level systemic initiative in five rural districts in Arkansas. The intervention sought to improve academic achievement outcomes for K–12 students through programs developed by or run from the University of Arkansas. SEDL conducted on-site interviews with program developers and administrators, as well as principals, teachers, and students in the local school districts.