Abt Associates, Inc.
Associated IES Content
Contract
Program Closure and Tenure Policies
Over the past decade, institutions of higher education across the United States have faced increasing pressures driving program and departmental closures,
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990023D0015
Contract
What Works Clearinghouse Supporting and Analyzing Grantee Evaluations (WWC-SAGE)
Supporting and Analyzing Grantee Evaluations (SAGE) was to provide technical assistance to external evaluators of projects funded by U.S. Department of Education grant programs.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990025F0014
Contract
Income Driven Student Loan Repayment Plans: Lessons from Participation and Borrower Repayment Patterns
Approximately 43 million Americans have outstanding federal student loan debt, and many of these borrowers struggle to repay their loans. To make student loan repayment more manageable and decrease the risk of borrowers defaulting on their loans, the Department of Education offers some borrowers the option to enroll in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990022A0016/91990024F0361
Contract
Evaluation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Stronger Connections Program
Recent school shootings and lingering effects from the pandemic have sparked renewed concerns about school safety and student well-being. In response, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) of 2022 and provided $1 billion in funding for the Stronger Connections Grant Program (BSCA-SC) to supplement other efforts intended to make schools safer and more supportive for learning. Through BSCA-SC, states competitively award subgrants to high-need districts to help them prevent
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990019F0334
Contract
Assisting Students Struggling with Behavior in Grades K-12 (WWC-PESTO-1)
This project conducted a systematic review of evidence on the impacts of school-based behavior interventions on students in kindergarten through grade 12 who have been identified as struggling with behavior, at risk of social and behavioral programs, or in need of interventions to address externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, or both and developed related products for educators and policymakers.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990021F0370
Contract
Expanding Pell Grant Eligibility to Incarcerated Students: A Study of Early Implementers to Inform Roll Out of the FAFSA Simplification Act
Although enrolling in postsecondary education programs while in prison may reduce recidivism and improve the employment prospects of incarcerated individuals after release, the costs and availability of such programs can be barriers to participation.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990019D0003
Grant
Adult Skills Network Lead
The Adult Skills Network (ASN) lead serves two primary roles. First, the lead will provide ASN coordination and management to facilitate the work of all ASN grantees in meeting their shared goal to address the needs of adults with low basic skills or academic attainment. Second, the lead will provide national leadership in knowledge generation and translation and guides large-scale dissemination of research-based resources to practitioners and other stakeholders in a form they can effectivel...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305N210014
Contract
National Evaluation of the 2019 Comprehensive Centers Program Grantees
State and local education agencies face increased responsibilities resulting from both changes in federal law and the Coronavirus pandemic.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990019D0002
Contract
Evaluations of Federal Financial Aid Information and Delivery Strategies: An Experiment in the Federal Work Study Program to Encourage Student Jobs in the Private Sector
Although most students work while in postsecondary education, those who are lower income are less likely to have jobs connected to their field of study. To address this inequity and promote more private sector partnerships, the Office of Federal Student Aid conducted an experiment to help colleges participating in the Federal Work Study program (FWS) shift at least some students who receive FWS support from on-campus to off-campus jobs. Under the experiment, colleges that volunteered received
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990019D0003
Contract
Effectiveness of Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs: A Study of Financial Aid Supports for GEAR UP Students
Scholarships to support college enrollment and persistence can be critical for low-income students, including those in the high need schools that participate in Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP).
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
EDIES12C0087
Grant
Deriving and Developing Tools to Estimate Optimal Data Points for Quasi-Experimental Designs
Education policies and interventions are often implemented in ways that do not render it feasible to use a randomized control trial to test their effects. The purposes of this study are to derive theory for computing exact statistical power for three common quasi-experimental designs (QEDs) - nonequivalent control group designs, difference-in-differences, and interrupted time series - and to develop software for computing statistical power using the derived approaches for those QEDs.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305D200045
Contract
Technical Assistance for Education Innovation and Research Grantees
These contracts supports technical assistance for high-quality evaluations conducted by Education Innovation and Reserach grantees.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990020F0305; 91990021F0304; 91990022F0303; 91990023F0302; 91990023F0302
Contract
Evaluations of Federal Financial Aid Information and Delivery Strategies: An Experiment Requiring Additional Loan Counseling for Student Borrowers
Roughly two out of three students take out loans to pay for college, requiring them to make consequential decisions about how much to borrow and which type of loans.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990019D0003
Contract
National Implementation Study of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A)
Changes to education law in 2015 consolidated several programs to give states and districts greater flexibility in how they use federal funds. The resulting Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant program (Title IV, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)) tries to maintain the different purposes of the original programs by prioritizing and requiring spending in three broad areas: (1) providing students with a well-ro
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-PEP-16-A-0003/91990019F0334
Contract
Evaluating The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program After the 2017 Reauthorization
Following two rigorous evaluations examining <em>if</em> the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) works, there remains interest in understanding how it works. The only federally funded private school voucher program in the country, the OSP expands the set of school options available to low-income students in Washington, DC. However, the OSP is experiencing competition for students from a growing public-school choice sector. This third congressionally-mandated evaluation of the program will
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
91990019C0004
Grant
Study of Effects of Transition Planning Process (TPP) on Adult Basic Skills Learners' GED® Attainment and Enrollment in Postsecondary Education
A previous IES-funded project (R305H140108) found that Oregon's Adult Basic Skills (ABS) programs, run by community colleges, could better support students' GED® completion and transition to postsecondary programs. In response, Oregon created the ABS Transition Planning Process (TPP). Through this project, Oregon sought to evaluate the efficacy of the use of the TTP to determine its impact and whether it should be continued. TPP is a text-messaging supplement to ABS advising activiti...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305L170012
Contract
Academic Language Impact Evaluation
Academic language skills are critical supports for reading and understanding for all students, particularly for English Learners (ELs) and disadvantaged native English speakers whose achievement typically lags behind their peers.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-15-C-0050
Grant
Development of College- and Employer-based Career Pathways Models that Build on the Year Up Program Logic
In this study, the researchers developed and piloted cost-effective, scalable versions of the Year Up's original "core" program for young adults aged 18-24 with a high school diploma or equivalent.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150214
Grant
How Does Implementation Mediate Program Impacts? Improving Current Evaluation Research Methods
The purpose of this project was to advance evaluation research methods that address questions about the mediational influences of education initiatives. The structure of education interventions makes investigating the relationship between implementation and impact particularly challenging, because education interventions frequently work through classroom teachers.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305D150016
Grant
Study of Effects of Accelerated Basic Skills Instruction on Adults' GED Attainment and Enrollment in Postsecondary Education
In 2006, the state of Oregon established the Oregon Pathways for Adult Basic Skills Transition to Education and Work Initiative (OPABS) in order to help adult learners earn a General Educational Development secondary credential (GED) and transition to credit-bearing postsecondary courses. However, due to the limited available resources in the state, Oregon's Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD) was not able to evaluate the outcomes of OPABS. This grant provided t...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H140108
Contract
Effectiveness of Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs: Study of Enhanced Advising to Improve College Fit in Upward Bound
Growing concern over college enrollment, completion, and costs has heightened interest in how to help low-income students, including those in college access programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
EDIES12C0087
Contract
Effectiveness of Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs: Study of College Transition Text Messaging in GEAR UP
The complex process of applying to, enrolling in, and staying in college is one of many barriers to postsecondary success that low-income students face. Emerging research suggested that customized text message reminders that also connect students to advisors could help. This demonstration evaluated a promising text messaging strategy that addressed hurdles that are both procedural – registration, course selection, tuition payments, getting to office hours, FAFSA refiling – and psyc
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-12-C-0087
Contract
Evaluation of Support for Using Student Data to Inform Teachers' Instruction
Most districts help teachers use data to improve student learning, often supporting this effort with Title II, Part A funds. But many teachers feel unprepared to use student data to inform their instruction — referred to as data-driven instruction (DDI) — and there is little evidence of whether it improves student achievement. This study assessed an intensive approach to supporting teachers' use of student data to tailor their instruction. The support included funding for a data co
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-12-C-0086
Contract
Upward Bound Implementation Study
Upward Bound, one of eight Federal TRIO Programs, provides fundamental support to participants in their preparation for college entrance. The program provides opportunities for participants to succeed in their precollege performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits. Upward Bound serves: high school students from low-income families; and high school students from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor's degree. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at whic
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-10-C-0050
Contract
Study of Teacher Preparation Experiences and Early Teacher Effectiveness
Title II, Part A, the Improving Teacher Quality State Formula Grants program, is the primary federal funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to improve teacher quality. Research has shown that, on average, novice teachers are less effective in improving student achievement than their more experienced peers. This is particularly an issue given that new teachers tend to be concentrated in high-poverty schools with lower-performing students. Little research exists, however, to in
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-11-C-0072
Grant
Testing Different Methods of Improving the External Validity of Impact Evaluations in Education
This study was motivated by the observation that most major, multi-site evaluations in education have chosen participating sites (e.g., districts, schools, or grantees) "purposively" and not randomly. This raises possible concerns about the generalizability of the findings from these studies. The goal of this project was to provide evidence regarding the external validity of evaluations that are based on purposive samples.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305D100041
Contract
Evaluation of Investing in Innovation
Expanding both the use and evidence base of effective educational strategies is critical to improving student learning and closing equity gaps nationwide. The Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund is one key U.S. Department of Education program explicitly focused on these goals and the first to require adherence to the Department's standards for high quality, rigorous evaluation. Between 2010 and 2016, the i3 program invested $1.4 billion to help districts, nonprofit organizations, and schools imp
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-10-C-0064, ED-IES-13-C-0005, ED-IES-14-C-0007, ED-IES-15-C-0002
Contract
IDEA National Assessment Implementation Study
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) is the most recent authorization of a law passed in 1975 to promote a free appropriate public education for children with disabilities. Funded at $12.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2010, IDEA supports early intervention services for infants and toddlers, special education services for children ages 3 through 21, and early intervening services for students not in special education but in need of academic or behavioral sup
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-04-CO-0015/0009
Contract
Technical Assistance to Local Impact Evaluations of Striving Readers Projects
Striving Readers was a discretionary grant program authorized as part of the Fiscal Year 2005 Appropriations Act under the Title I demonstration authority (Part E, Section 1502 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act). The program was focused on raising reading achievement of middle school and high school students through intensive interventions for struggling readers and enhancing the quality of literacy instruction across the curriculum. The
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-10-O-0006
Contract
Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program
The U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program was authorized under the No Child Left Behind Act and funded at $47 million in Fiscal Year 2009. The program intended to address the lack of supportive adults in the lives of students in grades four through eight at risk for academic failure and behavioral problems. The program provided funds to schools and to community- and faith-based organizations to create school-based mentoring programs. This study evaluated the impact of this p
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-04-CO-0015/0002
Contract
Reading First Impact Study
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 created the Reading First program to help ensure that all students can read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The program was funded at $393 million in Fiscal Year 2008 and targeted low-income, low-performing schools. This evaluation was conducted in response to Reading First's legislation requiring that the U.S. Department of Education contract with an independent organization for a "rigorous, scientifically valid, and quantitative"
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-01-CO-0093/0004
External Person
Beth Boulay
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