Purpose
The Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Special Education Interventions (Low-Cost Evaluation) grant program supports rigorous evaluations of special education interventions (broadly defined as practices, programs, and policies) that state or local education agencies expect to produce meaningful improvements in student education outcomes within a short period of time of a year or less. These evaluations are to be conducted for $250,000 or less and completed within 2 years.
The Low-Cost Evaluation grant program was launched in 2016 as part of an effort to fill a special niche in the evaluation process. The Institute views Low-Cost Evaluation projects as a means to obtain rigorous evidence of impact that state and district education agencies can use in making timely decisions regarding the scaling up or revision of special education interventions. To meet these goals, the evaluations (a) are carried out by research institutions and state or local education agencies working together as partners on a topic of high importance to the agency; (b) use randomized controlled trials, regression discontinuity designs, or experimental single-case designs to determine the impact of special education interventions on student education outcomes; and (c) primarily rely on administrative data or other sources of secondary data to provide measures of these student outcomes.
Through this grant program, the Institute intends to support better education agency decision making on specific interventions and to learn more about the value of this type of evaluation and what it can and cannot accomplish.
Portfolio summary
NCSER has invested $500,000 in the Low-Cost Evaluation program.
- Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Special Education Interventions
Related project & programs
Contact
Request for Applications
