Grant Closed

Cost Analysis in Practice Project (CAP Project)

NCER
Program: Unsolicited
Award amount: $627,743
Principal investigator: Fiona Hollands
Awardee:
Teachers College, Columbia University
Year: 2020
Project type:
Other
Award number: R305U200002

Purpose

Teachers College, Columbia University collaborated with SRI International and NORC at the University of Chicago to develop and disseminate free, on-demand tools, guidance, and technical assistance to education researchers and practitioners planning or conducting cost analysis or cost-effectiveness analysis of education practices, programs, and policies.

Project Activities

The Cost Analysis in Practice Project (CAP Project) developed the following tools, guidance, and technical assistance:

People and institutions involved

IES program contact(s)

Allen Ruby

Associate Commissioner for Policy and Systems
NCER

Products and publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Project Website: https://capproject.org

Additional online resources and information:

The E$timator tool to facilitate the estimation of costs and cost-effectiveness analyses at https://www.costtoolkit.org/

Select Publications:

Blogs for Inside IES Research

Chang, Y. & Kushner, A. (2022, August 4). Calculating the Costs of School Internet Access. Inside IES Research. /blogs/research/post/calculating-the-costs-of-school-internet-access

Hollands, F., Brodziak, I., Pratt-Williams, J., Shand, R., Drummond, K. & Artzi, L. (2021, July 15). Overcoming Challenges in Conducting Cost Analysis as Part of an Efficacy Trial. Inside IES Research. /blogs/research/post/overcoming-challenges-in-conducting-cost-analysis-as-part-of-an-efficacy-trial

Hollands, F. & Pratt-Williams, J. (2023, July 25). Have a Cost Analysis to Plan or Execute? We Have a Module for That. Inside IES Research. https://ies.ed.gov/blogs/research/post/have-a-cost-analysis-to-plan-or-execute-we-have-a-module-for-that

Pratt-Williams, J., Brodziak, I., Drummond, K. & Artzi, L. (2021, August 5). Timing is Everything: Collaborating with IES Grantees to Create a Needed Cost Analysis Timeline. Inside IES Research. https://ies.ed.gov/blogs/research/post/timing-is-everything-collaborating-with-ies-grantees-to-create-a-needed-cost-analysis-timeline

Shand, R. & Brodziak, I. (2021, September 9). Data Collection for Cost Analysis in an Efficacy Trial. Inside IES Research. https://ies.ed.gov/blogs/research/post/data-collection-for-cost-analysis-in-an-efficacy-trial

Working Paper

Hollands, F.M., Pratt-Williams, J., & Shand, R. (2021). Cost analysis standards & guidelines 1.1. Cost Analysis in Practice (CAP) Project. Full Text

Project website:

https://capproject.org

Supplemental information

Co-Principal Investigator: Pratt-Williams, Jaunelle

  • Resources to support cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis: CAP Project personnel developed a variety of resources to facilitate the planning and execution of cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. These included a cost analysis standards and guidelines, Excel-based cost analysis templates to enter cost data and execute analyses, a database of prices, checklists, facilities cost calculator, videos on how to calculate specific costs, timelines, data collection instruments, and event logs which are available on the project's website.
  • Help desk: CAP Project personnel provided one-on-one technical assistance to researchers working on economic evaluations and held periodic group Q&A sessions for IES applicants and grantees. The Help Desk provided 243 hours of support to 96 requests and received high satisfaction ratings.
  • Ongoing Technical Assistance: CAP Project personnel worked on a longer-term basis with five IES-funded research teams providing technical assistance on their economic evaluations, and with two IES-funded technical assistance centers to help support the grantees they served.
  • Online modules on cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis: CAP Project personnel developed and posted a series of five free asynchronous online modules on how to execute cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. These modules include 38 instructional videos and incorporate the cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis resources developed by the project.
    • Module 1: Introduction to Cost Analysis
    • Module 2: Designing a Cost Analysis
    • Module 3: Collecting Cost Data
    • Module 4: Analyzing Cost Data
    • Module 5: Reporting Cost Analysis Results
  • Upgrade of the E$timator software and tutorial videos: CAP Project personnel revised the programming code for the software E$timator (previously named CostOut) which facilitates execution of cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. CAP Project personnel also created eight tutorial videos to support users of the E$timator.

Questions about this project?

To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.

 

Questions about this project?

To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.

 

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