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Research Partners

What We Offer to Research Partners

Research Services for Partners

Our company has invested in a technical infrastructure for our services so that research can be executed efficiently and accurately. Our products incorporate several tools designed to facilitate and customize the experiment process for our clients.

Tools We Use

Please click each topic to learn more about the tools we use.

• Empirical SecureServer^®

  Data transfers with customers are fully secure. Customers can upload data such as student demographics and test results via the Internet with our Empirical SecureServer^® website, which is protected using our SonicWall^® firewall and encrypted using VeriSign^® Security on our dedicated server. Our automatic data verification process makes it easy to check data for accuracy and completeness. All data are stored through secure and protected processes and easily imported for analysis through our company’s SAS statistical system, the industry standard.

  

• SurveyCenter^®

  In addition to analysis of student achievement data, examining implementation information can also be useful to determine the effectiveness of a program. Empirical Education’s SurveyCenter is a simple-to-use web-based interface that enables teachers to answer questions related to program use or product satisfaction. Custom questions can be prepared. Results are tied into the student data analysis, enabling a more fluid interpretation of results and program evaluation.

• Analytical Tools

  Empirical Education uses the industry-leading statistics engine SAS for most of our analyses. We have enhanced the capabilities of SAS with several standardizing tools and procedures. Specifically, we have developed workflow tools that provide for an efficient analytical operation. These include early identification of data requirements, transmission of data sets from data warehousing, and automated listing of tasks and responsibilities. We have developed SAS macro sets to combine commonly used analyses, such as moderator analyses using demographic variables that can be carried out quickly and efficiently. SAS output is processed by MS Word and Excel macros that accurately generate complex tables and figures in standard, easy-to-use formats.

  Empirical also works with R, a rapidly growing open-source platform for statistical data analysis. R is more suitable for development of custom analytical projects, easily programmable graphics and tables, and more advanced data post-processing including report generation.

• Reporting Tools

  Each of our reports is customized to the individual needs of our client. When appropriate, we utilize template guides to ease and streamline uniform reporting practices. For this, we have developed a number of tools that support the efficient reuse of templatized text, table, and graph-building macros used to create the final presentations of data.

• Data Warehousing

  Our data warehousing techniques and software are optimized for school data and can easily handle large and complex datasets. Our procedures are designed to address the many cases in which data provided by districts have not been fully verified or standardized. In addition to being able to interface with our SAS analytical engine and established analytical tools and with our survey generation tools, including our Survey Mirror tool, our database schemas and structures can support a wide range of scenarios. These include multi-level structure for districts/schools/students that allows flexible hierarchies, default structures for handling standard demographics while allowing extensions (extended ethnicity, for example), ability to track changes such as attrition and its causes, and multi-year support for projects spanning several years, including tracking changes in teachers, students, and rosters. Our data tools also include the proprietary FastMatch program, a simple adaptation of artificial intelligence techniques, that matches student names in cases where established IDs are not available. In addition we have developed programs that process Scantron and similar input and provide data in the format useful in our databases.

Methodologies

Our work uses sophisticated statistical methods integrating data from federal, state and local longitudinal databases with information on program implementation, measures of change in school and classroom processes, and qualitative data collected from teachers and classrooms.

• Our methods are designed to meet and exceed WWC requirements with a focus on ‘what works?’, ‘for whom? ’ and ‘under what conditions’?
• Our qualitative analyses give formative feedback on program implementation using surveys, interviews and classroom observations.
• Our quantitative analyses focus on basic impacts, but also include moderator, mediator, and implementation analyses.
• We provide both formative feedback and summative results allowing for program improvement while maintaining objectivity in our assessments.
• We have an interdisciplinary focus, drawing on methods from different fields including education, epidemiology, econometrics, psychology and public health.
• Our methodologies span the research cycle, from development through scale-up of fully-mature programs.
• Our methods are suited to evaluations on multiple scales, including efforts that span from months to years, and that range from the micro activities within classrooms, to large scale processes occurring across districts or states.
• We monitor validity throughout the research process, for example, by tracking the levels and effects of attrition and cross-over of participants.

Outcomes

We focus on outcomes of school-based interventions that address different content areas (academic, health promotion) for various kinds of students (mainstreamed or specially designated).

Please click each topic to learn more about the tools we use.

• Student Achievement

  We specialize in method of rigorous program evaluation that meet NCLB requirements for scientifically based research. We assess impacts on performance on both state and other standardized tests (e.g., NWEA). We focus on programs that are targeted to improve the performance of different kinds of students, from the mainstreamed to those with special needs in self-contained classes. We address effects of programs on various outcomes, from tests of performance in different subject areas, to classroom processes and student attitudes to learning as gauged through surveys and questionnaires of teachers and students. Our data mining and value-added analyses help our clients with descriptive evaluations and needs assessments.

• Student Health and Welfare

  School are ideal settings for implementing programs to promote healthy habits. Our goal is to help clinicians, researchers, and program developers to move promising programs that address student health and welfare from the “bench” to successful implementation at the school level. Our methods are suited to assessing impacts on various health-related behaviors, including, eating habits, alcohol use, and risk-taking. We address questions such as:

  • Does a school-based intervention that is meant to promote healthy eating habits among students result in a change in eating behaviors? Is this change sustained over time? Does it benefit some students more than others
  • Is a school-based program that is designed to promote self-esteem and positive self-image more successful when implemented through a home-school partnership as opposed to only a school-based component? What are the characteristics of schools that lead to more successful implementation?

• Youth Development and Juvenile Justice

  Schools are integral parts of communities and we focus on evaluation of programs for promoting juvenile justice and youth development. We assess the catalysts and barriers to the implementation of interventions that are designed to promote safe schools by preventing delinquency and facilitating healthy and productive community involvement.

  We are interested in working with program developers and administrators to evaluate and support the implementation and scale up of school-based programs for preventing school drop-out, absenteeism, substance abuse, bullying and teenage pregnancy, and that promote self-esteem, perseverance and interest in school, positive peer relationships, academic success, and successful transitioning to higher education and employment.

• A Holistic Approach to School-Based Research Involving Youth Outcomes

  We take a holistic approach to research and evaluation. Youth outcomes are connected. Self-esteem and positive peer relationships affect school performance, and healthy habitsÑin and out of schoolÑaffect academic success. Therefore, we see our three main areas of concentration — academic achievement, student health and welfare and youth development and justice — as fundamentally connected.

  By considering a broader set of outcomes, our goal is to bring relevant theory to bear on outputs important for student success, especially in the context of schools. Consistent with this commitment we plan for evaluations that support the articulation and assessment of program models that address a wide set of contexts, activities and outcomes in schools, as well as the relations among them.

Services

We offer services individually, as well as a complete package option. Please click each topic to learn more about the tools we use.

• Research Management

  Front-end communication

  We have conducted research in more than a thousand classrooms across the United States. We have a track record of successful partnerships with school districts and can work with you to find sites for implementing programs and evaluating results. Schools face many demands on their time and getting commitment from school officials to test-run promising programs can be a challenging first step in any school-based research project. We facilitate front-end communication among researchers, and school personnel to set projects in motion.

  Protection of Human Subjects

  We maintain the highest standards required by the US ED and by university-based research. Our Federal Wide Approval is maintained by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Our research protocols have current approvals from the institutional review boards of Stanford University and Independent Review Consulting, Inc. We always give precedence to any additional requirements of organizations with which we work.

  Debriefing

  We see projects through. Research in schools is an investment by many groups. Teachers and principals routinely want feedback on their participation. We facilitate discussion between all parties involved in a project, in order to make research relevant and part of an ongoing cycle of program implementation and improvement: sustainable partnerships benefit everyone.

• Data Acquisition and Warehousing

  Data retrieval

  Our research methods strike a balance between respondent burden and the demands of research designs. We have technologies in place (SurveyMirror) to assist in data retrieval and have a high response rate for online surveys (approximately 95%).

  Data Warehousing

  Data integrity is critical and we follow the process through. Our data engineers work with school district personnel to fill data requests and produce datasets that are well-documented, well-stocked, and ready for analysis. Learn more about our Data Warehousing capacity here. Learn more about our tool for secure data transfer SecureServer™

• Research Design and Data Analysis

  Research Design

  School settings pose specific challenges to implementing programs and studying their effects. Getting the research design right is essential to getting a good data yield and useful results. We have a proven track record of developing robust and cost-efficient designs that can be implemented in schools without major disruptions.

  Data Analysis

  Our multidisciplinary team of researchers brings a host of experiences to the data analysis efforts. We routinely conduct analyses of results from experiments and quasi-experiments to identify causal effects of programs on teacher- and student-outcomes, drawing on sophisticated statistical processes.

  We emphasize methods for obtaining results that are relevant to the What Works Clearinghouse, but go beyond, by conducting analyses that are central for understanding the program in context. We address quality of implementation, and evaluate the conditions under which impacts are stronger, including differential impacts for subgroups of students, teachers and schools. The goal is to provide actionable results leading to program improvement.

  Learn more about the types of Research Designs and Data Analyses we carry out here.

• Report Production and Communication of Results

  Our reports are tailored to your needs. We have a wide repertoire of products for presenting results, including:

  • Power point presentations for summarizing the main outcomes
  • Easy to read guides for practitioners in school systems
  • Technical reports for researchers
  • Concise graphs for marketing purposes

• Meeting Small Business Requirements for Grants

  Let us strengthen you proposal by fulfilling the small business requirement. Many government requests for proposals require the involvement of small businesses in the potential research effort. We are a small business that offers services individually or combined as a package. We can scale our services according to your needs.

  We ask you to keep us in mind when developing new research ideas and submitting grant proposals. Having us on board can strengthen a proposal by demonstrating the inclusion of an experienced research partner that specializes in school-based program implementation efforts. If your grant proposal can be strengthened by having a small-business involved, then we are more than happy to meet that need!

Clients

We understand the challenges to doing school-based research and evaluations and can address your needs. Please click each topic to learn more about our clients.

• Researchers and Clinicians

  Effective programs start with sound research and, in going from the lab to the classroom, require validation efforts to ensure that theory is consistent with practice. At Empirical, we know schools, and the unique challenges they present to bringing promising programs into effect. Our goal is to assist you in translating theory into practice and to evaluate your program as it moves from development, through effectiveness studies, and ultimately to scale-up.

  We invite you to look at our services to determine which would be of most benefit to you.

• Program Developers

  Evidence matters! We provide formative and summative evidence of program success from the development phase through full-scale deployment. Effective programs start with sound research and require validation efforts to make sure that implementation produces intended results. We will work intensively with you at each stage to achieve this goal.

  Proven effectiveness requires testing programs in real contexts. At Empirical, we know schools, and the unique challenges they present to implementing school-based programs. Our goal is to help you evaluate your program to make it scalable and recognized as proven effective in real-world settings

  We invite you to look at our services to determine which would be of most benefit to you.

• Schools and Districts

  Evidence matters!

  Some programs work better than others in raising achievement and producing other positive outcomes for students. Often the evidence base for identifying effective programs is weak. Even rigorous studies if conducted on the large-scale (e.g., state-wide) may have limited relevance for local contexts.

  Our goal is to provide you with feedback about program effects under the specific conditions of your school or district. We expect that the characteristics of your schools, teachers and students often play a very large role in whether a program is successfully implemented and achieves intended goals in a cost effective way. By showing that a program works, based on rigorous and objective standards, you can achieve buy-in from parents, board members and other stake holders.

  We have conducted research in more than a thousand classrooms across the United States. With our track record of successful partnerships with school districts, we can help you make decisions concerning the adoption and targeting of programs with the intention of increasing achievement and lowering costs.

  We focus on programs that target achievement directly, as well as ones that aim to promote achievement indirectly by increasing student well-being generally. For more information click here: A Holistic Approach to School-Based Research Involving Youth Outcomes

Research Partners We Have Worked With

• Institute of Education Sciences (grants from National Center for Education Research)
• SERVE Center at UNC, Greensboro (REL Southeast )
• WestEd (REL West, i3 evaluation of Reading Apprenticeship )
• Education Development Center (REL Northeast and Islands )
• Abt Associates (co-authored NCEE Reference Report)
• American Institute for Research (REL Midwest)
• Education Northwest (REL Northwest)