i3 Request for Proposals Calls for New Approaches to Rigorous Evaluation
In the strongest indication yet that the new administration is serious about learning from its multi-billion-dollar experience, the draft notice for the Invest in Innovation (i3) grants sets out new requirements for research and evaluation. While it is not surprising that the U.S. Department of Education requires scientific evidence for programs asking for funds for expansion and scaling up, it is important to note that strong evidence is now being defined not just in terms of rigorous methods but also in terms of “studies that in total include enough of the range of participants and settings to support scaling up to the State, regional, or national level.” This requirement for generalizability is a major step toward sponsoring research that has value for practical decisions. Along the same lines, high quality evaluations are those that include implementation data and performance feedback.
The draft notice also includes recognition of an important research design: “interrupted time series.” While not acceptable under the current What Works Clearinghouse criteria, this method—essentially looking for a change in a series of measures taken before and after implementing a new program—has enormous practical application for schools systems with solid longitudinal data systems.
Finally, we notice that ED is requiring that all evaluators cooperate with broader national efforts to combine evidence from multiple sources and will provide technical assistance to evaluators to assure consistency among researchers. They want to be sure at the end of the process they have useful evidence about what worked, what didn’t, and why.