Did Remote Learning Lead to Different Education and Health Outcomes in Pennsylvania?

This brief examines remote learning in Pennsylvania and its role in shaping education and community health outcomes during the 2020–2021 school year.

Pennsylvania’s 2022 Student Proficiency Rates Show Signs of Partial Recovery

Proficiency rates on Pennsylvania’s statewide assessments in 2022 remain below pre-pandemic levels, especially in math, but there is evidence that student learning has begun to recover.

Staff Attrition from Pennsylvania Public Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns about the possibility of increased staff attrition from the public school sector. This research brief provides a fuller picture of staff attrition during the pandemic from Pennsylvania LEAs, including traditional school districts and charter schools.

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Academic Proficiency Rates in Pennsylvania in 2021

Pennsylvania’s 2021 state assessments offered the first opportunity since the pandemic began to assess whether achievement gaps had widened and how remote learning affected students. This brief provides a picture of the pandemic’s impacts on proficiency in Pennsylvania in grades 5 through 8.

Comparative Regression Discontinuity and Regression Discontinuity as Alternatives to Randomized Controlled Trials for Estimating Average Treatment Effects

In this paper we use data from an evaluation of the Benefit Offset National Demonstration to evaluate the efficacy of using comparative regression discontinuity and regression discontinuity relative to a randomized controlled trial.

Internal and External Validity of the Comparative Interrupted Time-Series Design: A Meta-Analysis

This paper meta-analyzes 12 heterogeneous studies that examine bias in the comparative interrupted time-series design (CITS) that is often used to evaluate the effects of social policy interventions.

School Instruction in Pennsylvania During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This research brief describes how local education agencies in Pennsylvania responded to an unprecedented public health emergency and other challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020–2021 school year.

Testimony: Impact of the DC School Reforms on Student Achievement

On Wednesday, August 18, 2021, Mathematica provided the DC State Board of Education Board with testimony that highlighted how the DC School reforms of 2007 impacted student achievement.

Impacts of School Reforms in Washington, DC on Student Achievement

This report estimates (1) how test scores and student demographics in DC changed over time after 2007, compared to similar students in geographic areas without such reforms; (2) how results differed by student demographics; and (3) how postsecondary readiness among DC students changed in terms of SAT...

Measuring the Impacts of School Reforms in the District of Columbia on Student Achievement (Issue Brief)

This issue brief provides an overview of a study that analyzed how the 2007 school reforms in the District of Columbia impacted student achievement.

Ghana Power Compact: Evaluation Design Report

This evaluation design report presents our plans for conducting a long-term evaluation of the Ghana Power Compact that aims to improve electricity distribution and increase energy efficiency.

Benefits and Challenges of Expanding Grid Electricity in Africa: A Review of Rigorous Evidence on Household Impacts in Developing Countries

Electrification rates have risen dramatically in many developing countries, but most low-income African countries lag far behind.

The Internal and External Validity of the Regression Discontinuity Design: A Meta-Analysis of 15 Within-Study Comparisons

We test RD’s validity across 15 studies, each of which compared impact estimates from RD with those from a corresponding RCT. We find bias below 0.01 standard deviations on average, and below 0.07 by study based on results shrunken to capitalize on information from the other studies.

The Kigoma Solar Activity in Tanzania: Evaluation Findings (Issue Brief)

The Kigoma solar activity, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, was designed to promote solar power systems in the Kigoma region of western Tanzania. This brief covers results from a recently completed performance evaluation of the Kigoma solar activity.

Grid Electricity Expansion in Tanzania by MCC: Findings from a Rigorous Impact Evaluation, Final Report

The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s energy-sector project was designed to promote economic growth and curb poverty in Tanzania.

Grid Electricity Expansion in Tanzania: Findings from a Rigorous Impact Evaluation (Issue Brief)

This issue brief summarizes findings from the final evaluation report of a large energy-sector project in Tanzania.

Impacts of New Electric Line Extensions in Tanzania (In Focus Brief)

This brief summarizes the impacts of new electric line extensions in Tanzania.

Impacts of Low-Cost-Connection Offers in Tanzania: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial (In Focus Brief)

This brief summarizes the impacts of low-cost-connection offers in Tanzania.

Impacts of Actually Connecting to the Electric Grid in Tanzania (In Focus Brief)

This brief summarizes the impacts of actually connecting to the electric grid in Tanzania.

Evaluation of the Kigoma Solar Activity in Tanzania: Final Report

The Kigoma solar activity, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, was designed to promote solar power systems in the Kigoma region of western Tanzania. This report covers results from a recently completed performance evaluation of the Kigoma solar activity.

Quality of Data on Connections to the National Electric Grid for Evaluation of Millennium Challenge Corporation's Energy Project in Mainland Tanzania (Memo)

Evaluation of the Tanzania Energy Sector Project: Final Update of Design Report

This report describes Mathematica’s plans to evaluate four components of the Millennium Challenge Corporation-funded energy sector project in Tanzania.

Millennium Challenge Corporation's Electricity Transmission and Distribution Line-Extension Activity in Tanzania: Qualitative Evaluation, Appendix D

This report presents our qualitative evaluation findings on the implementation of the T&D activity and the FS initiative, and the outcomes of electrification as perceived by households, businesses, and other community institutions.

Millennium Challenge Corporation's Electricity Transmission and Distribution Line-Extension Activity in Tanzania: Qualitative Evaluation

This report presents our qualitative evaluation findings on the implementation of the T&D activity and the FS initiative, and the outcomes of electrification as perceived by households, businesses, and other community institutions.

Evaluation of the Zanzibar Interconnector Activity: Findings from the Hotel Study

This report presents findings from an evaluation of the installation of a new 100-megawatt submarine cable connecting Zanzibar’s Unguja Island. This installation was funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to increase the supply of reliable and high quality electricity.

Measuring Teachers' Effectiveness: A Report from Phase 3 of Pennsylvania's Pilot of the Framework for Teaching

In this report we analyzed data on two measures of teacher performance—one (the Framework for Teaching, or FFT) is based largely on classroom observations, and the other (value-added measures, or VAM) is based on student test scores.

Assessing the "Rothstein Falsification Test": Does It Really Show Teacher Value-Added Models Are Biased?

In an influential paper, Jesse Rothstein (2010) shows that standard value-added models (VAMs) suggest implausible and large future teacher effects on past student achievement.

Professional Practice, Student Surveys, and Value-Added: Multiple Measures of Teacher Effectiveness in the Pittsburgh Public Schools

Responding to federal and state prompting, school districts across the country are implementing new teacher evaluation systems that aim to increase the rigor of evaluation ratings, better differentiate effective teaching, and support personnel and staff development initiatives that promote teacher effectiveness...

Assessing the Rothstein Test: Does It Really Show Teacher Value-Added Models Are Biased?

In a provocative and influential paper, Jesse Rothstein (2010) finds that standard value-added models (VAMs) suggest implausible future teacher effects on past student achievement, a finding that obviously cannot be viewed as causal.

Roads to Success: Estimated Impacts of an Education and Career Planning Program During Middle School

This report assesses the impact of two years of exposure to the school and career planning program, Roads to Success, on eighth graders from high-poverty rural schools. The main findings are that the program had no measurable effect on desire to learn job skills or study/learning habits.