This report describes the value-added models (VAMs) created for the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. Pittsburgh's VAMs use not only state assessments but also course-specific assessments, student attendance, and course completion rates, aiming to produce...

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contracted with Mathematica to conduct an implementation study of the Strategic Data Project (SDP) and Education Pioneers (EP) programs, which aim to enhance the capacity of school districts and other education agencies to collect, manage, analyze, and use...

This article uses data from Ohio, a state that allows a wide range of organizations to authorize charter schools, to examine the relationship between type of authorizer and charter-school effectiveness.

This paper uses individual student-level data from Ohio–which permits a wide range of organizations to authorize charter schools—to examine the relationship between type of authorizer and charter-school effectiveness, as measured by students’ achievement trajectories.

Provides a comprehensive profile of the program, including participant demographics, services provided, and performance outcomes, using data from 1999-2000. Notes that 57 percent of college-ready participants were admitted to a postsecondary institution, and 56 percent of those who dropped out...

The Playworks program, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, places full-time coaches in low-income schools to provide opportunities for organized play during recess and throughout the school day. Using random assignment, Mathematica and the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and...

This report provides insight into parent opinions of and involvement with child care programs participating in Preschool Makes a Difference. It also offers First 5 Contra Costa new accounts of how programs support the diverse needs of Contra Costa parents.