Education

We conduct comprehensive research, development, and evaluation that enhances Pre-K-16 education globally. You’ll find our innovative methods and indicators for evaluating educational quality in broad use, including comprehensive approaches for monitoring and improving schools and their programs.

Our researchers are also making important contributions to the development of next-generation K-12 assessments that measure college and career readiness. Additionally, our work in higher education supports teacher capacity-building programs, as well as adult learning. And we develop models, methods and statistical software that address measurement error issues – bolstering the validity of inferences and the statistical power of educational assessment and evaluation studies industry-wide.

  • Evaluation of Magnet Schools Assistance Program

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    While magnet school initiatives have garnered support across the country, many questions remain regarding student achievement within these programs in relation to “conventional” public schools. In the effort to answer these questions, CRESST has been engaged in evaluating the impact of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) on student achievement for the past eight years, […]

  • Research Study of Literacy Design Collaborative

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    CRESST is the independent external evaluator for LDC’s i3 validation grant, and is examining the implementation and impact of the LDC intervention on the New York City Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District. The study will be a comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation to understand the impact of LDC on student learning using […]

  • Mobilize: Everyday Data Collection

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    Project Mobilize, a National Science Foundation Math Science Partnership (NSF MSP) grantee, engages students in statistical investigations that promote computational thinking practices while drawing upon real-world data. Hundreds of teachers and thousands of high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have participated in Mobilize since its inception in 2010. Over the […]

  • Wildwood STEM Institute Program Evaluation

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    CRESST is carrying out an evaluation of Wildwood School’s STEM Institute. The Institute aims to give its students the opportunity to take responsibility for their learning, as collaborators and directors of the institute. It also allows them to investigate topics of personal interest through independent research projects under the guidance of Institute staff and with […]

  • English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21)

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    ELPA21 is a consortium of states that has developed a new system of standards-based, K-12 assessments of English Language Proficiency. ELPA21 assessments are used in the initial identification of English Learners and in monitoring their progress over time. The recent adoption of new college- and career-readiness standards (in Math and English Language Arts, for example) […]

  • Evaluation of Inspiring Minds Through a Professional Alliance of Community Teachers (IMPACT)

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    We have been engaged in the evaluation of the UCLA IMPACT program—funded under the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) Grant Program—in the previous cycle (between 2009 and 2014) and in the current cycle starting in 2014. The evaluation uses a comprehensive, multiple-measures approach, which includes instructional artifacts, classroom logs, measures of pedagogical content knowledge, performance assessments, […]

  • Evaluation of the STEM Teachers in Advanced Residency (STAR)

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    We recently started our evaluation work of the STEM Teachers in Advanced Residency (STAR) program, funded under the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) Grant Program. The evaluation uses surveys, interviews, and analysis of existing data to examine the impact—over a defined period of time—of the STAR program on program participants, their mentors, and their K-12 students. […]

  • ENGAGE

    Evaluation, Learning Design, Methodology

    CRESST has been conducting work for the ENGAGE Program, focused on developing STEM skills and understanding for primary-aged learners. CRESST’s responsibilities have been to provide educational assistance in the field of force and motion (physics) for an external game developer, and to evaluate the quality of the game. In addition, CRESST developed—with its partner SimInsights—a […]