ICO course: Program Evaluation in Education
In February and March 2018, ACLA will offer a course Program Evaluation in Education: Empirical Research Methods to Identify Causal Effects at The Dutch Interuniversity Center for Educational Sciences (ICO).
Course description:
Estimating the causal effects of educational innovations are of great importance, because these estimates allow us to make predictions about the consequences of changing circumstances or policies. Several estimation methods have been developed to identify causal effects in educational science, such as RCTs, Difference-in-Difference designs, Regression-discontinuity approaches, natural experiments, multi-level approaches and statistical matching techniques. This course provides researcher with the knowledge and empirical skills necessary to identify whether educational programs are effective.
For more information or to apply, go to the ICO-education website
Summer School course: Causal Evaluation Methods in Education Research
In the summer of 2018, ACLA will offer a Summer School course: Causal Evaluation Methods in Education Research.
Course description:
How do education vouchers affect learning outcomes? What is the impact of financial aid upon higher education enrollments? Does reducing class sizes really improve student performance? Is there a relationship between educational attainment and civic participation? How effective are school-wide reading programs?
Policymakers around the world are increasingly making evidence-based decisions about the use of scarce resources in such fields as education. Recent advances in research methodologies and data quality have vastly increased the potential for rigorous evaluation of the causal impact of interventions. Yet doing so often remains challenging methodologically, given issues of selection and attrition in social sciences research.
Several estimation methods have been developed in recent decades to help identify causal effects in the social sciences. Applying these techniques to educational settings, this course provides you with the knowledge and empirical skills you need to identify whether interventions are effective. You gain hands-on experience of evaluating randomized controlled trials, difference-in-differences settings, regression-discontinuity designs, instrumental variables approaches and panel-data studies.
For more information or to apply, go to the VU Amsterdam Summer School website.