SETDA National Leadership Institute Toolkit


FAQs: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Question 6: Setting baseline and control group measures
How can we have appropriate comparison, baseline, and/or control group measures within the realities of schools and classrooms?

In order to show the effectiveness of a program one must compare the outcomes of the groups participating in the program (also known as the "experimental group") to the outcomes of a group not participating in the program (also known as the "control group"). The comparison should relate the differences in the outcomes to the differences between the groups, which is often defined as the presence of program intervention or resources.

This involved many difficult challenges, such as: insuring stability in the population being studied (especially in longer term studies in schools with a high student turnover), defining control groups that match your experimental groups on all relevant factors, insuring that the intervention is properly implemented with the experimental group without influencing the control group, and obtaining all the necessary data.

General recommendations when assigning groups

  • Make use of natural comparison groups - Free and reduced lunch, IEPs, gender, demographics;
  • Use medical principle of "Do no harm"; use standard practice. Don't do anything negative to either the experimental group or the control group;
  • Random stratified assignment is preferable if possible;
    1. Stratified random assignment is platinum standard - take advantage of what is happening anyway (free lunch, demographics) example: 2 districts: 8 schools in each district. Look at size and make sure big and small schools are included to provide contrasts.
    2. Random assignment - pulling out from assigned group in a random fashion
  • Assign the comparison groups to different schools to alleviate the moderating factors within schools;
  • Keep timeframe for the study as short as possible;
  • Have a plan to address the differences in resources between the experimental and control groups.

Scientifically Based Research
   
Chapter Summary

Frequently Asked Questions

Steps to Implementing SBR

Recommendations
Technology Literacy Assessment
Common Data Elements
Effective Teaching with Technology Assessment
National Education Technology Plan