Four comparison group approaches evaluated as alternatives to random assignment in the charter school evaluation¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The study evaluates four distinct comparison group approaches, which serve as the nonexperimental methods under test. According to the abstract, the study "examines the validity of four different comparison group approaches to test whether these designs can replicate findings from a well-implemented random assignment study." The approaches function as the methodological artifacts whose estimates are compared against the experimental benchmark; the available text does not name or describe the four approaches individually.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Requires data from a well-implemented random assignment study to serve as the benchmark against which the comparison group methods' estimates are judged.

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• Charter school students in the evaluated schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Estimating the causal impacts of charter school attendance on student outcomes

Claims¶

Related Elements¶

• Within-study comparison (WSC) methodology

Examples¶

• A replication approach for testing nonexperimental methods against experimental ITT impact estimates when experiments include substantial control crossover

Key Sources¶

• Fortson, K., Verbitsky-Savitz, N., Kopa, E., & Gleason, P. (2012). Using an Experimental Evaluation of Charter Schools to Test Whether Nonexperimental Comparison Group Methods Can Replicate Experimental Impact Estimates. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/using-an-experimental-evaluation-of-charter-schools-to-test-whether-nonexperimental-comparison-group-methods-can-replicate-experimental-impact-estimates