Research & Evaluation Services
McREL offers a variety of research and evaluation services that can be scaled and customized to meet your company’s specific context and goals.
Research models and studies
RCT studies are considered by some to be the gold standard of research, enabling causal claims. Participating classrooms or students are randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the control group, with rigorous guidelines for how the study is conducted. RCTs often include collection of data over long periods of time, sometimes even multiple years.
Similar to RCTs, but without the randomized assignment of participants. Researchers typically use existing groups of individuals who are using a program/product and then compare their outcomes to a similar group of individuals who do not use the program/product.
Studies that are shorter in duration (sometimes taking just weeks or months), but still rely on valid, trustworthy research approaches, methods, and analysis. Intended to provide more timely and actionable evidence of program/product outcomes than longer duration counterparts.
An analysis of data to determine if a relationship exists between two or more variables: For example, if an increase or decrease in one variable corresponds to an increase or decrease in the other variable. While correlational studies are unable to yield causal evidence, they can be used to show connections between use of a product and participant outcomes.
An explanation or visual depiction of the logical relationships between the program/product’s research base, the academic standards it is designed to address, its functionality and features, and its expected outcomes. Logic models can help clarify how different aspects of a program are linked to a body of research and/or linked to one another.
Grant-funded studies and evaluations
McREL can partner with you to identify opportunities to fund research and development on your product/service through grants from a variety of foundations and governmental agencies, and we can help you write a stellar proposal or application. Also, many of these grants require grantees to have a third-party evaluation of the project’s implementation and outcomes. McREL can be your external evaluation partner.
Curriculum and standards alignment
How well does your program/product align with local, state, and national standards? Which specific curriculum standards does your program/product address? Our staff are experts in curriculum and academic standards and can analyze your program/product and show how it maps (or what gaps exist) with specific district, state, or national standards.
Research reports
Our research and evaluation team centers its efforts on your needs and questions in a collaborative approach that ensures support at every stage. Whether we’re conducting research on your behalf, or you’ve already done the work and need help analyzing data you’ve collected, we’ll give you contextually relevant recommendations and practitioner-friendly reports that you can use to report your findings, and further develop, modify, and sustain your efforts. We can also refine methods and processes at any point along your investigative journey to maintain integrity and viability and ensure accurate and useful reporting.
