In the past 15 years, education and human services researchers have developed stronger consensus on what constitutes high-quality impact studies, which assess the effectiveness of programs. There is less consensus in the field regarding what constitutes high-quality implementation studies, and also less attention to improving the quality of those studies. This award will support a convening of leading researchers and senior federal agency staff to develop a framework for assessing what constitutes high-quality implementation study designs and measures. The grantees will produce a paper reporting on the consensus of the group. The paper and meeting are intended to seed future efforts to improve the quality of implementation studies in education and human services.
This grant will support the University of Chicago and Abt Associates’ efforts to increase knowledge of what constitutes high-quality implementation studies.