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The Design of Clustered Observational Studies in Education

Lindsay C. Page,
Matthew A. Lenard,
Luke Keele

Clustered observational studies (COSs) are a critical analytic tool for educational effectiveness research. We present a design framework for the development and critique of COSs. The framework is built on the counterfactual model for causal inference and promotes the concept of designing COSs that emulate the targeted randomized trial that would have been conducted were it feasible. We emphasize the key role of understanding the assignment mechanism to study design. We review methods for statistical adjustment and highlight a recently developed form of matching designed specifically for COSs. We review how regression models can be profitably combined with matching and note best practice for estimates of statistical uncertainty. Finally, we review how sensitivity analyses can determine whether conclusions are sensitive to bias from potential unobserved confounders. We demonstrate concepts with an evaluation of a summer school reading intervention in Wake County, North Carolina.

Keywords
Causal Inference; Hierarchical/Multilevel Data; Observational Study; Optimal Matching
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Methods
Tags
Assessment,
Efficacy
Download 05/2020
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/y9ek-px57
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Page, Lindsay C., Matthew A. Lenard, and Luke Keele. (). The Design of Clustered Observational Studies in Education. (EdWorkingPaper: -234). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/y9ek-px57

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