Giving Compass' Take:

• i-Ready explains how the federal government defines evidence-based interventions for the Every Student Succeeds Act and how schools can go beyond that to select the best interventions. 

• How can philanthropy support additional research o evidence-based interventions? How can schools best implement new teaching methods? 

• Read about 4 steps to build evidence-based programs. 

The Every Student Succeeds Act's (ESSA) new approach gives districts the flexibility to adopt and evaluate new approaches, but also strongly encourages the adoption of activities with established evidence bases and proven results. Most notably, ESSA requires all Title I schools to use “evidence-based” interventions and strategies. Knowing and understanding not only the technicalities of what the law deems “evidence-based,” but also what common-sense questions to ask about that evidence-based designation, will help districts find the products and programs that best fit their needs with their Title I dollars.

How does federal law define “evidence-based”?

ESSA defines four categories, or levels. These categories are defined solely by the type of study conducted, not by the strength of the study results.

ESSA’s evidence levels are determined by the type of study conducted and whether the results were statistically significant, but the type of study alone should not be the deciding factor in determining whether to select a product or activity. In many cases, other criteria may matter a lot more.

A Level 1 study’s evidence is not necessarily of higher quality than a product backed by a strong Level 3 study; however, factors such as the content standards used in the study, timing, and having diverse students in the study sample could hold greater weight than the type of study.

In addition, a Level 1 study is hard to achieve, not because it means the results are stellar, but because successfully performing a randomized control study in education is difficult, if not unfeasible. In a randomized education study, some students do not receive the intervention so they may act as a control for the sake of the study.

Five Questions You Should Be Asking about Evidence-Based Interventions in ESSA:

  • When was the study conducted?
  • How large was the sample size for the study and did the sample include a diverse set of students including subgroups?
  • Was the study based on current content and standards?
  • Were the results favorable?
  • Does the product truly help students?