• Education & Training Research
• Early Childhood Education
• Elementary & Secondary Education
• Postsecondary Education
• Education Policies & Programs
• Education & Training Solutions
• International Education

Education Policies and Programs

Our education research program offers our clients a team of methodologists, researchers, and substantive experts dedicated to ensuring delivery and dissemination of the highest quality education survey research for a diversity of audiences. Our experts author high-quality, policy-relevant reports based on issues important to our clients. Our capabilities include data analysis using complex survey techniques, descriptive analysis, multivariate methods, and graphical and tabular presentations of findings.

Focus Areas

• School violence
• College preparation
• Education financing and assistance
• Retention
• Vocational rehabilitation
• Career and technical education

Capabilities

• Program evaluation
• Data analysis
• Policy study and development
• Educational assessments

Projects

• Targeted Evaluations of State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Practices (Oct. 2007 to present). The goal of this project is to strengthen the partnership through which RSA and state VR agencies improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Federal officials require detailed information about the various strategies that states use to achieve this goal in order to identify best practices, determine how specific approaches affect program outcomes and consumers served, and support state agencies in their efforts to provide effective and efficient services. In this study, RTI will assess three aspects of VR agencies' organizational structures and management practices that have not been closely examined at the national level.
• Upward Bound/TRIO (Oct. 2006 to present). This analysis project includes a Promising and Innovative Practices Study for the federal Upward Bound (UB) program. Secondary analysis of UB participant data was performed to identify specific program components associated with successful outcomes. Site visits and teleconference focus groups were then conducted to attempt to identify practices and programs that provide examples of innovation and integration of TRIO program services with research-based practice in the area of high school reform and postsecondary retention and completion.
• Analyses of School Characteristics Associated with Math Gains and High School Completion with a Focus on Career and Technical Education (Oct. 2006 to present). This analysis project examines school, teacher, and course taking patterns, specifically course taking in career and technical courses of study, that are associated with gains in high school math achievement. The goal is to identify factors associated with career and technical education, math achievement, and high school completion. 
• Impact of School Based Violence Prevention Program (Aug. 2004 to present). Using a random experimental design, RTI is evaluating the impact of a violence prevention program in middle schools by assessing outcome changes in intervention schools compared to control schools, the extent to which changes in outcomes are linked to implementation of the intervention, and whether the effect of thee program vary by various profiles of student risk.  The evaluation also includes a cost-effectiveness component to assess whether any observed decrease in problem behaviors is large enough to warrant the added financial and opportunity costs of the program.
• Assistive Technology Technical Assistance (Oct. 2003 to Sept. 2006). RTI has developed, implemented, and maintained a web-based data reporting system for State Assistive Technology (AT) grantees. RTI collected and analyzed grantee reports annually and submitted reports to NIDRR on grantee activities and progress in facilitating access for people with disabilities to AT devices and services.

Related Information

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education