Related Resources

Additional Resources from the Arnold Ventures’ Evidence-Based Policy team and the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy

• Checklist For Reviewing a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Program or Project, To Assess Whether It Produced Valid Evidence, Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, 2010.
• Key Items to Get Right When Conducting Randomized Controlled Trials of Social Programs, LJAF Evidence-Based Policy team, 2016.

Recommended External Resources

Tools for Study Design/Analysis

• PowerUp! — Software tools, available free of charge, to enable researchers to determine the optimal sample size when designing a randomized controlled trial or other type of impact evaluation.
• RCT-YES™ — A software tool, available free of charge, to enable researchers and public officials to analyze and report results from a randomized controlled trial or other type of impact evaluation.

“What works” sites that focus on well-conducted randomized controlled trials in social policy:

• The Best Evidence Encyclopedia, established by the Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, presents reliable, unbiased information on high-quality evaluations of educational programs.
• Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development at the University of Colorado at Boulder is a national violence prevention initiative to identify programs that are effective in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, delinquency, and substance abuse.
• California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare is a database of evidence-based practices for children and families involved with the child welfare system.
• The International Campbell Collaboration offers a registry of systematic reviews of evidence on the effects of interventions in the social, behavioral, and educational arenas.
• The What Works Clearinghouse established by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a central, independent, and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education.