Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia College of Education will host the Design, Implementation and Analysis of Randomized Experiments in Education workshop series May 29-31 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
This three-day workshop on the design, implementation and analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials is designed as an introductory session for people with an interest in trials, but with limited experience in undertaking them in educational settings. The goal is to increase the capacity of researchers to develop and conduct rigorous evaluations of the impact of education interventions.
The workshop will be interactive, with individual and small group assignments, and will include real-world examples from both the literature and the presenters’ own experience. It will provide intensive training on planning, implementing and analyzing data from an RCT. Participants will learn to describe the principles underlying randomized experiments and their advantages for making causal inferences and adequately describe the treatment and counterfactual, and measure implementation fidelity. Attendees will learn how to design an RCT, taking into account the practical limitation of the field, as well as the hierarchical structure of populations in education, and understand many of the common pitfalls in implementing RCTs in the field.
The instructor will be Jennifer Hamilton, senior study director at Westat, a research and statistical survey organization. Hamilton has more than 20 years of experience managing a variety of research studies in education. She specializes in evaluation methodology with a focus on experimental and quasi-experimental designs. She has designed and managed rigorous, high-stakes evaluations for clients that include the U.S. Department of Education, school districts and city agencies such as the New York City Mayor’s Office. She is a certified What Works Clearinghouse reviewer, a peer reviewer for numerous journals and a board member of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society.
In addition to her methodological expertise, Hamilton is adept at analyzing, interpreting and presenting complex data in ways that are understandable to a non-technical audience. Her analytical experience includes hierarchical linear modeling, logistic and multiple regression, and factor analysis, as well as complex modeling techniques such as structural equation modeling, including longitudinal analytic models. She graduated with a doctorate in measurement, statistics and evaluation from the University of Maryland, College Park.
The registration fee is $799 and includes workshop materials, refreshment breaks, lunch and parking passes each day. The registration deadline is May 15. For more information or to register, see www.coe.uga.edu/events/.
