What sets CELL apart is its comprehensive approach to research and evaluation. When developing studies, CELL works closely with education and community stakeholders to ensure the research design meets their needs. During the research process, these stakeholders provide ongoing feedback to ensure reliable and accurate data. At the conclusion of the study, CELL’s research team provides actionable recommendations for improvement based on the evaluation outcomes. Researchers then provide additional information and resources to support further development of innovative educational practices.
 

Research & Evaluation Capacity
Case study research – detailed investigation of a single unit of analysis (e.g, school or district) to understand the complexity and particularity of a single case and how it operates in its unique context.

Community capacity analysis – evaluates a community’s capacity to sustain certain educational programs with the overall intention of determining the types of supports necessary to maximize educational outcomes within the community.

Education policy review – review of the governmental, academic and organizational sectors' former and current efforts to reform education to develop a better understanding of complexities within the education field.

Exploratory studies – preliminary analysis of educational programs and/or procedures to enable the development of research designs that explore how those programs and procedures impact student achievement and learning. Data collection is employed to test any relationships uncovered.

Longitudinal studies – data collection from student cohorts over various time frames to better understand how schools and educational programs progress.

Program research and evaluation – examination of educational initiatives to determine if programs meet prescribed outcomes and goals.

Quasi-experimental designs – comparison of two non-randomly assigned groups utilizing differing instructional models (e.g, nontraditional and traditional) to determine effectiveness.

Teacher action research – helps teachers learn how to leverage their own research skills to independently develop research questions and data collection plans for tracking and improving student performance within their schools and classrooms.

Triangulation mixed-methods research design – a rigorous complementary design that better answers research questions by utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods, and combining different types of data.

• Qualitative – techniques such as intensive interviews, document review, focus groups, and observations used to capture an in-depth understanding of participant experiences in various aspects of education.
• Quantitative – methods such as survey research and secondary data analysis used to examine patterns among large groups of people, specifically focusing on relationships among various factors affecting education. Statistical analyses, such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, t-tests, regression, effect sizes, correlations, scale building, and non-parametric tests also can be performed.