Using evidence to guide education policy and practice

Free and open to the public.

About the lecture:
The presentation will address four topics: (1) why it is important to step up our use of evidence if we are to improve education outcomes; (2) strategies for engaging stakeholders in using and generating credible evidence; (3) the importance of adopting common standards for design and evidence standards; and (4) a proposal for a common evidence platform.

About the speaker:
Rebecca Maynard is a leading expert in program evaluation, including the design and conduct of randomized controlled trials in the areas of education and social policy. Throughout her career at the University of Pennsylvania, she has provided evaluation support to numerous public schools and education-serving community based organizations, as well as overseen national evaluations of teen pregnancy prevention, home visitation programs, and vocational preparation programs.

She has recently returned to UPenn after serving for two years as Commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) at the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. In this role, she had oversight of evaluations of federal education policies and programs, for federal research and evaluation support to state and local education agencies throughout the country, for the What Works Clearinghouse, and for the Education Resources Information Clearinghouse.

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) is a program of coordinated activities designed to bring the latest academic knowledge to issues of education policy.

This event is generously supported by Charles H. and Susan Gessner.

• Rebecca Maynard