The Texas Education Agency awarded a multi-year, statewide evaluation contract to Arroyo Research Services to study the effects of the Texas Dropout Recovery Pilot Program. The evaluation project began in 2008 and is expected to be completed in 2011. We are pleased to assist TEA in examining the effects of the TDRPP pay for performance model that directly ties project payments to demonstrated student academic progress and program completion. Initial results are included in the Arroyo Research Services Texas Dropout Recovery Pilot Program Interim Report.

Arroyo Research Services Director Kirk Vandersall presented at the June 2005 National Education Computing Conference in Philadelphia about effective evaluation of local grant projects.  Aimed specifically at local grantees in the Enhancing Education Through Technology portion of the No Child Left Behind Act Title IID, the presentation reviewed research and evaluation design strategies for assuring that outcomes measured by local evaluations can be attributed to the interventions being evaluated. 

Asked at a recent conference what I thought was the best book on education research I'd read recently, I was quick to answer:  "Moneyball."  Moneyball?  But that's a baseball book!  Well, yes and no.  Michael Lewis tells the story of how Oakland A's General Manager Billie Bean brought the lowest payroll baseball team in America to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins and experience repeated success by dispensing with preconceived notions of what makes for a good baseball player and letting comprehensive data analysis inform decision making throughout the organization.