TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Schlotter, Martin
AU  - Schwerdt, Guido
AU  - Woessmann, Ludger
        TI  - Econometric Methods for Causal Evaluation of Education Policies and Practices: A Non-Technical Guide
        PY  - 2010/Jan/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 4725
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp4725
        AB  - Education policy-makers and practitioners want to know which policies and practices can best achieve their goals. But research that can inform evidence-based policy often requires complex methods to distinguish causation from accidental association. Avoiding econometric jargon and technical detail, this paper explains the main idea and intuition of leading empirical strategies devised to identify causal impacts and illustrates their use with real-world examples. It covers six evaluation methods: controlled experiments, lotteries of oversubscribed programs, instrumental variables, regression discontinuities, differences-in-differences, and panel-data techniques. Illustrating applications include evaluations of early-childhood interventions, voucher lotteries, funding programs for disadvantaged, and compulsory-school and tracking reforms.
        KW  - non-technical guide
KW  - causal effects
KW  - education
KW  - policy evaluation
        ER  -