Improving Outcomes in the Digital Age
To promote equitable outcomes, educators need to know what strategies, programs, and products improve learning for all students. Addressing this need, WestEd brings expertise in cognitive and learning sciences to create rigorous study designs aimed at evaluating promising strategies and interventions tailored to improve student outcomes.
Beyond determining whether a practice or product leads to learning gains, our researchers explore further to understand why, how, for what students, and in which contexts.
We focus on:
- Helping you understand potential for emerging technologies to provide equitable access
- Supporting your efforts to improve personalization
- Building efficiencies in educational contexts
Our Research in Action
Efficacy Study of Adventures Aboard the S.S.GRIN: Social, Emotional, and Academic Skills
Our researchers conducted a rigorous efficacy study of an online intervention to improve social, emotional, and academic outcomes for students with social difficulties. We flexibly and successfully adapted the study to collect data despite COVID-19 school closures. Read more about our project.
Improving Children’s Understanding of Equivalence (ICUE)
WestEd conducted a rigorous randomized control trial of ICUE, a promising intervention and supplemental math program designed to improve student understanding of math equivalence. Our study found that students who use ICUE achieve meaningful improvements in their conceptual understanding of core math concepts. ICUE student workbook and teacher manual are openly available to download. Download resources.
ASSISTments Education Innovation and Research (EIR)
ASSISTments is a research-based, online platform that teachers use to assign and review homework, regardless of textbook. Our team directed a quasi-experimental design study to determine the efficacy of using ASSISTments consistently over one school year combined with teachers’ participation in ASSISTments virtual professional development activities. ASSISTments is shown to improve student math learning outcomes. Our researchers are conducting an additional scale scale-up study focused on how participation in ASSISTments-related professional learning activities further affects student outcomes. Read more about our project.
Featured Experts
Dr. Mingyu FengMingyu Feng is a Senior Research Associate with WestEd’s Learning and Technology team. She leads large-scale grants focused on leveraging education technologies to transform science and mathematics instruction to improve student learning. She is principal investigator of the ASSISTments and MathSpring efficacy studies, funded by IES, which examine the effects of intelligent tutoring systems, data-driven instruction, and formative assessment on student learning outcomes.View Full Bio
Linlin LiLinlin Li, Senior Research Associate, develops and directs evaluations with local, statewide, and national agencies. She has experience in research, evaluation, and consulting, including roles on projects with mixed methods, experimental, quasi-experimental, or cross-sectional designs. She co-directs projects involving educational digital media, overseeing research design, data collection, data analysis, and report writing. Li also develops logic models and their theory of change and has conducted social return on investment (SROI) assessments. View Full Bio
Kylie Flynn Kylie Flynn is Area Director of Research and Evaluation. She directs randomized controlled trials (RCTs) funded by the U.S. Department of Education and edtech companies. Flynn’s interests focus on improving education outcomes for high-needs students, including those living in poverty, diagnosed with a disability, and/or learning English as a second language. Her research work involves the development and/or testing of education interventions for these high-needs populations.View Full Bio
Tracy HuebnerTracy Huebner leads a wide range of Technology & Learning projects at WestEd, bringing a wealth of experience to identify, describe, and research innovative education practices and trends, while also connecting researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. She has researched trends in college and career readiness, high school reform, digitally enhanced education, and Common Core standards for organizations such as Google, the Gates Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, and, most recently, the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.View Full Bio