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The role of experimentation in education policy

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  • Sally Sadoff

Abstract

As the gold standard for programme evaluation, experimentation is gaining increasing attention from education researchers and policy-makers. In this article I discuss how experimentation can be used to shape education policy moving forward. I first discuss how well-designed experiments can both build upon and inform a general framework for the education production function. Experiments within this framework can be particularly powerful when they draw on a wide range of disciplines including child development, psychology, and behavioural economics. Insights from these areas can help identify underlying mechanisms of the education production function and inform the design of interventions in ways that increase (cost-) effectiveness. Additionally, I argue that there should be a rich array of experiments in education, ranging from lab-like basic research to policy-level efficacy trials. Finally, I discuss the policy-maker’s role in integrating experimentation into policy decision-making, including how to address concerns commonly raised with experimentation in education.

Suggested Citation

  • Sally Sadoff, 2014. "The role of experimentation in education policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 30(4), pages 597-620.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:30:y:2014:i:4:p:597-620.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/grv001
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    Cited by:

    1. Burgess, Simon & Metcalfe, Robert & Sadoff, Sally, 2021. "Understanding the response to financial and non-financial incentives in education: Field experimental evidence using high-stakes assessments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    2. Changhui Kang & Yoonsoo Park, 2021. "Private Tutoring and Distribution of Student Academic Outcomes: An Implication of the Presence of Private Tutoring for Educational Inequality," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 37, pages 287-326.
    3. Demirtaş, Burak Kağan & Türk, Umut, 2022. "Student performance under asynchronous and synchronous methods in distance education: A quasi-field experiment," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    4. John A. List & Robert Metcalfe, 2014. "Field experiments in the developed world: an introduction," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 30(4), pages 585-596.
    5. John A. List & Ragan Petrie & Anya Samek, 2023. "How Experiments with Children Inform Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 504-564, June.
    6. Wagner, Valentin, 2022. "Heterogeneous effects of grade framing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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