Report | 2023-24 Quasi-Experimental Research Study
In 2023-24, PERTS collaborated with five K-12 institutions across the United States to gather data for a rigorous quasi-experimental study of the 2023 Direct Implementation Support Model (DISM-23) for the Elevate program. The DISM-23 represented our best-available guidelines for continuous improvement with Elevate as of Fall 2023.
We partnered with RAND researchers to conduct the study and were encouraged to find promising evidence that teachers who used Elevate produced a statistically significant effect on measures of student voice and teacher caring. This evidence was generated through rigorous, preregistered analyses conducted by an external evaluator using a propensity weighted control group. It presents evidence that when teachers listen to their students and respond to their needs, the result is improved classroom environments.
A descriptive analysis of the Elevate users in the sample conducted by PERTS revealed positive relationships between learning conditions and course grades — similar to previous research. However, the study did not uncover evidence that a teacher’s participation in Elevate DISM23 was directly related to differences in course grades or students’ global perceptions of their school environment outside of their Elevate classrooms. That is, the RAND led quasi-experimental comparison between Elevate and non-Elevate users in the sample did not reveal differences in grades between those two groups.
One possible explanation is that it may take more time to observe impacts on these distal outcomes in a comparison analysis. Another possibility is that educators may need additional support, such as ready-to-use practice ideas to test in their classrooms. Of the hundreds of schools that used Elevate in 2024-25, PERTS descriptive analyses revealed that many saw even larger learning condition improvements than were observed in this 2023-24 study. We are now conducting follow-up analyses to learn more about the implementation supports that may lead to direct impacts on distal outcomes in the future.