The William T. Grant Foundation recently released a new tool for researchers and funders who commission evaluation studies — developed by a team led by Stephen Raudenbush of the University of Chicago and Howard Bloom, MDRC’s Chief Social Scientist. Optimal Design with Empirical Information (OD+) is an extension of an earlier program developed by Raudenbush to help researchers plan group-randomized trials.

OD+ links the original software to a database of empirical information from studies of school and early-childhood program interventions meant to improve student achievement and various social-emotional and behavioral outcomes. This empirical information from prior studies helps researchers make better assumptions about the information needed to use Optimal Design to design studies.

Thousands of researchers have used Optimal Design over the years, including many encouraged by federal agencies, such as the Institute for Education Sciences (IES); OD+ should be even a more valuable tool for designing trials and writing proposals.

To download OD+ for free and to access a host of related materials, visit the Resources section of the William T. Grant Foundation website. To learn more about Howard Bloom’s work on group-randomized trials, visit his list of publications.