Julia Cramer - May 2022

The Learning Assistance Program (LAP) provides supplemental services to K–12 students who are not meeting standards in reading, writing, mathematics, or readiness in these areas. In 2014, the Washington Legislature directed WSIPP to develop an inventory of programs that could be used in LAP, classify programs as evidence-based, research-based, or promising, and update this inventory every two years. WSIPP’s current LAP inventory includes 58 programs related to topics like tutoring, educator professional development, family engagement, community-based partnerships, and behavioral supports.

WSIPP was scheduled to update the inventory in 2022 but has put a hold on this work while it assesses the use of the inventory. In the absence of our regular update, this brief provides a historical review of the LAP inventory, describes potential changes resulting from 2021 legislation, and offers a discussion of options regarding the future of the inventory.

EBPI & WSIPP - December 2019

The 2012 Legislature passed E2SHB 2536 with the intention that “prevention and intervention services delivered to children and juveniles in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice be primarily evidence-based and research-based, and it is anticipated that such services will be provided in a manner that is culturally competent.”

The bill directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and the University of Washington Evidence-Based Practice Institute (UW) to publish descriptive definitions and prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices and services, and to periodically update the inventory as more practices are identified. This is the ninth update to the initial inventory published in 2012.

The accompanying report describes our standard process for evaluating and classifying research evidence, the process for adding new programs to the inventory, and the reasons that program classifications may change. Programs that are new to the inventory or have a revised classification based on current evidence are identified in the report.

Julia Cramer, Paige Wanner - June 2020

Washington State provides funding to school districts to help students who score below grade-level standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics through the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). Districts can use the funding for a variety of activities to support students including tutoring, extended learning time, educator professional development, and family engagement to name a few examples.

The 2013 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) to develop an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising programs and practices for use by school districts in LAP. WSIPP was directed to update the inventory every two years thereafter. This report is the fifth update to the inventory and describes our standard process for evaluating and classifying programs, adding new programs to the inventory, and reasons why program classifications may change over time. We also identify several programs that are relevant to teaching and learning in a remote environment during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), although that was not the focus of this update. Overall, for this 2020 update, we reviewed 18 programs, added two new programs to the inventory, and reclassified five programs included in previous inventory iterations.

Find previous versions of the LAP inventory with the following links: fourth update, third update, second update, first update, and initial report.

Annie Pennucci, Matt Lemon - July 2014

Washington State provides funding to school districts to help underachieving students through the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). The 2013 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to prepare an inventory of evidence-based and research-based effective practices, activities, and programs for use by school districts in LAP and to update the inventory each two years thereafter.

This report describes the initial inventory of evidence-based and research-based practices for use in LAP.

Steve Aos, Stephanie Lee, Elizabeth Drake, Annie Pennucci, Tali Klima, Marna Miller, Laurie Anderson, Jim Mayfield, Mason Burley - July 2011

The 2009 Washington Legislature directed the Institute to “calculate the return on investment to taxpayers from evidence-based prevention and intervention programs and policies.” The Legislature instructed the Institute to produce “a comprehensive list of programs and policies that improve . . . outcomes for children and adults in Washington and result in more cost-efficient use of public resources.” The Legislature authorized the Institute to receive outside funding for this project; the MacArthur Foundation supported 80 percent of the work and the Legislature funded the other 20 percent. This main report summarizes our findings. Readers can download the two detailed technical appendices for in depth results and statistical methods.

Kristofer Bitney, Elizabeth Drake, Joshua Grice, Michael Hirsch, Stephanie Lee - May 2017

The 2016 Washington State Legislature created the Statewide Reentry Council with the goals of reducing recidivism and improving other outcomes for people who return to the community after incarceration. This legislation also directed WSIPP to examine the effectiveness of reentry programs through a systematic review of the research literature.

Using WSIPP’s standardized procedures, we examined 59 programs to estimate their average effectiveness in reducing recidivism and improving other outcomes. In this report, we describe our meta-analytic and benefit-cost findings for these programs.

Julia Cramer, Kristofer Bitney, Paige Wanner - June 2018

Washington State provides funding to school districts to help underachieving students through the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). The 2013 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to prepare an inventory of evidence-based and research-based effective practices, activities, and programs for use by school districts in LAP and to update the inventory each two years thereafter. This report describes the fourth update to the inventory of evidence-based and research-based practices for use in LAP.

Find previous versions of the LAP inventory with the following links: third update, second update, first update, and initial report.

Annie Pennucci, Matt Lemon - September 2014

Washington State provides funding to school districts to help underachieving students through the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). The 2013 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to prepare an inventory of evidence-based and research-based effective practices, activities, and programs for use by school districts in LAP and to update the inventory each two years thereafter.

This report describes the updated inventory of evidence-based and research-based practices for use in LAP.

EBPI & WSIPP - September 2020

The 2012 Legislature passed E2SHB 2536 with the intention that “prevention and intervention services delivered to children and juveniles in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice be primarily evidence-based and research-based, and it is anticipated that such services will be provided in a manner that is culturally competent.”

The bill directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and the University of Washington Evidence-Based Practice Institute (EBPI) to publish descriptive definitions and prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices and services, and to periodically update the inventory as more practices are identified. This is the tenth update to the initial inventory published in 2012.

The accompanying report describes our standard process for evaluating and classifying research evidence, the process for adding new programs to the inventory, and the reasons that program classifications may change in the current iteration of the inventory. Programs that are new to the inventory or re-reviewed with current evidence are identified in the report.

Find previous versions of the Children's inventory with the following links: ninth update, eighth update, seventh update, sixth update, fifth update, fourth update, third update, second update, first update,and initial inventory.

Megan Morris, Annie Pennucci, Steve Aos, Elizabeth Drake, Danielle Fumia, Marna Miller, Catherine Nicolai, John Bauer - December 2014

The 2014 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to identify programs and policies that can decrease tobacco and e-cigarette use and yield the greatest return on investment. WSIPP employed its standard approach to reviewing research evidence and conducting benefit-cost analysis.

We identified 40 topics with research of sufficient rigor to allow us to draw conclusions about effectiveness. Of the 40, we found that 33 produce, on average, reductions in tobacco use. We identified a few programs that have undesirable effects on outcomes.

Our findings apply to tobacco prevention and cessation strategies. For e-cigarettes, unfortunately, we were unable to locate any rigorous evaluations that measure the impact of prevention strategies. In this report we summarize state regulations as of October 2014 related to e-cigarettes.