Principal Educator Researcher, SRI Education
Mary Klute, PhD, has more than 20 years of experience conducting research and evaluation studies in education. She specializes in supporting educators, particularly in early childhood education programs, to use data and evidence to improve outcomes for students. Klute has managed, designed and directed several multisite research and evaluation studies involving both direct data collection and analysis of archival data.
Since 2013, Klute has worked in the Institute of Education Sciences’ Regional Educational Laboratory Program in the Appalachia and Central regions. During that time, she has served as applied research lead, conducted applied research studies, and led training, coaching and technical support projects. For example, Klute led a technical support project to help educators in five Eastern Tennessee school districts use research and evidence-based practices for remote learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also leading a study to understand the implementation of a high-dosage tutoring program in 15 Eastern Tennessee school districts. The study team is examining how implementation varies by site and the extent to which student progress is associated with the different implementation approaches.
Klute’s recent work at SRI also includes leading an evaluation of Handle With Care 2.0, a program that fosters collaboration between schools and local first responder organizations to identify and support students who may have experienced trauma. She was also a technical assistance specialist for the National Technical Assistance Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five (PDG B-5). In this role, she provided support to early childhood leaders in 10 states and territories.
Klute received her PhD and MS in human development and family studies from the Pennsylvania State University. She is a What Works Clearinghouse-certified reviewer for group design studies (version 4.1) and regression discontinuity designs (version 4.0).
Key projects
- Regional Educational Laboratory, Appalachia
- Handle With Care
- Preschool Development Grants, Birth-5 (PDG B-5) Technical Assistance Center
Recent publications
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The Role of California’s County Offices of Education and Implications for Arts Education
This study describes the COE role in arts education, examines how COE activities have shifted in response to California’s Local Control Funding Formula, and examines how these changes may affect…
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What foundational skills matter for Algebra I success?
This study examined whether student knowledge in five domains of math assessed in grade 7 was associated with Algebra I achievement.
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Formative assessment and elementary school student academic achievement: A review of the evidence
This comprehensive and systematic review identifies 22 rigorous studies of the effectiveness of formative assessment interventions among elementary students.
Selected publications
- Branching out: Using decision trees to inform education policy choices (REL 2022-133)
- A guide to identifying similar schools to support school improvement (REL 2021–096)
- How Nebraska teachers use and perceive summative, interim, and formative data
- Summary of research on the association between state interventions in chronically low-performing schools and student achievement (REL 2016–138)