Nicole Arshan, Ph.D., Principal Education Researcher and Evaluation Methods Lead at SRI Education, specializes in the design and execution of randomized control trials (RCTs) and other rigorous large-scale studies of the impacts of interventions designed to improve instructional quality. These studies combine formative feedback to support program implementation with independent and empirically rigorous summative impact evaluations.

Arshan is principal investigator of the evaluation of the National Writing Project’s Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-up grant implementing the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP). C3WP introduces teachers to new instructional practices through professional development, resources, and formative assessment tools for source-based argument writing. The i3 scale-up evaluation of C3WP will include a two-year RCT of the program in grades 7–10 and a one-year RCT in grades 4–5. The study will include measures of implementation fidelity and treatment-control contrast. Outcomes will include data on student source-based argument writing and daily instructional practice. The project will also investigate the National Writing Project’s strategies to scale C3WP. Prior evaluations of this work have found positive impacts of C3WP on students’ source-based argument writing in grades 7–10.

Arshan is co-principal investigator of the Evaluation of the New Leaders Emerging Leaders Program. New Leaders trains and supports Emerging Leaders, typically classroom teachers, assistant principals, or instructional coaches, as they lead a team of teachers through intensive cycles of data-driven correctional instruction. This RCT will collect measures of implementation fidelity and treatment-control contrast. Outcomes will include data on student achievement, teaching team corrective instruction, and Emerging Leaders’ knowledge of data-driven instruction.

Arshan also leads a team of SRI researchers on a third-party academic peer review of recent Pearson Education research reports grounded in the What Works Clearinghouse Standards and Procedures and the Every Student Succeeds Standards of Evidence.

Prior work has included investigations of other teacher professional development programs in writing, secondary pathways integrating academic and career-technical work, early childhood literacy, and the effects of high school exit exams.

Before joining SRI, Arshan was at the Stanford University Center for Education Policy Analysis. She began her career in education in undergraduate admissions at Georgetown University. Arshan earned her Ph.D. in policy analysis and M.A. in social sciences in education from the Stanford University School of Education. She holds a B.A. in history from The College of William and Mary.