What Works Clearinghouse Standards

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards are the protocol the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences uses to judge how much confidence an education study's findings deserve as causal evidence. They specify which designs can support causal claims, how to screen for threats such as attrition and confounding, and how to rate each study — Meets Standards Without Reservations, With Reservations, or Does Not Meet Standards — before synthesizing the body of evidence. The standards are a cornerstone of evidence-based education policy in the United States.