Scientifically based research used to inform evidence based school reform efforts has been required by the federal government in order to receive grant funding since the reenactment of No Child Left Behind (2002). Educational evaluators are thus faced with the challenge to use rigorous research designs to establish causal relationships. However, access to student-level longitudinal or comparison group data is often scarce, which significantly restricts researchers' choice of research design. Although most state departments of education have school- and district-level data available to the public, the individual student-level data that are often needed to perform appropriate statistical analyses are unavailable. This exploratory study demonstrates the process of and provides evidence that microanalytical simulation methods, conducted using Microsoft Excel, may be a useful research tool in the field of education if adequate school-level modeling information is available. These simulation methods may assist in providing greater opportunities to execute more rigorous methodological designs. (Contains 10 tables.)