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K - 12 Education |
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Frequently Asked Questions About MDRC’s Study of New Small High Schools in New York City
On January 25, MDRC released the latest findings from its ongoing study of new, small, academically nonselective high schools in New York City, which showed substantial impacts on rates of graduation for disadvantaged students. Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve heard about the study.
February 01, 2012
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The College Match Program: An Innovative College Advising Strategy for Low-Income and Minority Students
Evidence suggests that students are most likely to succeed when they attend the most academically demanding institution that will admit them. Unfortunately, too many low-income high school students choose a college for which they're overqualified. In Chicago, a new pilot program helps students and their families navigate the complicated college application process and make more informed decisions.
July 20, 2011
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Research Advances: Using Cluster Random Assignment
Evaluation experts agree that a randomized controlled trial yields the most credible estimates of an intervention’s effects. Sometimes, however, random assignment of individuals is infeasible, undesirable, or both. This issue focus describes an alternative method in which whole groups of people (schools or businesses, for instance) are randomly assigned.
January 10, 2011
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Most Popular MDRC Publications of 2010
In 2010, MDRC published nearly 40 publications on programs affecting low-income Americans in all realms of education and social policy: education from preschool to postsecondary, workforce development, family relationships, welfare programs, early childhood, health and disability, and more. Check out which ones were most popular.
January 03, 2011
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Video: Gordon Berlin, Joel Klein, and Randi Weingarten on NYC Small High Schools
This ten-minute video provides highlights from a forum, "Transforming the High School Experience: Lessons from the New York Small Schools Initiative," focusing on a recent MDRC study that provides rigorous evidence that new small public high schools in New York City are narrowing the educational attainment gap and markedly improve graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students.
November 10, 2010
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Making High School Students into “College Material”
Too many students graduate from high school unprepared for the rigors of postsecondary education. College readiness programs seek to fill the gap. This issue focus describes some common features of these programs and outlines open research questions.
September 10, 2009
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Building Better After-School Programs
Research suggests that after-school programs can make a difference in academic performance and socio-emotional development, but the record is far from consistent and the two rigorous studies of the largest federal programs found limited or no impacts on student outcomes. The logical next step is a systematic effort to improve the quality of federally funded after-school programs.
March 02, 2009
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Can High Schools Prepare Students for Careers and College?
Recent findings from a long-term study of Career Academies — a popular high school reform used in more than 2,500 schools across the country — show that choosing between academics and career development is a false dichotomy. Career Academies produce sustained employment and earnings gains, without sacrificing academic preparation.
October 21, 2008
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Sustaining Change in High School Reform
MDRC's research suggests that the twin pillars of high school reform are structural changes to improve personalization and instructional improvement. Yet, introducing change into high schools and making it stick goes beyond just employing discrete interventions. It requires adequate investment and perseverance.
January 26, 2007
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Preparing Students for the World Beyond High School
Students in low-performing schools need special assistance in preparing for postsecondary education and for better-paying jobs. Among the high school reform initiatives studied by MDRC, the Career Academy model is most clearly oriented toward the goal of helping students prepare for a productive future by giving them work-based learning opportunities while in high school.
December 15, 2006
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Improving Instructional Content and Practice in Low-Performing High Schools
Low-performing high schools serving disadvantaged students are more likely to have less experienced and less knowledgeable teachers than other schools. MDRC's recent evaluations of three high school reform models offer lessons about improving the content and delivery of what is taught in high schools.
September 25, 2006
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Back to School: MDRC’s Education Research Agenda
In today's economy, more than ever before, graduating from high school and obtaining a postsecondary credential are the keys to better economic opportunity. MDRC's education portfolio includes studies of interventions that seek to help students succeed at the preschool, K-12, and postsecondary levels.
September 12, 2006
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Assisting Students Who Enter High School with Poor Academic Skills
Too many students in the United States arrive at high school unprepared academically. Recent MDRC research suggests that making changes in curricula and scheduling in the critical transition year of ninth grade can make a real difference.
August 02, 2006
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Creating a Personalized and Orderly Learning Environment in High Schools
The large size of many low-performing high schools can leave students, especially those who are less academically successful, feeling lost and anonymous. MDRC research suggests that making changes in the structure and functioning of these high schools can help.
June 22, 2006
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Toward an Evidence-Based Education Policy
With the passage of the comprehensive No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Congress and the Bush Administration have put evidence-based education policymaking at the center of the nation’s elementary and secondary school reform agenda.
December 10, 2002
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Family Well-Being & Child Development |
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Can Early Childhood Programs Support Social and Emotional Development?
Preschool children who have difficulty regulating their emotions and behaviors have been found to receive less instruction, to be less engaged as learners, and to have fewer opportunities for learning from peers. Researchers and practitioners have developed a new generation of classroom-based strategies that are specifically designed to improve children's skills in these areas.
April 15, 2008
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Boosting Income for Working Parents Pays Off for Children
MDRC research suggests that dramatic cuts in financial incentives for low-income workers by budget-strapped state governments may have far-reaching consequences for vulnerable children and their families.
February 13, 2003
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Low-Wage Workers & Communities |
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Paying the Poor to Do Right Doesn’t Work. Or Does It?
In this article reprinted from True/Slant, Chicago-based journalist Megan Cottrell takes a second look at MDRC’s recent report on early findings from New York City’s conditional cash transfer demonstration, Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards.
April 14, 2010
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Increasing Employment and Earnings Among Recipients of Federal Rental Housing Assistance
Policymakers are exploring ways for rental subsidy programs to encourage tenants to work and strive for self-sufficiency -- including new rent policies or other financial incentives, better employment services, and work requirements as a condition of getting and keeping housing assistance.
April 02, 2009
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Hometown Projects: MDRC’s Work in New York City
MDRC has built a diverse portfolio of research projects focused on improving the lives of poor families throughout the city, developed in collaboration with state and local agencies, schools, and nonprofits. MDRC's newest hometown venture is Mayor Bloomberg's Opportunity NYC, a conditional cash transfer program to help families break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
June 01, 2007
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Climbing the Economic Ladder and Rising Out of Poverty
MDRC's research identifies effective strategies to help low-income youth and adults escape poverty by achieving success in the labor market. MDRC studies programs that assist the working poor to retain employment and move up to better-paying jobs, improve employment prospects for people with serious obstacles to work, and enable low-income young adults to acquire the skills and credentials that will prepare them for better jobs.
October 24, 2006
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Building a New Network of Services to Support Work in Low-Income Communities
Recent MDRC projects are helping policymakers develop new approaches to deliver services that make work pay for low-income populations.
May 02, 2003
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Health & Barriers to Employment |
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A Safety Net Built Around Work — When There Is No Work
In a commentary published in The Hill’s Congress Blog, MDRC President Gordon Berlin argues that we need to create a more flexible welfare program that continues to reward work when jobs are plentiful, provides support to poor families when jobs disappear, and begins to address the even more consequential problem of stagnant wages at the low end of the labor market.
September 22, 2011
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Creating Better Programs for Disconnected Youth
Since its founding in the 1970s, MDRC has focused on identifying and testing the most promising approaches to helping disconnected youth — who number as many as 5.2 million — reconnect to the worlds of education and work. Our current portfolio of projects focuses on programs for high school dropouts, youth with disabilities, and youth aging out of child welfare, among other groups.
May 06, 2011
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How Can We Build Better Programs for Disconnected Youth?
Nearly one in seven 18- and 19-year-olds are disconnected from the worlds of school and work. In a labor market that values education and skills, these young people are at a serious disadvantage. How can we build on the early promise of several current youth programs?
May 20, 2009
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Increasing Employment Among People with Disabilities
The size and costs of the two largest federal disability programs, Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, have increased dramatically in the last decade. Can more disability beneficiaries work and reduce their dependence on cash assistance -- without increasing poverty?
March 25, 2009
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Building Knowledge About Successful Prisoner Reentry Strategies
Many local, state, and federal agencies have mounted ambitious reentry initiatives to reduce recidivism among the 700,000 people who are released from prison each year, but there is little hard evidence about which approaches are effective. While a handful of rigorous studies are underway -- and some promising results are starting to emerge -- a much larger, more systematic series of evaluations is needed.
February 11, 2009
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The 12th Anniversary of Welfare Reform: What Do We Know About Time Limits?
This month marks the 12th anniversary of the federal welfare reform law, a turning point in the political debate about shifting public assistance toward a system of temporary support with a focus on moving recipients into work. One of the most controversial features of the law was the imposition of time limits on benefit receipt. What have we learned about the effects of time limits since then?
August 15, 2008
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Why Focus on the “Hard-to-Employ”?
For at least three decades, policymakers, researchers, and program operators have developed and studied strategies to help people who face serious obstacles to steady work. Despite the broad policy interest in serving the hard-to-employ, knowledge about effective program strategies is still relatively undeveloped.
October 22, 2007
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Some Reflections on the Eleventh Anniversary of Welfare Reform
Last month marked the eleventh anniversary of the federal welfare reform law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. What have we learned about the effectiveness of welfare-to-work programs, and what challenges remain for those who have left welfare, as well as for those who are still on the rolls?
August 06, 2007
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Can Employment Programs Help Ex-Prisoners Successfully Reenter Society?
Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from prison and seek to rejoin their communities. The obstacles to successful reentry are daunting, starting with the challenge of finding stable work. But there is new interest among researchers, community advocates, and public officials in prisoner reentry initiatives, particularly those focused on employment.
July 11, 2007
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MDRC’s Evolving Welfare Research Agenda
Since 1974, MDRC's welfare research has evolved along with the shifting policy landscape, helping to shape both policy and practice. Our current work focuses on the two principal challenges facing policymakers in a post-welfare reform world: helping low-wage workers succeed and addressing persistent barriers to employment for those who are not working.
August 07, 2006
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What’s the Right Role for Education and Training in Welfare Reform?
MDRC's new Issue Focus examines the role of education and training in welfare reform, presents findings from pioneering welfare-to-work studies, and highlights important new projects.
March 03, 2003
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Setting Standards for Work Participation
What proportion of recipients can realistically be expected to work or participate in work-related activities each month, what activities should count, and how many hours of participation per week should be required?
December 13, 2002
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Higher Education |
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Top 10 Most Popular MDRC Publications in 2011
In 2011, MDRC published nearly 40 publications on programs affecting low-income Americans in all realms of education and social policy: education from preschool to postsecondary, workforce development, family relationships, youth development, welfare programs, early childhood, health and disability, and more.
January 04, 2012
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Behind the Study: Voices from MDRC’s Performance-Based Scholarship Demonstration in New Mexico
“Being part of VISTA was a stress-reliever — it made me feel better about studying, about going to class, and about doing things outside of class that I need to do.”
— A performance-based scholarship recipient at the University of New Mexico
September 13, 2011
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Behind the Study: Voices from MDRC’s Performance-Based Scholarship Demonstration in Ohio
“I got out of high school. I had two babies. I supported myself with waitressing, and I just got fed up with it. That doesn’t make enough money for the things that I wanted for myself and for my kids. So I decided to come back to school to get a more stable job…to be able to have money…and the things that we wanted.”
A performance-based scholarship recipient at a community college in Ohio
June 20, 2011
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Summer Bridge Programs: Creating Opportunities for Low-Income Youth
In a commentary that originally appeared in Youth Today, Rob Ivry makes the case for “summer bridge” programs for rising high school seniors who are college-bound but not yet college-ready. They would take college prep classes on community college campuses, where they would also have summer jobs.
March 19, 2010
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Can Improved Student Services Boost Community College Student Success?
At many community colleges, students don’t get the support, like counseling and tutoring, they need to navigate through college successfully; often college staff are overburdened and students don’t know how to access the services that are available. Recent research from MDRC suggests that particular enhancements can lead to better use of student services and to modest improvements in academic outcomes.
February 17, 2010
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Improving U.S. Global Competitiveness and Combating Poverty by Growing the Proportion of Adults with College Degrees
A college degree is increasingly imperative in the knowledge-based global economy. In recent years, college completion rates in the U.S. have fallen behind those of several other nations. A growing body of evidence suggests that innovations in financial aid, curriculum and instruction, and student services can increase students’ persistence and success in college.
February 02, 2009
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Community Colleges: The Unsung Heroes of Higher Education
Community colleges are the unsung heroes of higher education: They enroll close to half of all college students in this country. They serve disproportionate numbers of low-income students, first-generation college students, students of color, and working parents. And they prepare people for jobs that make our communities run: nurses, firefighters, police officers, child care workers, office accountants.
July 02, 2008
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Bringing Attention to Community College Programs for Low-Income Students
The story of how community colleges are helping low-income students overcome challenges to success deserves more attention. The general public is largely unaware that community colleges enroll nearly half of all students in higher education — more than 11 million annually. Or that community colleges offer an important pathway for many out of poverty and to better jobs.
May 23, 2006
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Improving the Success of Low-Income Students in Community College
Community colleges enroll nearly half of all students in higher education -- over 11 million annually. MDRC has embarked on a multifaceted new research agenda aimed at discovering how to dramatically increase the success of low-income young adults in school, the labor market, and life.
March 23, 2006
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