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| Issue Focus Archive |
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K - 12 Education |
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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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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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Welfare & Barriers to Employment |
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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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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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