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Most Recent K-12 Education Publications
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National High School Center Publishes Briefs for Practitioners by MDRC Experts
The National High School Center has just released a set of briefs, authored by MDRC consultants Michael Bangser and Thomas J. Smith, that examine what is known about educational interventions that help students prepare for postsecondary education and employment.
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Career Academies
Long-Term Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes, Educational Attainment, and Transitions to Adulthood
Eight-year findings on Career Academies — a popular high school reform that combines academics with career development opportunities — show that the programs produced sustained employment and earnings gains, particularly among young men. Career Academy participants were also more likely to be living independently with children and a spouse or a partner.
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The Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs
Findings After the First Year of Implementation
This report presents one-year implementation and impact findings on two supplemental academic instruction approaches developed for after-school settings — one for math and one for reading. Compared with regular after-school programming, the supplemental math program had impacts on student SAT 10 test scores and the supplemental reading program did not — although the reading program had some effect on reading fluency.
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Most Recent Higher Education Publications
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Helping Community College Students Cope with Financial Emergencies
Lessons from the Dreamkeepers and Angel Fund Emergency Financial Aid Programs
For low-income students, education can be easily derailed by a temporary financial emergency, like the loss of a job or a car repair. This final report offers lessons from two programs created by Lumina Foundation for Education that provide emergency grants or loans to help students at risk of dropping out. Eleven community colleges participated in Dreamkeepers, and 26 tribal colleges or universities participated in Angel Fund.
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The Learning Communities Demonstration
Rationale, Sites, and Research Design
Launched in 2007 by MDRC and the National Center for Postsecondary Research, the Learning Communities Demonstration is testing models of this promising approach in six community colleges in five states. This report describes the research design, including information about the colleges and their models, the random assignment process, data sources, analysis plans, and reporting schedule.
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A Good Start
Two-Year Effects of a Freshmen Learning Community Program at Kingsborough Community College
Freshmen in a “learning community” at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY, moved more quickly through developmental English requirements, took and passed more courses, and earned more credits in their first semester than students in a control group. Two years later, they were also somewhat more likely to be enrolled in college.
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Most Recent Families & Children Publications
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Designing a Marriage Education Demonstration and Evaluation for Low-Income Married Couples
This working paper introduces the Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation, the first large-scale, multisite experiment that is testing voluntary marriage education programs for low-income married couples with children in eight sites across the country. The year-long programs consist of a series of marriage education workshops with additional family support services and referrals.
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New Hope for the Working Poor
Effects After Eight Years for Families and Children
Implemented in 1994 in Milwaukee, New Hope provided full-time, low-wage workers with several benefits for three years: an earnings supplement, low-cost health insurance, and subsidized child care. A random assignment study shows positive effects for both adults and children, some of which persisted five years after the program ended.
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New Hope’s Eight-Year Impacts on Employment and Family Income
Implemented in 1994, New Hope provided full-time workers with several benefits for three years: an earnings supplement, low-cost health insurance, and subsidized child care. This working paper examines the program’s impacts on employment and earnings, as well as on family income and poverty, up to eight years beyond the point of random assignment.
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Most Recent Workers & Communities Publications
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Poverty and Philanthropy: Strategies for Change
This paper traces the economic and social trends that help explain the persistence of poverty, describes some of the unintended consequences of public policies that have exacerbated the challenges facing poor families, and discusses four overarching strategies to address one of the most powerful contributors to poverty: stagnant wages for low-income workers, particularly among men, young men, and men of color.
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Implementation and Second-Year Impacts for New Deal 25 Plus Customers in the UK Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Demonstration
This report published by the UK Department for Work and Pensions presents new findings on the effects of a program to help long-term unemployed individuals who receive government benefits in Great Britain and participate in a welfare-to-work program, New Deal 25 Plus, retain jobs and advance in the labor market.
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A Comparison of Two Job Club Strategies
The Effects of Enhanced Versus Traditional Job Clubs in Los Angeles
This report, from the Employment Retention and Advancement Project, finds that unemployed welfare recipients in an enhanced job club had no better employment outcomes than participants in a traditional job club. At the end of the 18-month follow-up period, about half of both groups were employed.
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Most Recent Welfare & Barriers to Employment Publications
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A Comparison of Two Job Club Strategies
The Effects of Enhanced Versus Traditional Job Clubs in Los Angeles
This report, from the Employment Retention and Advancement Project, finds that unemployed welfare recipients in an enhanced job club had no better employment outcomes than participants in a traditional job club. At the end of the 18-month follow-up period, about half of both groups were employed.
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New Hope for the Working Poor
Effects After Eight Years for Families and Children
Implemented in 1994 in Milwaukee, New Hope provided full-time, low-wage workers with several benefits for three years: an earnings supplement, low-cost health insurance, and subsidized child care. A random assignment study shows positive effects for both adults and children, some of which persisted five years after the program ended.
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Welfare Time Limits
An Update on State Policies, Implementation, and Effects on Families
One of the most controversial features of the 1990s welfare reforms was the imposition of time limits on benefit receipt. This comprehensive review, written by The Lewin Group and MDRC, includes analyses of administrative data reported by states to the federal government, visits to several states, and a literature review.
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