At a time when limited government resources demand that the nation make the most of investments in social and education programs, policymakers will increasingly need to make decisions on the basis of reliable evidence. To assist the incoming Obama Administration and the new Congress, MDRC has developed a series of 15 two-page, evidence-based framing memos on pressing education and social issues — from preschool to prisoner reentry, from disability insurance to after-school programs.

Education and Youth

• A Necessary Precondition to Improving Preschool Education: Addressing Young Children’s Social and Emotional Development
  
  
• Improving the Reading First Program and Related Professional Development Efforts for Teachers
  
  
• Building Better After-School Programs
  
  
• High Schools Can Prepare Students for the World of Work
  
  
• Building Better Programs for Disconnected Youth
  
  
• Improving U.S. Global Competitiveness and Combating Poverty by Growing the Proportion of Adults with College Degrees
  
  
• Reforming Financial Aid for College Students

Workforce Development and Low-Wage Workers and Families

• Combating Persistent Poverty and Stagnant Wages with Earnings Supplements Like the EITC
  
  
• Strengthening Low-Income Families: A Research Agenda for Parenting, Relationship, and Fatherhood Programs
  
  
• What Is Known About Mainstream Workforce Development Programs for Adults?
  
  
• Increasing Employment and Earnings Among Recipients of Federal Rental Housing Assistance
  
  
• Building Knowledge About Successful Prisoner Reentry Strategies
  
  
• Increasing Employment Among People with Disabilities and Containing the Growth of the Federal Disability Assistance Programs
  
  
• The Post-Welfare Reform World: Helping Low-Wage Workers, the Hard-to-Employ, and Those Left Behind

Research Methods

• How Best to Determine Whether Social and Education Programs Work — or Don’t Work