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Overview
In little more than a decade, MDRC has built a strong reputation as a respected, trustworthy source of information about what works to improve students’ prospects for academic success in elementary, middle, and high school and about what it takes to put effective interventions into place. Since 1991, we have managed 20 major demonstrations and evaluations in education, involving more than 80 communities in 36 states and the District of Columbia. This work has been supported by 62 funders, including the federal Departments of Education and Labor, 35 foundations, and other private organizations, corporations, and donors. In addition, MDRC has projects focused on helping adult low-income workers overcome barriers to literacy and other academic shortcomings or gain credentials to help them advance in their careers.
What drew MDRC to examine education? Many participants in the welfare-to-work and youth programs that MDRC studied in the first 20 years of its history had failed in — and been failed by — the public schools, especially schools serving low-income populations and children of color. Helping schools to meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of disadvantaged young people, we reasoned, could forestall future problems and reduce the need for later “second-chance” programs, which had often proved of limited effectiveness. In addition, the rising educational demands of the 21st-century workplace have heightened public and political pressures on schools to do a better job preparing students. Policymakers, administrators, and elected officials at every level are looking for ways to lift academic achievement for all children. It is important to take full advantage of this spirit of innovation in order to learn as much as possible about what works and under what conditions, both to ensure positive returns on taxpayer investments (especially in a period of rising budget deficits) and to provide students with a strong foundation for a secure future.
In addition, MDRC sought to raise the standard of evidence for assessing the effectiveness of education programs, which was an increasing national priority. MDRC brings to educational research the special qualities that define its work in other areas: rigorous research methods that yield solid evidence of program effectiveness, sensitivity to the issues associated with introducing change into complex organizations (such as schools and school systems), and a commitment to active dissemination of our findings to inform policy and improve practice. In addition to their commitment to improving the nation’s public schools, MDRC staff members bring a wealth of varied specialties to educational research, including backgrounds as elementary and secondary school educators, as well as training and experience as qualitative and quantitative social scientists and public policy analysts. This diverse experience enables us to build relationships of trust and respect with superintendents, principals, teachers, students, parents, and other members of the education community.
It's perhaps unsurprising, given MDRC’s history of studying initiatives for disadvantaged adolescents, that our initial education projects involved school-based reforms in secondary schools, and a number of our current projects focus on securing success for middle school and high school students. Our project portfolio also includes studies of school-based interventions in the elementary grades that seek to give children a strong start in developing literacy and mathematical skills, as well as evaluations of after-school programs that extend children’s learning beyond the school day. Because we recognize the value of introducing change at the level of the school system as well as at individual schools, we have embarked on a series of studies that examine district-wide reforms. Finally, our postsecondary education studies examine interventions to help low-income students overcome obstacles to success in community colleges. And throughout our education work, we are concerned with developing powerful new evaluation methods and increasing awareness of research methodology among education policymakers, program developers, school administrators, and others.
Key Documents on K - 12 Education
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