A two-stage study design can test a complex set of interventions, individually and in combination. Reflections on Methodology shows how this approach was used for a pair of programs, the first administered in preschools and the second implemented as a kindergarten follow-up for individual students.

Many Promise programs — which help local students afford to enroll in college — are looking to add new forms of support to help students address their barriers to college success, but worry about the cost of these new components. MDRC’s College Promise Success Initiative’s Cost Calculator prices out various program designs.