About MDRC
Condliffe joined MDRC in 2014 as a mixed-methods researcher. She is currently the project manager for the impact evaluation of training in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-B). The MTSS-B project is a large federal contract led by MDRC and funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. She manages all aspects of the project, including the large-scale data collection effort, analysis, and reporting. Condliffe is also project manager for the Expanding Children’s Early Learning (ExCEL) Network’s Summer Project, focusing on an assessment of a summer learning enrichment program for rising kindergarten students.
Before her career in education research, Condliffe taught middle school and high school English in New York City. She received her PhD in sociology from Johns Hopkins University, where she was also an IES Predoctoral Training Fellow, and she holds a BA from Bowdoin College and a MA in teaching from Brooklyn College.
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MDRC Publications
BriefEngagement in New York City’s Kindergarten Application
March, 2019Parents applying to kindergarten today must follow multiple steps. Identifying families who do not apply can help a school system improve its application process and can help it target families who need support. MDRC partnered with the New York City Department of Education to conduct this sort of diagnosis.
BriefChallenges and Opportunities in Summer Programs for Rising Kindergarten Students
May, 2018One focus of the Expanding Children’s Early Learning (ExCEL) Network is the potential value of programs to promote school readiness in the months preceding kindergarten. This brief summarizes lessons learned from a six-week pilot program and consultation with practitioners on three implementation issues — recruitment, attendance, and family involvement.
Issue FocusJanuary, 2018This issue focus discusses the conclusions of a recent MDRC working paper, Project-Based Learning: A Literature Review. The paper found that project-based learning holds promise for improving students’ outcomes but that much remains to be learned about its effectiveness and about how its implementation can be strengthened.
Working PaperA Literature Review
October, 2017Examining the scholarly literature published since a seminal review in 2000, this working paper discusses the principles that underlie project-based learning, how it has been used in K-12 settings, the challenges teachers have confronted in implementing it, and what is known about its effectiveness in improving students’ learning outcomes.
BriefBuilding a School Choice Architecture
June, 2017As school choice systems expand, district enrollment offices are striving to make the choice process accessible and clear for families. This practitioner brief offers lessons for supporting families through the sequence of decisions involved as they engage in the process, search for information, and compare and select schools.
Issue FocusApril, 2017School choice systems can be complex and confusing for low-income families. In the search for solutions, researchers and policymakers may have overlooked lessons from other policy arenas. This issue focus suggests strategies from MDRC’s experience designing and evaluating interventions to support low-income people’s decision making in arenas outside P-12 choice systems.
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Other Publications
Alexander, Karl, and Barbara Falk Condliffe. 2016. "Summer Setback in Baltimore: A Review and Update." Pages 23-34 in Karl Alexander, Sarah Pitcock, and Matthew Boulay (eds.), The Summer Slide: What We Know and Can Do About Summer Learning Loss. New York: Teachers College Press.
Condliffe, Barbara. 2016. “Selecting Summer: How Elementary School Parents Make Choices About Summer Programs.” Pages 146-160 in Karl Alexander, Sarah Pitcock, and Matthew Boulay (eds.), The Summer Slide: What We Know and Can Do About Summer Learning Loss. New York: Teachers College Press.
Condliffe, Barbara F., Melody L. Boyd, and Stefanie DeLuca. 2015. "Stuck in School: How Social Context Shapes School Choice for Inner-City Students." Teachers College Record 117, 3: 1-36.
Plank, Stephen B., and Barbara Falk Condliffe. 2013. "Pressures of the Season: An Examination of Classroom Quality and High-Stakes Accountability." American Educational Research Journal 50, 5: 1152-1182.
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Projects
School choice policies in districts across the country are turning school selection and enrollment — as early as kindergarten — into a complex, multistep process. Families, particularly those with limited resources, may struggle to fully participate in these processes.
Understanding where and why some families face challenges with the application process can...
JoAnn Hsueh, Sharon Huang, Sharon Rowser, Meghan McCormick, Michelle Maier, Rebecca Unterman, Nina Castells, Barbara Condliffe, Jocelyn Page, Amena Sengal, Sonia Drohojowska, Ilana BlumWith broad support across the political spectrum, states and localities throughout the country are expanding preschool programs for low-income children. While the public will is strong and the experience to date is encouraging, there is a need for firmer evidence on the most cost-effective ways to produce lasting impacts for children, especially when programs operate...
Fred Doolittle, Mark van Dok, Pei Zhu, Barbara Condliffe, Sonia Drohojowska, Emma Alterman, Osvaldo Avila, Jedediah TeresToo often, elementary school students lack the behavioral and social skills necessary to focus on academics and achieve in school. Without proper support, teachers inevitably spend far too much time managing their students’ behavior and too little time actually teaching. Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-B) is not a specific...