About MDRC
Alterman has worked as a qualitative researcher and operations specialist for several projects since joining MDRC. She is currently managing the operations and analysis of qualitative interviews for the study of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior, a federal contract to evaluate a system approach to teaching and reinforcing appropriate behavior for all students while providing additional support to those who need it. She is also the implementation researcher for the Investing in Innovation evaluation of New Visions Drive to Write, which provides technology and professional development support for writing in high school history classes. In addition, Alterman is leading a team in observing kindergarten and first-grade classrooms in New York City for Alignment of Mathematics. Her prior work includes qualitative research, operations work, and project management support on the Innovtive Professional Development (iPD) project and the evaluation of the scale-up of the Success for All reading program. Alterman is also currently a resource manager for the K-12 Education policy area, overseeing project budgets and staffing, building project work plans, and working on long-term planning with department leaders. Alterman holds a BA in sociology from Johns Hopkins University.
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MDRC Publications
ReportInterim Implementation and Impact Findings from New York City’s P-TECH 9-14 Schools
May, 2020This report evaluates a program focused on preparing students for college and career. Based on partnerships among high schools, community colleges, and employers, the program offers accelerated high school course work, early college, and work-based learning experiences. The findings suggest that students are meeting the benchmarks they need to succeed.
ReportSupporting Teachers with the Drive to Write Program
March, 2019Good writing is an important skill that students are increasingly required to master in high school. But how does a school cultivate good writing? An ambitious new program called Drive to Write is using technology, coaches for teachers, and data on student progress to help answer this question.
BriefLaunching the Drive to Write Program
January, 2018How do schools encourage students to write more and teachers to offer more comments on student writing? How can schools use technology more effectively to support this shift in instruction? What makes achieving both of these goals difficult? The Drive to Write program tackles these challenges.
BriefTeachers’ Voices on Professional Development
June, 2015Through the Innovative Professional Development (iPD) Challenge, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping school districts and networks redesign their professional development systems. This brief — the first in a series — introduces the case study component of MDRC’s evaluation and presents some early findings from interviews with teachers.
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Other Publications
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Projects
Approximately 4.5 million young people between the ages of 16 and 24 are disconnected, meaning they are neither working nor in school. Although the number of young people who are neither working nor in school has decreased in recent years as economic conditions have improved, the problem of youth disconnection remains serious, particularly for subgroups like African...
Many high-need students do not learn to read well because they do not receive effective personalized literacy instruction during the early elementary grades. To address this, the data-driven A2i Professional Support System was designed by and for teachers, and it has shown strong evidence of effectiveness. A2i...
D. Crystal Byndloss, Rachel Rosen, Sonia Drohojowska, Leigh Parise, Rebecca Unterman, Emma Alterman, Jedediah Teres, Michelle DixonThe idea for this high school model began in 2010 in New York City when then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a public-private partnership of the New York City Department of Education, the City University of New York, the New York City College of Technology, and IBM to develop a new approach to secondary and postsecondary education....
This study evaluates a new two-year intervention focused on student writing called Drive to Write. The intervention integrates technology coaching into a global history curriculum to create opportunities for focused student writing and revision and increased teacher feedback on writing.
While schools strive to integrate writing skills practice into multiple...
Fred Doolittle, Mark van Dok, Pei Zhu, Barbara Condliffe, Sonia Drohojowska, Emma Alterman, Osvaldo Avila, Jedediah Teres, Hannah PowerToo 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...
This project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provides research and evaluation support for the Innovative Professional Development (iPD) Challenge, which seeks to clarify the extent to which changes in school district professional development systems lead to different teacher experiences and measurable improvements in key...
Improving the reading performance of at-risk elementary students is one of the greatest challenges confronting American education. Success for All, a program aimed at ensuring that every child learns to read throughout the elementary grades, was one of the most carefully evaluated approaches to improving reading among high-poverty elementary school students at the time...