About MDRC
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MDRC Publications
Working PaperJanuary, 2018This working paper (forthcoming in July 2018 as a chapter in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science) updates the existing pipeline paradigm for evidence building with a cyclical paradigm that encompasses evidence building, implementation, and adaptation.
TestimonyComments to the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking
November, 2016In public comments submitted to the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, MDRC President Gordon Berlin makes the case for putting rigorous evidence at the center of policymaking, improving access to administrative data, protecting confidentiality, bolstering the federal research agencies, addressing process and procurement issues, and maintaining the independence of third-party evaluators.
TestimonyThe Next Steps in Supporting Innovation, Continuous Improvement, and Accountability
May, 2016In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, MDRC President Gordon Berlin provides a brief history of the federal government’s bipartisan investment in evidence building and offers thoughts on next steps for making evidence, including pay-for-success initiatives, a driver of policy change.
ReportA Guide to Social Impact Bond Investing
March, 2016MDRC President Gordon Berlin draws lessons from MDRC’s implementation of the first social impact bond (SIB) project in the United States, providing valuable insights into the inner workings of SIB deals and explaining the challenges and the potential of this impact investing model.
Issue FocusThe Importance of Evidence
July, 2014In this essay, adapted from remarks made to the Growth Philanthropy Network/Social Impact Exchange 2014 Conference on Scaling Impact, MDRC President Gordon Berlin explains why developing reliable evidence of effectiveness is critical when expanding programs to a large scale.
Issue FocusMay, 2014This brief essay by Gordon Berlin, first published by the Nonprofit Finance Fund, builds on MDRC’s experience as the intermediary in the nation’s first operational Social Impact Bond to describe three broad challenges facing the Pay for Success movement as it moves from promising concept to on-the-ground implementation.
Issue FocusOctober, 2012In this commentary published by Spotlight on Poverty, MDRC President Gordon Berlin makes the case for creating a more flexible safety net that continues to reward work when jobs are plentiful, provides employment to poor families when jobs disappear, and begins to address the problem of stagnant wages at the low end of the labor market.
ReportMarch, 2012In testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, MDRC President Gordon Berlin proposes a simple, cost-effective fix to current law that would make federally funded program evaluations more efficient.
TestimonyImplications for Income Support Policy
June, 2011On the eve of the 15th anniversary of federal welfare reform, MDRC President Gordon Berlin describes the implications of the Great Recession and its effects on the labor market for welfare policy and other safety net programs. The speech was given at the 2011 Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
TestimonyIssues in the Reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
September, 2010In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, MDRC President Gordon Berlin describes recent trends in TANF, particularly during the economic downturn, and discusses what research and experience have to tell say about moving forward with the reauthorization of the federal welfare program.
Issue FocusWill the Past Be Prologue?
November, 2009In remarks given at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, MDRC President Gordon Berlin looks at the extraordinary challenges the current labor market presents to employment policy generally and WIA reauthorization specifically, outlines what we have (and haven’t) learned from research, and makes recommendations for future directions.
BriefWhat We Know, What We Don’t, and What’s Next
June, 2009Studies of Reading First released in 2008 found no overall effect on student reading comprehension, and the program was eliminated in 2009. However, the research findings were more nuanced than was widely reported, and they offer lessons for policymakers making critical choices today about how the federal government can best support the teaching of reading to young children.
ReportOctober, 2008This paper, by MDRC President Gordon Berlin, traces the economic and social trends that help explain the persistence of poverty, describes some of the unintended consequences of public policies that have exacerbated the challenges facing poor families, and discusses four overarching strategies to address one of the most powerful contributors to poverty: stagnant wages for low-income workers, particularly among men, young men, and men of color.
TestimonyNovember, 2007In a speech given at a conference sponsored by the French government on the role of experimental studies in reducing poverty, MDRC President Gordon Berlin described how the results of random assignment studies have acted as powerful levers for changing social policy in the United States.
Issue FocusA Counterintuitive Approach to Reducing Poverty and Strengthening Families
September, 2007In this article in The Future of Children journal, MDRC President Gordon Berlin answers the question: If you could do one thing to reduce poverty in America, what would it be? He explores the potential advantages of expanding the federal Earned Income Tax Credit to all low-wage adults who work full time — whether they have children or not and whether they marry or not.
TestimonyMay, 2007In these remarks, delivered at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s National Summit on America’s Children on May 22, MDRC President Gordon Berlin summarizes rigorous research evidence showing that supplementing the earnings of parents helps raise families out of poverty and improves the school performance of young children.
TestimonyApril, 2007In his testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, MDRC President Gordon Berlin argues that the most direct way to alleviate poverty is to tackle the legacy of falling wages, particularly for men with less education.
TestimonyPresented Before the Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate
May, 2004ReportEvidence and Lessons to Guide TANF Reauthorization
June, 2002BriefCan Reform Resolve Welfare Policy’s Thorniest Conundrum?
July, 2001ReportThe Impact of Work Incentive Programs
March, 2000ReportMeasuring “Entry Effects” in the Self-Sufficiency Project
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Other Publications
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Projects