About MDRC
Dixon is a research associate in the K-12 Education policy area, specializing in data processing, data management, and analysis. She is the main analyst for the P-TECH 9-14 evaluation, which uses a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the efficacy of a model of career and technical education–focused schools. She also works on the INSIGHTS follow-up, CTE Advise, and Life Skills Training projects. Before joining MDRC in 2018, Dixon was a data manager for the New York City Department of Health’s School-Based Health Centers program, and previously worked on an enhanced housing program for people who are HIV-positive and lack stable housing. She holds a master of public health degree from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in biology and linguistics from Cornell University.
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MDRC Publications
ReportHow an Additional Quantitative Reasoning Course Could Affect Student Access and Success
November, 2022This report studies a proposal to add one year of high school quantitative reasoning coursework to California State University’s admissions requirements. It analyzes how the proposal, had it been accepted, could have affected students’ access to and success at the university, particularly for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
BriefDual Enrollment Impacts from the Evaluation of New York City’s P-TECH 9-14 Schools
April, 2022The New York City P-TECH 9-14 model offers accelerated high school course work, early college, and work-based learning experiences. P-TECH students are 30 percentage points more likely to take college courses in high school than comparison group students. They also earn 6.4 more college credits by the end for their fourth year.
ReportAssessing Higher Achievement’s Out-of-School Expansion Efforts
June, 2020The intensive program for middle school students was successfully replicated in three new cities, significantly improving grades after two years. The findings suggest that Higher Achievement could be a model nationwide to help close the learning gap between children born into poverty and their middle-class peers.
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.
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Other Publications
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Projects
INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament , a comprehensive, school-based preventive intervention, supports students’ social-emotional development in order to improve their behaviors, social-emotional well-being, and academic skills during the transition to elementary school. Prior research has found that INSIGHTS implemented in kindergarten and first grade has short- and...
The California State University ( CSU ) system is proposing a policy change that would require graduating high school students, beginning with the entering first-year class of 2027, to complete one additional course in quantitative reasoning to meet the minimum qualifications for first-year admission. The objectives for this proposed policy change are to help ensure...
Rachel Rosen, D. Crystal Byndloss, Sonia Drohojowska, Leigh Parise, Rebecca Unterman, Emma Alterman, Jedediah J. 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. The result was P- TECH High School...
Under-resourced students will have a steep road ahead as they master new Common Core standards. Schools will also face the challenge of finding sufficient resources to deliver higher-level content in effective, engaging ways. Out-of-school-time ( OST ) programs, particularly those focused on academic performance, could be one way to provide under-resourced students...
While educators and officials across the United States are struggling with how to raise student achievement and improve graduation rates, very few programs have been shown to work at scale in achieving either goal. In 2010, through the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund, the U.S. Department of Education selected several promising programs for expansion and further...