Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Following up on testimony delivered before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on August 5, 2015, Lashawn Richburg-Hayes submitted additional information on opportunities for innovation in financial aid and student support services in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Presented Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
On August 5, Lashawn Richburg-Hayes testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on what research evidence suggests about the best ways to improve the academic success of low-income college students.
MDRC’s Projects in Math for Low-Income Students, from Preschool to College
In our increasingly technological world, developing basic math skills is crucial. What can be done to promote more effective math education? This two-page issue focus describes a number of MDRC projects — from preschool to postsecondary education — that seek to improve the performance of low-income students in math.
Results from a Performance-Based Scholarship Experiment
This random assignment study examines the long-term impacts of a program at The University of New Mexico offering low-income first-year students enhanced academic advising and financial aid that is contingent on performance. It finds that the program increased credit hour accumulation during the first two years and graduation rates after five years.
Evidence from Three Studies
Results from three random assignment studies at New York City community colleges suggest that year-round financial aid can increase enrollment during the summer and winter sessions — and that summer and winter enrollment can help students earn more credits.
Changing School Practices During the Second Year of Diplomas Now
Diplomas Now, a partnership of three national organizations, aims to increase graduation rates in high-risk schools, targeting support to students who need it most. This second report finds that Diplomas Now schools are differentiating themselves from comparable schools in their implementation of structural and instructional reforms.
Lessons from Two Decades of YouthBuild Programs
Youth development is a cornerstone of the YouthBuild program, which provides job skills training, academic support, counseling, and leadership opportunities to low-income, out-of-school young adults. Participants attested to the transformation that can occur in an early 1990s study; a 2014 survey of program directors largely reaffirms this.
In this two-page issue focus, four advisers from MDRC’s College Match project describe how serving as “near-peer” advisers to moderate- and high-achieving high school students from low-income families influenced their own career trajectories.
Implementation and Interim Impact Findings from the Communities In Schools Evaluation
Services to help students stay in school are often fragmented. In this program, school-based coordinators identify students at risk, work with them to assess their needs, connect them with school and community supports, and monitor their progress. Case-managed students received more services than others, but early impact findings are inconclusive.
Insights from the College Match Pilot Program
Research has shown that nationally, between 10 percent and 40 percent of high school graduates who intend to go to college don’t enroll the following fall. In this Issue Focus, former College Match advisers describe strategies they used to combat this “summer melt.”
Get the latest info on MDRC publications, projects, and other news. We send email updates a couple of times each month.
