Even though enrollment in community colleges is steadily increasing, graduation and transfer rates remain disappointingly low. Developmental (or remedial) math is arguably the greatest stumbling block to community college completion. With multiple exit points along the way, traditional developmental math sequences can be long and may not be optimally structured to...
Early Findings from the Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-Up
Success for All, a whole-school reading reform, received a federal Investing in Innovation (i3) scale-up grant in 2010 to expand to additional elementary schools. This report examines the program’s implementation and its impact in 2011-2012, the first year of operation, on kindergartners’ early reading.
Can existing financial aid programs do more to help low-income college students achieve academic success? MDRC is conducting a large-scale evaluation of Aid Like A Paycheck, a new program based on a simple yet potentially transformative idea: After the college receives payment for tuition and fees, disburse remaining financial aid to students...
Increasing Requests for Child Support Order Modifications by Incarcerated Noncustodial Parents
A case study from the Behaviorial Buzz newsletter of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project focused on increasing requests for child support order modifications by incarcerated noncustodial parents in Texas.
A Case Study of Two Community College Programs Designed to Accelerate Students Through Developmental Math
“Acceleration” strategies seek to help developmental students progress to college-level math quicker. This report examines two models: one at Broward College compresses a traditional 16-week course into eight weeks and another at Tarrant County College divides a course into modules, allowing students to skip content they’ve already mastered.
Every day, 7,000 students drop out of school. Among Latinos and African-Americans, the dropout rate is nearly 50 percent. Communities In Schools (CIS) works with low-income K-12 students in the nation’s poorest-performing schools. It seeks to reduce dropout rates through preventive support services like short-term counseling or annual health...
Early Implementation of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) for Veterans Demonstration
This policy brief describes an innovative program designed to target the psychological and social behaviors that contribute to pain, disability, and inactivity among veterans with disabilities. The goal is to help these veterans resume daily activities and get on a path to work.
Preliminary Implementation Findings from the SaveUSA Evaluation
SaveUSA, a pilot program in New York City, Newark, San Antonio, and Tulsa, offers a matched savings account to low-income tax filers, building on the opportunity presented by tax-time refunds, especially the Earned Income Tax Credit. This 12-page brief offers early implementation findings.
A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents
The Building Strong Families evaluation assessed the effects of eight programs offering a similar model of healthy relationship skills and support services to interested low-income unmarried parents around the time of the birth of a child. This report presents final results from data collected 36 months after couples enrolled in the study.
Lessons from the Developmental Education Initiative
This report examines the efforts of 15 community colleges that expanded preexisting interventions or put in place new ones directed toward helping students move through developmental coursework more quickly and more successfully.
Get the latest info on MDRC publications, projects, and other news. We send email updates a couple of times each month.
