Use the tools at left to search for and filter publications.

Use the tools at bottom to search for and filter publications.

Publications

Brief

Advising for Opportunity

Perspectives and Considerations for Supporting Movement Across Workforce and Academic Programs in Community Colleges

February, 2021

Living-wage jobs increasingly require postsecondary education, though nonacademic career and technical education can also boost earning potential. But noncredit program benefits can be limited, so some community colleges are bridging the academic-nonacademic divide. This brief describes methods and strategies for connecting and promoting noncredit and credit pathways for students.

Issue Focus

Alternative Solutions for Child Support

February, 2021

New approaches to child support enforcement aim to be less punitive and to serve the whole family, not just child support recipients. Lessons from Washington State’s Alternative Solutions Program show how this shift in perspective has made a difference during the pandemic.

Brief

Implementing and Scaling Multiple Measures Assessment in the Context of COVID-19

January, 2021

This brief from the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness, a project of the Community College Research Center and MDRC, presents four case studies on how community college state systems changed course placement policies and supported new placement practices in the midst of the pandemic.

Issue Focus

Rural Higher Education: Realities & Opportunities

January, 2021

MDRC, Ascendium Education Group, and Rural Matters partnered to present an audio series about higher education that aired on the Rural Matters podcast. This special supplement presents summaries of all four installments in that series.

Report

Implementing Creating Moves to Opportunity

January, 2021

Creating Moves to Opportunity greatly increased the number of families with young children leasing in areas with high upward income mobility in the Seattle area. It offered education, coaching, housing search assistance, landlord engagement, and financial supports to Housing Choice Voucher program applicants. This report offers lessons about implementing the model.

Issue Focus

West Virginia’s Climb

A Statewide Education Collaboration That Centers on Rural Communities

December, 2020

A West Virginia campaign to double college degree attainment by 2030 includes five evidence-based strategies proven to help students succeed and is customized to suit the particular needs of rural communities. This paper summarizes Part II of a four-part podcast series coproduced by Rural Matters and MDRC.

Issue Focus

Designing an Enhanced Advising Program

Research-Based Advice for Community College Administrators

December, 2020

Two decades of MDRC research shows that a holistic counseling strategy that reduces adviser caseloads and offers students more frequent, comprehensive guidance can help them address both academic and personal issues and improve college outcomes. This paper provides lessons for higher education professionals interested in implementing this approach.

Report

Using Technology to Redesign College Advising and Student Support

Findings and Lessons from Three Colleges’ Efforts to Build on the iPASS Initiative

December, 2020

The iPASS initiative aims to helps colleges use technology-based advising practices to improve students’ academic performance and college completion rates. This report describes how three schools used enhanced iPASS services in an effort to strengthen and reform their existing advising practices, including the standard version of iPASS.

Issue Focus

Pivoting and Planning: STRIVE’s Pandemic Progress

December, 2020

When COVID-19 upended normal operations at STRIVE, a workforce development nonprofit founded in New York, the Center for Applied Behavioral Science at MDRC documented the agency’s real-time innovations that allowed it to continue serving clients during the crisis. Greg Wise, STRIVE’s National Vice President, shared a first-hand account of the transition.

Issue Focus

Recognizing Diversity in Rural America

College Access Strategies in Rural Communities of Color

December, 2020

Education strategies that consider the local context, needs, and desires of rural students of color, who have historically been shut out of equal access to a college education, are getting increasing attention. This paper summarizes Part III of a four-part podcast series coproduced by Rural Matters and MDRC.