Publications

K-12 schools have been working to tailor instruction to help students make up the ground they lost academically because of the pandemic. In three studies, MDRC is exploring two promising delivery mechanisms for tailored instruction: tutoring and adaptive educational technology.

It is challenging to recruit, support, and retain a qualified child care and early education workforce. This brief presents the results of a literature review and an environmental scan that were designed to identify and document existing knowledge about the workforce and develop strategies to strengthen it.

Despite the need for child care and early education (CCEE), it is difficult to recruit and retain qualified educators. This report presents a conceptual framework to serve as a guide for conducting research on the CCEE workforce and for designing and implementing strategies to build and sustain it.

There is a need for more (and better) data on the individuals who work in child care and early education. This brief summarizes promising data sources and identifies areas where future data collection may be most useful.

The Texas Transfer Grant Pilot Program aimed to help community college students from low-income backgrounds transfer to four-year universities. This brief shows a significant impact on fall enrollment that grew over time for those students who were also offered a grant for the spring semester.

As part of the Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce project, researchers identified and reviewed strategies that are being implemented across the country to build, advance, and sustain the child care and early education workforce. This brief summarizes important themes that emerged from that review.

This annotated bibliography contains a comprehensive list of publications that were formally included in a review of literature on the child care and early education workforce and offers researchers, practitioners, and policymakers a quick guide to understanding the recent research landscape.

Multiple measures assessment (MMA) uses indicators such as grade point average to evaluate incoming students’ readiness for college-level courses (rather than only standardized test scores). This report presents interviews with stakeholders at 12 Arkansas and Texas colleges that use MMA, and also offers a cost analysis of their systems.

Turn Pro is a career-preparation program that aims to help college students, particularly students of color, enter quality jobs immediately after graduation. This issue focus describes the Turn Pro model and introduces a randomized controlled trial evaluation of its effects.

This post describes how MDRC and Blue Engine collaborated to codesign and launch an implementation research study of Blue Engine’s school-based support model, learn from each other throughout the process, and share responsibility for their partnership’s success.

Research shows that sector-based training programs—which prepare people for high-quality jobs that meet the needs of employers in tar­geted industry sectors—can raise employment rates and earnings. This brief presents findings from interviews about the challenges training providers face, along with lessons from earlier studies.

The IPS employment services model was originally designed for people with serious mental illness receiving services through community mental health centers. A study is examining the effectiveness of the model for a different population by evaluating four programs that provide IPS services to individuals receiving TANF or SNAP benefits.

This brief describes efforts by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Data Innovation project to transform federal employment data and TANF program data into an integrated resource for program management and evidence building.

This brief examines the complex factors that have both facilitated and hampered efforts to train workers for the burgeoning green labor market. It is based on an MDRC qualitative case study of stakeholders involved in green policy, education, training, and employment sectors in the New York metropolitan region.

Many individuals face financial and other barriers to accessing training that could lead to higher-paying jobs. Income share agreements enable learners to receive occupational training without paying up-front tuition costs. Participants commit to repaying a portion of their income over time, up to a capped amount, contingent on a minimum income threshold.

Graduation rates at community colleges are low, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. In response, three Ohio community colleges implemented programs based on the City University of New York’s successful Accelerated Study in Associate Programs. At six years, the Ohio programs have increased graduation rates and earnings.

For almost 15 years, the Green Energy Pathway at Skyline High School in Oakland, California has been educating students with a project-based curriculum that explores science-based solutions to global warming. That longevity means the Green Energy Pathway may offer lessons on how to make environmentally focused education successful and sustainable.

In 2023, MDRC posted more than 100 reports, briefs, practitioner guides, and other publications—offering evaluation results, profiles of innovative programs, and evidence-backed advice for policymakers and practitioners. Here are 10 of the most popular.

To reach policymakers, practitioners, and other important decisionmakers, MDRC experts authored or coauthored commentaries on evidence-based solutions for a variety of venues last year, including Route Fifty, GovTech, The Hechinger Report, and Inside Higher Ed. Here’s a selection from across the organization.

This brief presents background information on two supportive housing programs operated by Central City Concern, which aims to assist individuals with substance use disorder by providing integrated services designed to support sustained recovery. The programs are being evaluated by MDRC as part of the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies project.