Founded in 1974, MDRC is committed to improving the lives of people with low incomes. We design promising new interventions, evaluate existing programs, and provide technical assistance to build better programs.
MDRC develops evidence about solutions to some of the nation’s most difficult problems. Explore our projects and variety of products, including publications, videos, podcast episodes, and resources for researchers and practitioners.
An Implementation and Outcomes Study of Idaho Job Corps and Job Corps Scholars
This report describes pilot tests of two college-focused, nonresidential Job Corps variants designed to be less costly than the usual, residential model.
Job Corps is a large, comprehensive education and job training program for young people. This report suggests studies it could consider in the next five years.
In this commentary originally published by Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity, John Martinez explains how putting evidence into practice across the nonprofit sector can lead to more effective programs that can be sustained and expanded.
This issue focus describes a new study that will estimate the effects of online training combined with loans students repay only if they earn a certain amount.
Early Childhood and the Building Blocks for Combating Poverty
For two decades, MDRC has worked with practitioners and other researchers to develop and study innovations in early childhood education and in other programs, like home visiting, to improve young children’s chances of success.
MDRC hosted a panel on research about how career and technical education can be a promising avenue for young men who have fallen behind academically and economically.
In this commentary originally published by the Alabama Daily News, Sarah Picard and Leah Nelson discuss how the strategy to fund justice systems through fines and fees is unfair and destructive.
Educators’ Advice on High-Dosage Tutoring Programs
This brief offers advice on setting up a high-dosage tutoring program (which involves small-group sessions scheduled during school three or more times a week).
Changes to Service Delivery at Three Sites in the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration
This brief describes how child support changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, and relays agency staff members’ and parents’ perspectives on those changes.
A Look at Three Sites in the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration
This report examines how three child support agencies experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on employment, earnings, and unemployment insurance patterns.
This post describes an exercise for social services organizations that uses program attendance and engagement data analysis as part of a team-building effort—promoting equity by engaging diverse staff members in discussions about how to improve enrollment, service delivery, and participation outcomes.
In this commentary originally published by Route Fifty, Rick Hendra writes that artificial intelligence opens new opportunities for policymaking and service delivery, but it’s not magic.
The Changing Landscape—and Growing Impact—of Career and Technical Education
Since the early 1990s, MDRC has partnered with pioneers in career and technical education to help them assess the effectiveness of their programs and to improve their services to students.
How the MDRC Center for Data Insights Approaches Career and Technical Education Partnerships
The Center for Data Insights at MDRC partners with career and technical education organizations to augment their data analytics capacity, supporting the analysis that happens before, during, after, or separate from impact evaluations. These partnerships generally fall into one of three collaboration models: consultation, cocreation, and coaching.