Publications

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.

This report describes pilot tests of two college-focused, nonresidential Job Corps variants designed to be less costly than the usual, residential model.

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.

Brenda Plazola of Rocketship Public Schools shares her thoughts and advice on integrating tutors into a school community.

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.

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.

This brief synthesizes discussions held by leaders operating sector programs, which prepare people for high-quality jobs in specific industries. 

This brief aims to help the early childhood field identify and measure the skills and competencies of a diverse population of young learners.

This issue focus summarizes the current work of MDRC’s Center for Criminal Justice Research and future directions for that work.

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.

This brief presents early results from an analysis of how legal fines and fees are assessed and distributed in Jefferson County, Alabama.

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).

This brief describes how child support changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, and relays agency staff members’ and parents’ perspectives on those changes.

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. 

Hannah Zey, who works at Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, shares advice for using vendors to recruit tutors for tutoring programs.

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.

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.