Evidence First

Supporting College Students in Rural Areas Nov 13, 2024

Both college-going and college completion rates are far lower in rural areas than in other geographical settings. To learn what works to help rural students enroll in and complete college, MDRC, supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), has launched the National Rural Higher Education Research Center. The center will work with college systems to conduct eight research studies in two regions: the South and the Mountain West.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Alyssa Ratledge, research associate at MDRC, about the research questions the Center will address in response to the needs of rural practitioners and policymakers.

Scaling Up High-Dosage Tutoring: Early Lessons from the Personalized Learning Initiative Sep 17, 2024

Many states and school districts are eager to expand high-dosage tutoring programs, a proven way to accelerate student learning by providing personalized instruction in small group settings several times a week. But there are challenges to getting these programs successfully off the ground, like recruiting tutors in a tight labor market, fitting sessions into already packed school days, and ensuring consistent student participation.

To help practitioners address these challenges, the University of Chicago's Education Lab and MDRC launched the Personalized Learning Initiative (PLI) in 2021. PLI is supporting and studying the expansion of high-dosage tutoring programs in school districts across the country.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Barbara Condliffe, a senior research associate at MDRC, who's leading the implementation research on PLI, about the early lessons from the project.

Promoting Equity in Developmental Education Reform: A Conversation with Nikki Edgecombe and Michael Weiss Jul 03, 2024

Developmental education, also known as remedial education, refers to courses that some entering college students will have to take if they are deemed unprepared for college-level courses. However, studies have shown that developmental education can actually hinder students’ progress in college. Additionally, students of color, adults, first-generation students, and those from low-income backgrounds are disproportionately placed in developmental education programs, so there’s a lot of interest among policymakers, college practitioners, and researchers in reforming developmental education programs to address these challenges and support more equitable outcomes for students.

As part of MDRC’s 50th anniversary celebration, this episode of Evidence First features MDRC’s longtime partner the Community College Research Center, or CCRC. In 2014, MDRC and CCRC launched the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness, or CAPR, to research the effectiveness of developmental education reforms and to understand their implications for equity.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Nikki Edgecombe, a senior research scholar at CCRC who leads CAPR, and Michael Weiss, a senior fellow in postsecondary education at MDRC, about what has been learned about promoting equity in developmental education reform.

Building Impact Through Partnership: A Conversation About Per Scholas and MDRC Apr 25, 2024

Sector-focused employment programs aim to improve the economic mobility of people with low incomes by training them for quality jobs in sectors that have strong local demand and opportunities for advancement. By partnering with local employers, these programs provide them with a skilled and able workforce.

As part of MDRC’s 50th anniversary celebration, this episode of Evidence First features MDRC’s longtime partner Per Scholas, a leading national nonprofit offering training and employment services focused on specific employment sectors. MDRC’s evaluation has confirmed that Per Scholas offers a highly effective training model.

Leigh Parise talks with Tamara Johnson, Chief of Staff at Per Scholas; Shondra Tobler, Senior Director of National Admissions at Per Scholas; and Donna Wharton-Fields, a senior fellow at MDRC. They discuss MDRC’s long-term research partnership aimed at helping Per Scholas improve its program and expand its reach.

Training Workers When Employers Hire Based on Skills: Lessons from Connecticut and Virginia Feb 15, 2024

As the cost of higher education climbs, skills-based hiring has gained traction. It’s a labor market trend in which employers hire based on applicants’ skills, with the understanding that degrees are not the only way to acquire competencies.

In a follow-up to an earlier episode on skills-based hiring, Rachel Rosen, who leads MDRC’s Center for Effective Career and Technical Education, speaks with two guests: Kelli-Marie Vallieres, Connecticut’s Chief Workforce Officer who leads the state’s Office of Workforce Strategy, and Elizabeth Creamer, Vice President of Workforce Development for the Community College Workforce Alliance, which is the workforce development division of Brightpoint and Reynolds community colleges, within the Virginia Community College System.

They discuss which sectors are experiencing an uptick in skills-based hiring in Connecticut, what non-degree programs are offered in Virginia, and whether skills-based hiring can promote equity.

Implementing an Evidence-Based and Domain-Specific Pre-K Curriculum: A Conversation with Cheryl Ohlson and Michelle Maier Jan 22, 2024

Most pre-K classrooms use a whole-child approach to educational curricula, which focuses on the broad development of children’s academic skills. By contrast, domain-specific curricula focus more on specific areas of learning, such as math, literacy, or science. MDRC has partnered with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to implement a new domain-specific curriculum in its schools.

In this episode, Leigh Parise speaks with Cheryl Ohlson, DCPS deputy chief of early childhood education, and Michelle Maier, MDRC senior associate, to outline their domain-specific curriculum strategy and to explain some of the ups and downs of their ongoing implementation in pre-K programs across Washington, DC. They explain how domain-specific curricula intersects with other important trends in pre-K education, including the importance of play and of providing developmentally appropriate instruction. Ohlson also discusses how teachers were trained to teach domain-specific curricula and addresses some of the challenges of implementing the initiative at scale.

When Employers Hire Based on Skills: A Conversation with Matt Sigelman Dec 21, 2023

As the cost of higher education climbs, skills-based hiring has gained traction. It’s a labor market trend in which employers hire based on applicants’ skills, with the understanding that degrees are not the only way to acquire competencies.

Skills-based hiring has the potential to increase equity in the hiring process, providing avenues to socio-economic mobility for historically marginalized populations. However, there are also questions about whether the movement could demotivate students from pursuing two- or four-year degrees that may be more transferable to other jobs.

To learn more about skills-based hiring across education and workforce training domains, Leigh Parise talks with Matt Sigelman, President of the Burning Glass Institute, which studies economic and workforce trends.

Lessons about Tutoring and Addressing Learning Loss from Reading Partners Dec 08, 2023

Many schools are expanding tutoring services and personalized instruction to address learning loss caused by the pandemic. This episode features Reading Partners, a successful national nonprofit that mobilizes community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to students who struggle with reading in under-resourced elementary schools. MDRC has been working with Reading Partners for nearly 15 years to help document and improve the program’s effectiveness. MDRC’s rigorous evaluation of Reading Partners found that its program boosted three different measures of reading proficiency, including reading comprehension, for second- to fifth-graders.

In the first episode of a series celebrating MDRC’s 50th anniversary and our longtime collaborators, join Leigh Parise as she talks with Dean Elson, Chief Knowledge Officer at Reading Partners, and Robin Jacob, a Research Professor at Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan and Co-Director of the Youth Policy Lab. Jacob helped lead MDRC’s evaluation of Reading Partners and is currently studying their distance learning model, Reading Partners Connects. Elson and Jacob discuss MDRC’s study of Reading Partners, how to get volunteers to teach reading effectively, and how technology will continue to play a role in tutoring.

Adapting a Wraparound Student Support Program for College Students in Rural Areas: A Conversation with Crystine Miller and Alyssa Ratledge Nov 01, 2023

Montana 10 is a scholarship program offered by the Montana University System that offers wraparound academic, social, and financial supports to students from rural areas, first-generation college students, and Native American students. MDRC is partnering with the Montana University System on an evaluation of Montana 10..

In this episode, Leigh Parise speaks with Crystine Miller, Director of Student Affairs and Student Engagement in the Montana University System, and Alyssa Ratledge, a Research Associate in Postsecondary Education at MDRC, about the Montana 10 evaluation and its potential value to the field of higher education research. The pair describes the unique challenges of conducting an evaluation in a mostly rural higher education system. They also highlight what questions the evaluation is hoping to answer about rural students. For example, does the choice between returning to one’s hometown after graduating and moving away to pursue employment carry a special weight for students from rural backgrounds?

To learn more about the Montana 10 project and some of the barriers facing rural students in postsecondary education, check out this recent commentary by Ratledge in The Hechinger Report.

From Doubling Graduation Rates to Increasing Earnings: Replicating the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (CUNY ASAP) in Ohio Aug 24, 2023

In 2014, three Ohio colleges set out to adapt a student support model pioneered by the City University of New York called Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, or ASAP. The program requires students to attend college full time and provides them with support services for three years, including enhanced advising, financial aid, and career counseling. MDRC'S evaluation of the ASAP Ohio program has found that it doubled graduation rates for community college students after three years. With support from Arnold Ventures, MDRC recently released exciting long-term findings, showing that ASAP Ohio not only boosted attainment of associate’s and bachelor’s degrees after six years but also increased the earnings of students.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Christine Brongniart, the University Executive Director of CUNY ASAP, and Colleen Sommo, a senior research fellow in MDRC's Postsecondary Education policy area, to learn more about the CUNY ASAP model, its replication across the country, and the latest findings from MDRC’s study of the program in Ohio.

Nondegree Credential Programs in Higher Ed: A Conversation with Paul Fain and Betsy Tessler Jul 24, 2023

Nondegree credentials are typically certificates or licenses earned in a short period of time that confer some kind of professional or industry-recognized skill. They’re not new to the world of higher education, but they have received a lot of attention in the last few years as a “faster ” way to connect students to employment in comparison to earning a traditional college degree.

Leigh Parise sits down with Paul Fain, a higher education journalist who writes an education and workforce newsletter called “The Job,” and Betsy Tessler, a senior research associate at MDRC, to answer some of the big questions surrounding nondegree credentials.

Reflections on the Evidence-Building Movement Jun 14, 2023

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with MDRC President Virginia (Ginger) Knox and Naomi Goldstein, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) at the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Goldstein is also a member of the MDRC Board of Directors. They reflect on their experiences in evaluating programs and policies, the growth of the evidence-building movement, and future considerations for the field.

How Can Data Science Tools Better Represent Participant Experiences? A Conversation with Ahmed Whitt and Alissa Stover Apr 20, 2023

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides wrap-around support and employment services to people returning home from incarceration. While participant feedback was always important to their work, CEO was looking to better understand the range of their participants’ experiences and use it to improve the services they provide. MDRC’s Center for Data Insights (CDI) partnered with CEO and used data science tools and qualitative research to better utilize the feedback CEO was receiving from their participants.

In this episode, Leigh Parise first talks with Alissa Stover, a former research analyst at MDRC and CDI. Alissa describes CDI’s partnership with CEO, the importance of big-picture thinking in data science, and their implications. Ahmed Whitt, the director of learning and impact at CEO, then explains the critical lessons that were learned.

Can Market Value Assets Better Prepare Students for College and Career? Mar 30, 2023

Through its Real World Learning initiative in the Kansas City metropolitan area, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is working to ensure that all students in participating districts graduate from high school with a diploma and at least one market value asset (or MVA).

MVAs are designed to prepare students for further education and employment. They can include such activities as completing an internship or employer-sponsored project, earning an industry-recognized credential, engaging in an entrepreneurial experience, or earning college credits. MDRC is the learning and evaluation partner on this project.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Dan Tesfay, senior program officer at the Kauffman Foundation, and Osvaldo Avila, research associate in MDRC's K-12 education policy area. They discuss what it takes to create partnerships between school districts and industries to develop MVAs and what they hope to learn from MDRC’s evaluation work.

How Can State Government Agencies Increase Their Use of Data Analytics? A Conversation with Michael Meotti, Isaac Kwakye, and Rick Hendra Feb 08, 2023

The Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) is a state government agency with a goal of increasing educational opportunity and attainment for Washington residents. WSAC has partnered with the MDRC Center for Data Insights (CDI) to create manageable data-analytics tools for the agency to use to track and improve student outcomes.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Michael Meotti, WSAC Executive Director; Isaac Kwakye, WSAC Senior Director of Research and Student Success; and Rick Hendra, the Director of the MDRC Center for Data Insights about the partnership between WSAC and CDI. They dig into the details of how to use data analytics at the state level to increase evidence-based state policymaking in postsecondary education.

Do Industry-Recognized Credentials Help Students Transition to College and Careers? A Conversation with Matt Giani Jan 10, 2023

Industry-recognized credentials, or IRCs, are an increasingly common strategy used to demonstrate that high school students have learned skills or competencies in a specific industry or occupation. But what do we know about their impact on student outcomes? And do they help students succeed in college and in the labor market?

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Matt Giani, a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and a Faculty Affiliate in the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, about his study for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that looks at the education and employment outcomes of Texas students who earn IRCs in high school.

Promoting Equity in College Completion: An Interview with Amanda Janice Roberson and Jinann Bitar Dec 19, 2022

While the percentage of adults with a postsecondary degree has increased over the past several decades, there are large gaps in degree attainment by race, ethnicity, and income. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with two higher education experts—Amanda Janice Roberson at the Institute for Higher Education Policy and Jinann Bitar at The Education Trust—about policies and practices to advance equitable student outcomes in higher education, including the federal College Completion Fund.

Bringing Procedural Justice Principles to Child Support Programs Dec 15, 2022

Child support agencies aim to secure payments from noncustodial parents to support the well-being of their children. When noncustodial parents fall behind on child support, they may face consequences, such as driver's license suspensions, civil contempt, and even jail time. These enforcement actions can make it harder for parents to make future child support payments.

The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration, sponsored by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), integrates principles of procedural justice into enforcement practices in six child support agencies across the United States. Procedural justice is the perception of fairness in processes that resolve disputes and result in decisions. Research has shown that if people perceive a process to be fair, they will be more likely to comply with the outcome of that process, whether or not the outcome is favorable to them.

MDRC, MEF Associates, and the Center for Court Innovation are evaluating the effectiveness of the PJAC model. As part of the demonstration, the PJAC Peer Learning initiative provided training and support to several additional child support agencies that were interested in procedural justice but not part of the PJAC study.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Michael Hayes and Tanya Johnson from OCSE, Melissa Froehle from Minnesota Child Support Enforcement, and Maria Lasecki, Director of Brown County Child Support in Wisconsin, about the role of procedural justice in child support, how the Peer Learning initiative works, and what the sites have learned so far.

Is Individualized Instruction the Answer to the Pandemic’s Unfinished Learning? A Discussion with Andy Rotherham and William Corrin Nov 03, 2022

The pandemic has had devastating effects on students’ learning. One strategy to help students is individualized instruction, which includes interventions like tutoring. In this lively episode, Leigh Parise talks with Andy Rotherham, cofounder of Bellwether, a national education nonprofit organization, and William Corrin, the director of MDRC’s K-12 Education policy area, about the promise, challenges, and politics of implementing individualized instruction.

Training Students for the Green Jobs of Tomorrow Sep 22, 2022

Green jobs in diverse industries, such as transportation, construction, environmental management, and agriculture, have grown in recent years and are predicted to further increase in the future. Filling these jobs will require a skilled workforce, yet federal investments in training for green jobs have focused mostly on adults. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Rachel Rosen, a senior research associate and co-director of MDRC's Center for Effective Career and Technical Education, on evidence-based strategies that can help create pathways for careers in the green economy for young people.

Improving Pre-K Assessments: An Interview with Preschool Teachers Aug 10, 2022

The majority of children in the United States now attend some type of formal pre-K program before starting elementary school. Pre-K assessments—or short tests and activities that measure early skills—are an important tool for understanding children’s learning and development in these settings.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Lia Wilson, the Preschool Program Coordinator at the Parent Infant Center in Philadelphia, and Brooks Wilson, a Lead Teacher at the Center, to gain their perspective of the assessment process and how it can be improved.

Improving Pre-K Assessments: An Interview with School Administrators May 20, 2022

The majority of children in the United States now attend some type of formal pre-K program before starting elementary school. Pre-K assessments—or short tests and activities that measure early skills—are an important tool for understanding children’s learning and development in these settings.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with two leaders from the AppleTree Institute—Dr. Niesha Keemer, Principal and Instructional Leader, and Dr. Abby Carlson, Director of Research and Impact— about the benefits of pre-K assessments and the AppleTree Institute’s Every Child Ready model.

Considerations for Jurisdictions Seeking Pretrial Reform Apr 14, 2022

As part of the criminal justice system, the pretrial system is set up to ensure individuals appear in court to maintain public safety and maximize pretrial release. But over the last few decades, a more punitive approach to pretrial justice has evolved, in which jailing individuals who haven't been convicted of a crime has become the norm in many jurisdictions. In many cases, individuals remain in jail pretrial simply because they cannot afford the cash bail set in their case. As a result, people with low incomes, unable to pay for their freedom, are more likely to suffer the consequences of pretrial detention, including major disruptions to work and family life, regardless of their likelihood of returning to court or the risk they pose to public safety. To combat the rise in jail populations and to make pretrial practices more equitable, jurisdictions across the country are seeking to reform their pretrial systems.

THE-RCT Database: A New Resource for Analyzing Studies of Postsecondary Education Interventions Jan 26, 2022

Improving outcomes for community college students has long been the focus of rigorous research studies by MDRC and others. Through a project called The Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trial, or THE-RCT, MDRC has created a broadly accessible database that compiles student-level data from all MDRC’s randomized controlled trial evaluations of postsecondary education programs. Researchers are able to use the database to conduct analyses across studies to answer important questions about the effectiveness of different higher education interventions. THE-RCT is supported by Arnold Ventures and the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Michael Weiss, a Senior Fellow in MDRC's Postsecondary Education policy area, about how MDRC has used this database, how other researchers can access it, and how MDRC is encouraging colleagues to contribute their own studies to THE-RCT.

Providing Comprehensive Support Services to College Students: An Interview with SUCCESS Students and Coaches Dec 09, 2021

A growing body of research shows that comprehensive student support programs can increase graduation rates for students from low-income backgrounds and students of color. But what do these programs look like on the ground? And what are the experiences of students participating in them?

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with students and staff from Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Indiana about SUCCESS, a student support program that offers personalized advising and financial incentives and emphasizes data-driven program management.

Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington is one of 13 colleges across five states participating in MDRC’s Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS), which aims to increase degree completion through the implementation of comprehensive support programs based on strong evidence.

An Innovative Workforce Program: An Interview with Two Coaches from the MyGoals for Employment Success Program Dec 06, 2021

Too many people in the United States struggle to achieve economic mobility. With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting vulnerable populations the most, gaining financial stability became even harder. Workforce programs that focus on helping people find jobs may not be enough to advance in the labor market, especially for people facing additional barriers to success. The MyGoals for Employment Success program offers a unique coaching model that concentrates on developing executive skills—like emotional control, stress tolerance, time management, and organization—to help participants successfully navigate the labor market, acquire occupational credentials, perform well at a job, and advance at work.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with two MyGoals coaches, Shirley McGee from the Houston Housing Authority and Ashley Coston from the Housing Authority of Baltimore, about the challenges the participants and coaches face and the benefits the program offers to the participants.

Providing Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Recovery, and Employment Services During the Pandemic Aug 26, 2021

Programs that combine employment services with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services have faced unprecedented challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased substance misuse and overdose, dramatic increases in unemployment, and the need to quickly shift to virtual service provision.

In partnership, MDRC, Abt Associates, and MEF Associates learned how some of these SUD treatment programs adapted their services early in the pandemic in response to these challenges [ link to the brief]. MDRC recently released a brief on responses to COVID-19 by seven SUD treatment programs across the country. The brief was written as part of the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies Project, or BEES, funded by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with researchers Karin Martinson from Abt Associates and Susan Scrivener from MDRC about the key findings from the brief. They are joined by Matthew Brown, Senior Vice President of Administration at Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), one of the programs participating in the BEES study.

Internships and Apprenticeships in a Newly Virtual Workplace Jun 09, 2021

Work-based learning opportunities, like internships and apprenticeships, are a critical component to many career and technical education programs. They can help participants develop critical skills for in-demand careers. The abrupt shift to virtual education caused by the pandemic hit these programs especially hard.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Hannah Dalporto, a research associate at MDRC, who recently cowrote a piece about how employers and trainers have been adapting their services during the pandemic to keep students connected to the labor market.

How One Home Visiting Model Adapted During the Pandemic Apr 06, 2021

Early childhood experiences of trauma and toxic stress can affect how young children develop and are associated with learning and behavior problems. Child First is a promising home visiting program that aims to mitigate or prevent these negative experiences for families to promote healthy development for kids.

An initial study of Child First found that the program improved children's social-emotional skills and language development, reduced mother's depression and improved their psychological functioning, reduced family involvement with child protective services, and increased families' connections to services and support.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Mervett Hefyan, a research analyst at MDRC; Massiel Abramson, a clinician with Child First in Connecticut; and Jessica Canavan, a licensed clinical social worker and assistant director of community-based services at her organization in North Carolina, which houses a Child First program. They discuss MDRC's replication study of Child First and how the program adapted their home-visiting model during the pandemic to continue helping families.

Rural Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities — Part IV Dec 21, 2020

A special series from the Rural Matters podcast

This episode is the last of a special four-part series about issues facing rural higher education from our colleagues at the Rural Matters podcast. It is coproduced by MDRC and supported by Ascendium Education Group.

As the United States confronts the recession caused by the pandemic, the economic stability of rural areas looms large. Many rural counties never economically rebounded from the 2008 recession, even as urban and suburban communities recovered. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2019 Rural America at a Glance Report identifies three reasons for the divergence in employment rates and salaries between urban and rural areas: an older population, a higher proportion of the population with disabilities, and lower educational attainment.

In this episode, Rural Matters host Michelle Rathman chats with three experts about innovative programs to promote sustainable growth for rural communities and economic mobility for students:

Matt Dunne, founder and executive director, the Center on Rural Innovation
David Tandberg, senior vice president for policy research and strategic initiatives, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO)
Leslie Daugherty, an education designer at the Education Design Lab

Rural Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities — Part III Dec 06, 2020

A special series from the Rural Matters podcast

This episode is the third of a special four-part series about issues facing rural higher education from our colleagues at the Rural Matters podcast. It is coproduced by MDRC and supported by Ascendium Education Group.

Rural America is not monolithic. About 15 to 20 percent of rural individuals identify as non-white, but in many areas of the country the percentage is much higher. Even in predominantly white states, rural diversity is increasing faster than urban diversity, which is important for understanding rural issues, including promoting access to higher education and dealing with rural poverty.

In this episode, Rural Matters host Michelle Rathman chats with four experts on diversity in rural communities and institutions of higher education: MDRC’s Alyssa Ratledge; Deborah Santiago, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Excelencia in Education; Edward Smith-Lewis, Executive Director of UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building, a team dedicated to supporting the resiliency of HBCUs; and Noel Harmon, President and Executive Director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholars.

How Can Behavioral Science Help Programs Better Serve Clients During the Pandemic? Dec 02, 2020

Why don't government social services programs better serve families struggling through crises like the COVID-19 pandemic? One reason is that these systems are designed for compliance over access. Many of those who are in need and qualify for benefits are deterred by administrative burdens, including excessive steps and paperwork. Insights from behavioral science can help agencies and nonprofits find ways to streamline their processes and simplify their communications with clients.

In this episode of Evidence First, Leigh Parise interviews Rebecca Schwartz, a research analyst in MDRC’s Center for Applied Behavioral Science (CABS). Rebecca describes real-world examples of how CABS has worked with agencies to improve their service delivery to families. She also highlights how the federal government adopted an important behavioral technique — prospective eligibility — in the recent distribution of the CARES Act stimulus checks.

Rural Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities — Part II Nov 14, 2020

A special series from the Rural Matters podcast

This episode is the second of a special four-part series about issues facing rural higher education from our colleagues at the Rural Matters podcast. It is coproduced by MDRC and supported by Ascendium Education Group.

In this episode, Rural Matters host Michelle Rathman chats with four individuals committed to improving education in West Virginia: Danielle Vetter, Senior Program Officer at Ascendium Education Group; Stephanie Hyre, Senior Program Officer of The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation; Corley Dennison, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education; and Paul Daugherty, President & CEO of Philanthropy West Virginia.

Vetter discusses Ascendium’s priorities in the rural space, including research, building capacity for postsecondary providers, and catalyzing investment and partnerships to create opportunities and open doors that may have been previously closed. Dennison notes how rural West Virginia really is and how important it is to initiate innovative programs, such as one designed to improve developmental education. Dennison also describes the main goal of West Virginia Climbs, supported by Ascendium, that 60 percent of workers in the state will have some kind postsecondary credentials by 2020.

Daugherty explains how Philanthropy West Virginia promotes collaboration among government, businesses, nonprofits, and philanthropy to bolster communities, an effort that has taken on added significance during the pandemic, especially on the issues of food security and business and survival. Hyre describes the work of the Education Affinity Group, a subset of Philanthropy West Virginia whose priorities include early childhood literacy and postsecondary degree attainment.

Rural Higher Education: Challenges & Opportunities — Part I Oct 29, 2020

This episode is the first of a special four-part series about issues facing rural higher education from our colleagues at the Rural Matters podcast. It is coproduced by MDRC and supported by Ascendium Education Group.

COVID-19 has caused seismic shifts for postsecondary education. For rural colleges, the pandemic exacerbated issues that have affected students and communities for decades. While 41 percent of urban adults have a college degree, only 28 percent of rural adults do. The college access gap between rural and urban areas is sizable: In most states, rural high school students achieve graduation rates similar to urban and suburban counterparts, but their college enrollment rates are much lower.

Rural communities have long been confronted with unique education challenges. Chief among them is the digital divide: Many rural areas lack adequate broadband internet infrastructure, which has become even more critical during the pandemic. Only 63 percent of rural adults say they have access to the internet at home, compared with 75 percent of urban adults. In areas where internet is available, it can be costly. And students may lack the technology they need to be successful in online learning.

In this episode, Rural Matters host Michelle Rathman chats with MDRC’s Alyssa Ratledge; Dr. Jan Miller, Dean of the College of Education and the Director of Online Programs at the University of West Alabama; and Joe Thiel, Director of Academic Policy and Research for the Montana University System. They discuss some innovative programs that rural higher ed institutions are adopting to address the challenges faced by rural communities.

How Does the Dana Center Math Pathways Improve Students’ Success in Math? Oct 15, 2020

Too many community college students get stuck in multi-semester developmental math sequences and never progress to or complete college-level courses. To meet this challenge, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin developed the Dana Center Math Pathways (DCMP), which diversifies the math course content that students take so it better aligns with their career interests. The curriculum also encourages student-centered learning in small group formats.

Researchers from the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness — a partnership between MDRC and the Community College Research Center — recently published an evaluation of DCMP in Texas. After three semesters, the study found that the DCMP had a positive impact on students’ completion of the developmental math sequence, increasing their likelihood of taking and passing college-level math and the number of math credits earned. Researchers also saw a small impact on early cohorts’ attainment of a certificate.

To learn more about these encouraging results and what they mean for the field, Katie Beal spoke with Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow, a senior associate at MDRC and lead author of the study.

How Can Subsidized Jobs Help the Most Disadvantaged Workers Recover from the COVID-19 Recession? Jul 30, 2020

Subsidized employment uses public funds to create jobs for the unemployed and are especially useful during economic downturns. Many have argued that subsidized employment programs should be part of policymakers’ response to pandemic-induced mass joblessness.

MDRC has been studying subsidized employment for more than 40 years and recently completed two large-scale federal projects that rigorously tested 13 subsidized employment programs in eight states. The programs served very disadvantaged workers, such as people receiving cash assistance or people returning to the community from prison.

To learn more about subsidized employment programs and how they can be designed to reach the most disadvantaged, Leigh Parise spoke with MDRC Senior Vice President Dan Bloom.

Can Schools Outside of New York City Replicate the CUNY ASAP Program? Jun 29, 2020

The City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) provides comprehensive support services to community college students to help them stay enrolled and graduate. MDRC’s evaluation of ASAP at CUNY community colleges found that it nearly doubled graduation rates within three years — which are some of the largest impacts found among programs for community college students.

To see if the program could work beyond New York City, CUNY, MDRC, and the Ohio Department of Higher Education worked with three Ohio community colleges to implement the ASAP model. Recent findings from MDRC’s evaluation show that the Ohio programs had similarly large impacts on student outcomes, illustrating that the program can be successfully replicated and serve as a model for community colleges across the country.

To learn more about the Ohio results and what it takes to replicate and scale the successful ASAP model, Katie Beal spoke with Christine Brongniart, the University Executive Director of CUNY ASAP, and Camielle Headlam, a research associate at MDRC.

What Happens When You Combine an Accelerated Academic Program with Workplace Exposure and Career Skills? Jun 04, 2020

New types of career and technical education programs are trying to prepare workers for an increasingly complex labor market. For high school students, this preparation can mean combining academic study with a strong career focus and hands-on work experience with an industry partner. MDRC is testing the effectiveness of this approach in an evaluation of the New York City P-TECH 9-14 school model. P-TECH 9-14 schools collaborate with local community colleges to allow students to earn high school diplomas and cost-free, industry-recognized associate’s degrees at the same time. During the six-year program, employer partners support P-TECH 9-14 schools by providing students with work-based learning experiences such as internships, mentoring, and job shadowing.

Interim results show that after three years, students in P-TECH 9-14 schools earn about two more credits than students at other schools. Students in P-TECH 9-14 schools also pass state-level proficiency exams earlier and pass at higher rates.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks about the NYC P-TECH grades 9-14 high school model and MDRC’s study with Rachel Rosen, codirector of MDRC's Center for Effective Career and Technical Education and co-principal investigator on the study.

Accelerating Student Success Through Summer Enrollment May 13, 2020

Community colleges graduation rates remain low. Some studies have shown that students who enroll in summer courses are more likely to stay on track and graduate, yet despite these benefits most college students do not attend during the summer.

So why don’t students attend, and how can colleges encourage more of them to enroll in the summer? To answer these questions MDRC launched the Encouraging Additional Summer Enrollment — or EASE — project in partnership with the Ohio Association of Community Colleges and 10 community colleges in Ohio. MDRC designed, implemented, and tested two interventions to encourage summer enrollment, using insights from behavioral science, a study of how people make decisions. Both interventions worked to increase enrollment, and both could be operated at a relatively low cost.

Join Leigh Parise as she talks about the EASE study with Caitlin Anzelone, deputy director of MDRC’s Center for Applied Behavioral Science.

Testing a Successful Employment Model in a New Context Apr 20, 2020

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a model for helping people who have serious mental illness find employment. There is a good deal of evidence showing the model’s success, but less is known about the model’s effectiveness with those who have other types of disabilities and health conditions, such as physical disabilities or less severe types of mental illness.

Between 2016 and 2018, MDRC led an evaluation of Breaking Barriers, a program in San Diego County that implemented the IPS model. Breaking Barriers served individuals who had a wide range of disabilities, not only serious mental illness. An initial analysis of data found that Breaking Barriers’ IPS services did not have an effect on employment outcomes. With funding from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, MDRC will be conducting additional analyses of Breaking Barriers, as part of the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES) project.

In this episode, Leigh Parise talks to Robert Drake, one of the developers of the IPS model and the vice president of the IPS Employment Center at the Rockville Institute, and Lily Freedman, a member of the MDRC evaluation team, about the IPS model, Breaking Barriers implementation, and the further analysis to be done under BEES.

MDRC’s K-12 Education Research: Past, Present, and Future Mar 10, 2020

In the beginning, MDRC was known primarily for evaluations of state welfare-to-work programs. Since then, MDRC has brought its unique approach to an ever-growing range of policy areas and populations. Recently, MDRC celebrated 25 years of working in the field of K-12 research – collaborating with teachers, school leaders, and districts to improve students’ prospects for success. Join Leigh Parise as she talks with Fred Doolittle, MDRC Senior Fellow, and William Corrin, Director of K-12 education research at MDRC, about how the organization expanded into education and the lessons they’ve learned from 25 years of research.

Using Data-Driven Strategies for Program Improvement Sep 24, 2019

Government agencies work hard to help the people they serve, whether it’s helping individuals find jobs or improve family well-being. But despite best efforts, some participants still don’t succeed. What are some ways government agencies can improve services and ensure participants remain on the right track?

In this episode, Kate Gualtieri, MDRC’s Director of Strategy, talks with MDRC Senior Fellow Melissa Wavelet, the former director of the Office of Performance and Strategic Outcomes in the Colorado Department of Human Services, about her experience implementing a variety of data-driven strategies that help city and state government agencies meet their goals and improve the lives of the people they serve. They also discuss Melissa’s work at MDRC on the TANF Data Collaborative, a new initiative sponsored by the Office of Family Assistance and the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the federal Administration for Children and Families, created in an effort to accelerate the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) data for program improvement and evidence-building at the federal, state, and local levels.

Replicating CUNY’s ASAP Model in Ohio: Interview with Dr. Marcia Ballinger Sep 12, 2019

Nationwide, only 25 percent of full-time, first-time students at community colleges earn a degree within three years. To increase graduation rates for low-income community college students, the City University of New York (CUNY) launched Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) — a comprehensive program that provides wrap-around support services to students, including one-on-one advising, help covering transportation and book expenses, and tutoring.

MDRC’s evaluation of the CUNY ASAP model found that the program doubled graduation rates in New York City. Three community colleges in Ohio successfully replicated the ASAP model as part of the ASAP Ohio Demonstration, and MDRC’s evaluation found positive results in line with those at CUNY.

Join Katie Beal as she talks with Dr. Marcia Ballinger, President of Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio, about the demonstration and what it takes to scale a comprehensive program like ASAP.

Can Aligned Instruction Prevent Pre-K Fadeout? Jul 25, 2019

High-quality preschool education can have substantial positive impacts on children’s early learning and development, as well as longer-term outcomes like graduating from high school and attending college. But the boost in skills young children experience can fade out as they move on to kindergarten and elementary school, exacerbating the achievement gap between children from more- versus less-advantaged backgrounds.

This fadeout pattern has drawn greater attention to students’ experiences after preschool, in early elementary school, and helped increase support for improving curricular alignment from preschool to third grade. Alignment refers to the range of policies and practices designed to launch young children on a positive developmental pathway, with the early elementary grades continuing to build on what children learn in preschool. Join Leigh Parise as she talks with MDRC’s Meghan McCormick about measuring quality in preschool programs and the challenges of implementing aligned curricula.

The Story of a Practitioner-Researcher Partnership: Studying the Effects of the Grameen America Program May 16, 2019

Can giving small loans to low-income people to start or grow their businesses help lift them out of poverty and improve overall well-being? That’s the idea behind microlending – a promising approach implemented by institutions worldwide. But only limited rigorous evidence is available on the model’s effectiveness, especially in advanced economies.

MDRC is evaluating Grameen America, a program that provides small loans to groups of low-income women in the U.S. using a model designed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus for the original Grameen Bank program in Bangladesh in the 1970s.

But carrying out the first random assignment evaluation of Grameen America and its complex model presented unique challenges. In this episode, Katie Beal talks with Marcus Berkowitz, Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Grameen America, and Richard Hendra, MDRC’s Senior Fellow who leads the evaluation, about the partnership between the organizations and how they worked together to overcome those challenges.

Steps to Upward Mobility: Lessons from Three Youth Employment Programs Mar 06, 2019

One out of every 10 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 is neither working nor in school. These “disconnected” young people face an uphill battle finding work and are at risk of economic hardship well into adulthood. Although there are many programs that aim to reconnect young people to education and employment, findings from evaluations of these programs have been mixed. The evidence base has grown substantially in the past several months, though, as studies of three programs — YouthBuild, Year Up, and New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP) — have released new findings. MDRC’s Dan Bloom and Cynthia Miller recently wrote a brief that discusses findings from the new studies and their implications for youth programs.

How to Improve College Placement Using Multiple Measures Jan 11, 2019

Students who are placed into developmental (remedial) courses often fail to complete them, and many colleges and states are therefore interested in reforming developmental education. But what if students are not accurately placed into developmental courses in the first place? What if some of the students placed into developmental courses could have succeeded in college-level courses? Research suggests that standardized tests — the traditional method for placing students — actually does misplace substantial numbers of them. An alternative strategy is to place students using multiple measures of college readiness, including grade point averages, instead of a single test score. Join Katie Beal as she talks to MDRC’s Dan Cullinan and the Community College Research Center’s Elisabeth Barnett about early findings from a Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness study of systems that use multiple measures for placement, and about lessons for colleges interested in implementing these systems.

After the Hurricane: Youth Employment in Puerto Rico Nov 15, 2018

How should policymakers address the long-standing youth unemployment problem in Puerto Rico, which only worsened in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria? With support from the W. T. Grant Foundation, MDRC partnered with Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud, or the Youth Development Institute, to develop recommendations that can create pathways into the workforce for young people and that are supported by evidence-based and promising practices relevant to the current situation in Puerto Rico. Join Katie Beal as she talks to John Martinez, Director of Program Development at MDRC, about those recommendations and the challenges of implementing them.

CareerWise Colorado: A Modern Youth Apprenticeship Model Oct 11, 2018

Career and technical education programs have taken on many different forms, but one that has been gaining in popularity is apprenticeships. Join Katie Beal as she talks to Noel Ginsberg, CEO of CareerWise Colorado, and Gretchen Morgan, former president of CareerWise Colorado, about the initiative that seeks to enlist hundreds of employers from many sectors to employ thousands of high school students in the nation’s first large-scale youth apprenticeship program. MDRC is currently working with CareerWise Colorado to help its leaders understand the factors that either impede or promote the smooth implementation of this complex initiative, so that the program can continue to improve.

Career and Technical Education: Past, Present, and Future Sep 04, 2018

This summer Congress passed the long-awaited reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which governs the federal investment in career and technical education (CTE). But what do CTE programs actually do? And how have they evolved over time? Join Katie Beal as she talks to Mary Visher, a senior research associate at MDRC, about CTE programs — including their development and challenges. They also discuss MDRC’s two-decade history of constructing and evaluating CTE programs, including the landmark study of Career Academies, and the other CTE programs MDRC is currently partnering with to build evidence and inform policy and practice.

Improving Children’s Math Skills Jul 12, 2018

Early math ability is one of the best predictors of children’s math and reading skills into late elementary school. Children with stronger math proficiency in elementary school are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. But most early childhood programs don’t focus on math instruction. What kinds of math programs can improve children’s early math abilities? And can they lead to positive impacts for other longer-term outcomes?

The Making Pre-K Count and High 5s demonstrations were designed to rigorously assess whether providing high-quality math instruction, aligned across prekindergarten (pre-K) and kindergarten, could lead to long-term gains across a variety of domains for students growing up in low-income communities in New York City. Making Pre-K Count and High 5s are the first studies of the Robin Hood Early Childhood Research Initiative, a partnership between Robin Hood and MDRC, which is supported with lead funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Overdeck Family Foundation, and other funders.

MDRC’s findings show that these programs reduced the achievement gap in math skills between low-income children and their higher-income peers.

Join Katie Beal as she talks to Shira Mattera, Research Associate at MDRC, and Robin Jacob, a Research Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, about the positive impacts of the Making Pre-K Count and High 5s demonstrations on kindergarten outcomes.

Predicting Risk in Social Service and Education Programs May 15, 2018

Social service and education programs aim to help the people they serve achieve positive outcomes (for example, completing a degree or getting a job). But some participants still don’t succeed. Could predicting who is more at risk of not meeting important milestones allow programs to intervene with supports for those who most need them?

Predictive analytics is a tool that can help programs use existing data to make predictions of risk for their clients. Program staff can identify milestones, which, if not met, can prompt action. For example, if a child is not reading at grade level by grade 3, school staff can provide additional supports to help avoid unwanted future outcomes, such as failing or dropping out.

Join Katie Beal as she talks to Rekha Balu, Director of MDRC’s Center for Applied Behavioral Science, who describes how predictive analytics is informing MDRC’s work, and to Brad Dudding, Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), who explains how CEO is using predictive analytics to help formerly incarcerated individuals gain employment and reduce recidivism.

Enhancing College Promise Programs to Support Student Success Sep 06, 2017

College Promise is a widespread college access movement in the United States, with more than 200 programs across the country. Although these programs help students access college by covering the cost of tuition and fees, they do not typically address barriers to student success.

The Detroit Promise Path, administered by the Detroit Regional Chamber, is a program that allows high school graduates to attend local colleges tuition-free and provides evidence-based support strategies to students to help them stay in school and graduate. The program was developed by MDRC and the Detroit Regional Chamber, and MDRC is conducting an ongoing evaluation to understand the program’s impact on student success.

Lessons on Making School Choice Easier for Families Sep 01, 2017

School choice can be an arduous process and can prove especially challenging for low-income or recent-immigrant families. Offering supports, simplifying the process, and personalizing information, among other things, can help families navigate decisions about school choice. In this podcast, MDRC researcher Barbara Condliffe considers how lessons from other policy arenas can help improve school choice process.

Sector-Focused Training That Meets the Needs of Job Seekers and Employers Feb 22, 2017

Can working closely with employers make job training programs more effective?

Although many training programs exist, low-income individuals often cannot afford them, do not complete them, or do not obtain a marketable credential. At the same time, many employers claim that they cannot easily find people with the right occupational skills to meet their needs.

Using “Nudges” to Improve Social Programs Oct 05, 2016

Can small changes based on the insights of behavioral science improve the effectiveness of social programs?

Research has shown that small changes in the environment can facilitate behaviors and decisions that are in people’s best interest. For example, a change in the way messages or requirements are worded may increase the likelihood that program participants make positive choices. However, there has been relatively little exploration of the potential application of this science to complex, large-scale human services programs. With funding from the Administration for Children and Families, MDRC has been testing low-cost behavioral science interventions that can make programs more effective and, ultimately, improve the well-being of low-income children, adults, and families.

Join Therese Leung as she talks to three guests about MDRC’s work in behavioral science, with a particular focus on improving child support programs:

Susan Brown, Director of the Child Support Enforcement Agency, Franklin County, OH
Emily Schmitt, Senior Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Michael Johns, Research Associate at MDRC

Gordon Berlin Interviewed About the Role of Research Evidence in Shaping Social Policy Apr 26, 2016

In April, MDRC President Gordon Berlin was interviewed by Denver Frederick, host of the “Business of Giving” radio show in New York City, about the role of rigorous research evidence in informing how government and philanthropy invest in education and social programs. The podcast was also featured on the Chronicle of Philanthropy website.

Berlin describes MDRC’s experience evaluating existing programs and developing demonstrations of new interventions. He highlights a number of current projects, including the Paycheck Plus demonstration of an enhanced Earned Income Tax Credit for single adults, the evaluation of the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs and a replication effort at three Ohio community colleges, our ongoing evaluation of small public high schools in New York City, the Jobs-Plus employment program in public housing, and the Family Rewards test of conditional cash transfers.

Berlin also discusses what Frederick terms “the quiet revolution” of increased federal investment in evidence-building under both the Bush and Obama administrations, how new technologies can help make research more effective and efficient, and how behavioral “nudge” interventions can improve social and education programs.

Keeping Girls out of the Justice System Dec 15, 2015

Girls are making up a larger share of the juvenile justice system than ever before. One program that’s trying to address this issue is the PACE Center for Girls in Florida.

Transitioning to Adulthood Sep 04, 2015

How do young adults fare after they age out of the foster care or juvenile justice systems? And are there services that can help these young people make a successful transition to adulthood?

With funding from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, MDRC just released results from an evaluation of the Transitional Living Program (now called YVLifeSet) run by the organization Youth Villages. The program provides intensive, individualized, and clinically focused case management, support, and counseling. This is one of the few rigorously studied programs in this area and the first to find positive results for young adults across a wide range of outcomes, including earnings, housing stability, and economic well-being. Join Therese Leung as she talks to Erin Valentine, a researcher at MDRC, about the evaluation.

Tackling Youth Unemployment Apr 06, 2015

What's worked to help disadvantaged youth get jobs? And how can we get more employers actively engaged in this issue? Therese Leung talks with Farhana Hossain, a researcher at MDRC, about the problem of youth unemployment.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected