News & Media

A second phase of the Bloomberg administration's cash-for-good-behavior experiment has been operating quietly in the Bronx, three years after a preliminary report left the impression that the experiment was largely a flop.

MDRC released new results today from its study of Family Rewards, a three-year demonstration that provided cash payments to low-income families for meeting benchmarks in children’s education, families’ preventive health care, and parents’ employment. A modified program, Family Rewards 2.0, is currently being tested in Memphis and the Bronx.

A new study finds further evidence that students at the city's small high schools are more likely to graduate on time than students at more traditional large schools, affirming the Bloomberg administration's small schools initiative. The city created more than 200 small high schools since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office while closing many low performing comprehensive high schools.

MDRC released new findings today from its multiyear study of small high schools in New York City. These schools, which serve mostly disadvantaged students of color, continue to produce sustained positive effects, raising graduation rates by 9.5 percentage points. More of their graduates also emerge ready for college: 6.8 percentage points more according to one measure of college readiness used by the City University of New York.