Leigh Parise: Policymakers talk about solutions, but which ones really work? Welcome to Evidence First, a podcast from MDRC that explores the best evidence available on what works to improve the lives of people with low incomes. I’m your host, Leigh Parise.

Welcome to our year-in-review episode of Evidence First. As we look back on 2025, one theme stands out: the power of evidence and collaboration to drive change. Across our conversations this year, we explored how data can illuminate—not dictate—decisions, how partnerships can break down barriers, and how innovative strategies can open doors for learners and workers alike. From workforce training to student success, from early math to real-world learning, these stories remind us that evidence matters—and when combined with creativity and commitment, it can transform lives.

Our guests included educators, program providers, practitioners, policymakers, and our very own MDRC staff discussing promising strategies to improve graduation rates, economic mobility, and more. Let’s review some of them now.

Early in 2025, I spoke with Edith Yang, Senior Associate at MDRC, about research questions that the evaluation of the Google Career Certificates Fund is trying to answer related to accessibility of sector-based workforce training programs and the economic mobility of participants. Here is more from our conversation now on the research questions MDRC is hoping to answer:

Edith Yang: Over the last decade or so, there are a lot of researchers who have built a substantial body of evidence on sector strategies that work, but there's still quite a bit we don't know about it. So we're excited to learn more from this evaluation. We are expecting to generate evidence in a few areas. The first one is, Does this initiative increase training accessibility and, ultimately, accessibility for jobs in the technology sector? Some of the providers in this evaluation are delivering services fully remotely. Some are using some hybrid formats. Some are running programs fully in person. We'll be interested in exploring whether remote training allows more people to receive training. For example: Are learners who had transportation or childcare needs more able to access training that can be done off-site?

Another thing that we're really interested in is whether the model can provide more equitable access to the technology sector. From past evaluations in this field, we know that successful training providers used their strong relationships with employers to make connections between employers and trainees. These relationships and in-person connections may have served to overcome structural barriers to employment like racial and gender discrimination. But it still remains uncertain whether these connections will be as strong as remote training and work becomes more prevalent.

Leigh Parise: In our next episode, I spoke with Elena Serna-Wallender, Senior Evidence to Practice Associate at MDRC, and Emily Dow, Assistant Secretary of Academic Affairs at the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), about their efforts to help colleges implement an evidence-based, comprehensive student supports model in Maryland as part of the Expanding SUCCESS initiative. Here is an excerpt from Elena on how they approach using data to support student success:

Elena Serna-Wallender: I think something that's really important [about] the way that we talk about data with college staff is that we want it to be a flashlight and not a hammer. What I mean by that is, especially [with] advising staff—folks who are used to having to meet lots of different metrics and goals, and they're constantly spitting out reports for different people (that's a very compliance-based culture; it can be)—we want to make sure that any time we are talking about data as a SUCCESS learning community that we come to [it] with a spirit of learning and openness and grace. That we really want to know, authentically, how this is working on the ground. Not for any “gotcha” moments or to point a finger at something that's not going well, et cetera. But truly to learn from each other, and to highlight the things that are working well and make sure that everybody across these colleges and at the state level knows, as far as we can tell, why that's going well. And that when there are challenges, we're rallying together to try to address those challenges. It's a really special opportunity to have that kind of open collaborative space to learn together.

Leigh Parise: Our next episode was with Jessa Valentine of Ascendium Education Group and MDRC researchers Frieda Molina and Kelsey Schaberg discussing the Economic Mobility Lab at MDRC and the Sector Training Evidence-Building Project —efforts that build evidence about sectoral training programs and address the challenges these programs face. Here is an excerpt from Frieda on how MDRC collaborates and provides technical assistance to workforce training programs as part of the Economic Mobility Lab:

Frieda Molina: MDRC has been in the business of providing technical assistance really since our founding. So what that means is that we have staff who understand program operations and know how to use evidence to improve the practice of those programs.

So the Economic Mobility Lab was really born out of this idea of taking what we know from our research and our experience providing technical assistance to help programs improve their practice so that over time they can continue to produce the type of equitable outcomes that we'd like to see for all learners and all customers.

Leigh Parise: In June, I sat down with John Martinez, MDRC’s Vice President for Evidence to Practice, to talk about the long history of technical assistance at MDRC and its new comprehensive and innovative initiative, “Evidence to Practice.” Through Evidence to Practice, MDRC partners with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and others to help them build and use evidence to deliver effective services and ultimately improve the lives of the people they serve. Here is more from our conversation now:

John Martinez: As I reflected on taking on this role, I thought a lot about the tagline that we often use at MDRC to describe the work, which is “building knowledge to improve and inform policy and practice.” I think the “building knowledge” is obvious: That’s the research that we do and it’s what we’re well-known for. But that piece about informing policy and practice—that’s where I see the Evidence to Practice work playing out in an important way. It’s easy to think about large-scale and small-scale evaluations where we’re trying to figure out what works and who it works for. But then what happens? Often, we think of these long research reports that document all the good work that was done and all the important findings that emerged from that work, and then they sit on a shelf.

That’s not what we want. That’s not what MDRC is about. We believe it’s really important for people to actually use that evidence to make a difference for the participants that they’re serving. And I think at its heart, that’s what Evidence to Practice is. It’s taking the knowledge that we and others have built around what works and then applying it to the real-world challenges that program operators, administrators, and frontline service staff are actually facing. To me, that’s important—not only for MDRC, in terms of our value to the field, but for the participants, at the end of the day, because we want to make sure that they’re benefiting from services that have been shown to work.

Leigh Parise: In our next episode, I spoke with Shira Mattera, a senior research associate at MDRC, who is leading multiple studies looking at early math instruction and skills. We discussed evidence-based strategies that state education leaders can implement to strengthen early mathematics instruction and improve outcomes for children. Here is an excerpt from Shira on the importance of early math competencies:

Shira Mattera: We landed on math because of this linchpin-skill piece that I was talking about, which is that there's evidence that shows that early math is predictive of children's success into elementary school, middle school, and even into high school and adulthood. So we thought this was a good place to start investigating.

Also at that time—and still to some extent—there was not a lot of math going on in preschools, although now that's growing. So it's a great place to support teachers in how they give experiences to children, because there's room to grow there.

Leigh Parise: Next, I sat down with Doug Elmer, vice president of PREP KC, and Zeest Haider, research associate at MDRC, about the evaluation of PREP KC’s data-literacy course for eighth graders. PREP KC partners with schools and employers in the Kansas City region to connect students to real-world learning opportunities and help them earn industry-recognized credentials and college credits before graduating high school. Before we dug into their work together, Doug expanded on “market value assets” in the Kansas City region:

Doug Elmer: About seven or eight years ago, the Kauffman Foundation started looking at the current state of K-12 education and how it was preparing students for success after graduation. At the same time, PREP-KC was wrapping up a much smaller third-party evaluation looking at cohorts of students who had participated in early iterations of our career pathways at the time. We noticed a group of students who really stood out in terms of college enrollment, college persistence, and degree attainment. We dug in with an evaluator to look at what the differentiator was for these students.

What we found was this group of students all had the opportunity to do something beyond a standard high school education: college coursework, career certification, lots of interaction with industry while they’re still in high school. Our founder and president and CEO, Susan Wally, coined this term “market value assets” to describe those opportunities. She had an opportunity to connect with the team at the Kauffman Foundation that was thinking about how school could look different across the Kansas City region. They were really excited and energized about this concept of market value assets, and it became the backbone of the real-world learning initiative here in Kansas City.

Leigh Parise: In September, I spoke with MDRC’s Marjorie Dorimé-Williams, senior research associate, about MDRC’s project with three University of Texas System colleges to better understand how faculty members at four-year institutions make decisions about whether credits students have previously earned at community colleges or other institutions transfer and how to improve the transfer process for students. Here is more from Marjorie on what they learned from their conversations with faculty on the transfer and accreditation process:

Marjorie Dorimé-Williams: And I think the last thing I’ll add is that all of the faculty members that we spoke to were certainly very pro student success. And many talked about trying to find ways to make that evaluation or give that determination if they could. And so, I recall one faculty member shared with us, he was having this difficulty in getting information on the course. And so, he simply called the student in and said, “Hey, can you just tell me what you learned? Can you explain to me what this course was about? Tell me what you learned so I can, you know, essentially give you this credit.” And I think that was really important in our conversations with faculty and that they understood the implications of this credit evaluation process. And for them, it was sort of trying to make sure that they were putting students in a position where they could be successful going forward academically, as well as ensuring that they had the foundational knowledge necessary to do that.

And I think we saw for, again, most of our transfer students when we looked at trends in our data, academically, for those who persist at the institution, they're doing just as well, if not better than students who start at those institutions as first-time, full-time students. And so, we know that it's not just necessarily about, Are these students academically prepared? But there might be other things going on that lead to some of these challenges that we're seeing.

Leigh Parise: For our most recent episode, I spoke with Jonathan Lowe, program director of Coaching for Success at Dallas College, and DeShawn Preston, a research associate at MDRC, about implementing a comprehensive student support model at Dallas College, as part of the Expanding SUCCESS initiative. Here is an excerpt from Jonathan on their collaboration with MDRC and being more data-informed:

Jonathan Lowe: MDRC was really big with making sure we understood that data is a flashlight, not a hammer. I will not forget that.  And it allowed us to realize that we should focus more on being data-informed and not just data-driven, not just trying to reach the outcomes, but how can we support our students in real time?  How often are they meeting with the coach? That is the biggest thing we want to know: how often are you meeting with your SUCCESS coach? Because the numbers show the higher your rate of meeting with your success coach, the more successful you are in completing your program in good time. And so we run that data every week. And for those students who haven't met with a success coach at a certain time, you're going to get a communication, not just an email, but a text message. And it's not just going to come from the program director, it's going to also come from your coach. And it's also going to come from your peer, right? Reminding you, let's have a conversation. If not about your academic progress, just how are you doing? And boy, that "data as a flashlight and not a hammer" is something that I would encourage every institution to borrow and even utilize in their culture, utilizing data to be more informed and not just data-driven.

Leigh Parise: What a place to end with Jonathan, you know? Thinking about data as a flashlight and not a hammer. That’s a good quote to end the year there.

As we wrap up 2025, the common threads are clear: supporting opportunity, access, and innovation. Whether it’s helping colleges implement comprehensive student supports, building evidence for sectoral training programs, or strengthening early math instruction, our guests showed us what’s possible when research meets practice. We’re excited to keep building on these themes in 2026. Thank you for listening, and don’t forget to subscribe to Evidence First wherever you get your podcasts.