The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) is holding its Annual Fall Research Conference virtually this year. Entitled “Research Across the Policy Lifecyle: Formulation to Evaluation and Back Again,” it will be held November 9-13, 2020. A number of MDRC experts are presenting papers and participating in panels and roundtables.

Sessions will be available for conference registrants on the APPAM website.

Monday, November 9, 2020

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Session: Equity and Inclusion Fellowship Luncheon (Invite Only), APPAM Virtual Fall Research Conference Room 2

• Moderator: Antoine Lovell (Fordham University)
• Speakers: John Martinez (MDRC), Susan Gooden (Virginia Commonwealth University), Calvin C Johnson (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), and Vivian Tseng (William T. Grant Foundation)

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

11:00 AM - 11:55 AM

Roundtable: From Crisis to Creativity: Can COVID-Related Emergency Responses Inspire Long-Term Evidenced-Based Innovation? Virtual Room 22

• Speakers: Rekha Balu (MDRC Center for Applied Behavioral Science), Kody Kinsley (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services), Nellie Moore (The Lab @ DC), and Jenni Owen (Office of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper)
• Moderator: John Hutchins (MDRC)

1:00 PM - 1:55 PM

Panel Paper:  Understanding Program Implementation: Three Innovative Methods for Capturing the Participant Experience — The Role of in-Depth Interviews on Impact Studies, Virtual Room 18

• M. Victoria Quiroz Becerra, Kelsey Schaberg, Daron Holman, and Richard Hendra (MDRC)

1:00 PM - 1:55 PM

Panel Paper: Improving the Trajectory of Young Adults with Barriers to Employment - Evaluation of the National Guard Youth Challenge/Job Challenge Program, Virtual Room 11

• Jillian Berk, Jillian Stein, Ariella Kahn-Lang (Mathematica), Christian Geckeler (Social Policy Research Associates), and Megan Millenky (MDRC)

Thursday, November 12, 2020

11:00 AM - 11:55 AM

Panel Paper: Syntheses of Evidence on Job Training Strategies’ Effectiveness: Can Subsidized Employment Programs Help Disadvantaged Job Seekers? A Synthesis of Findings from Evaluations of 13 Programs, Virtual Room 11

• Danielle Cummings and Dan Bloom (MDRC)

12:00 PM - 12:55 PM

Panel Paper: The Longer-Term Effects of Early Childhood Education Programs: Quantifying and Predicting Variation in the Medium-Term Effects of Oversubscribed Prekindergarten Programs, Virtual Room 6

• Rebecca Unterman (MDRC) and Christina Weiland (University of Michigan)

12:00 PM - 12:55 PM

Panel: Nudging Whom? How Targeting Help to Different Student Populations Impacts Inequality in Postsecondary Attainment, Virtual Room 9

• Panel Chair: Rekha Balu (MDRC)
• Paper: Placing College Navigators in Public Housing: An RCT Focused on FAFSA Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment, Rebecca Johnson (Office of Evaluation Sciences, General Services Administration), Rekha Balu (MDRC), Mary Clair Turner (University of Chicago), and Michael DiDomenico (US General Services Administration)
• Paper: Evaluation of the Detroit Promise Path Program, Alyssa Ratledge, Dan Cullinan, Rebekah O’Donoghue (MDRC), and Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija (University of Michigan)

12:00 PM - 12:55 PM

Panel Paper: Current Research in Career Education and Training — The P-TECH Model of Schools: High School Impacts from the NYC P-TECH Experience, Virtual Room 11

• Rachel Rosen, D. Crystal Byndloss and Leigh Parise (MDRC)

1:00 PM - 1:55 PM

Roundtable: Making Sense of Developmental Education Reform: What Does the Evidence Tell Us, and What Does It Mean for Practice? Virtual Room 9

• Speakers: Alexander K. Mayer (MDRC), Donna Linderman (City University of New York), Valerie Lundy-Wagner (California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office)
• Moderator: Nikki Edgecombe (Columbia University)

2:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Panel Paper: Sequencing of Early Learning Experiences — Effects of Instructional Alignment Across Pre-K and Kindergarten on Academic Skills: Evidence from the Boston Public Schools, Virtual Room 6

• Meghan McCormick, JoAnn Hsueh, Samantha Xia (MDRC), Christina Weiland, Catherine E Snow (Harvard University) and Jason Sachs (Boston Public Schools)

2:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Panel Paper: Client Centered Service Delivery Approaches in Human Services Programs — Next Generation of Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency: New Evidence from Two Client-Centered TANF Experiments, Virtual Room 21

• Rebecca Schwartz and Clint Key (MDRC Center for Applied Behavioral Science)

Friday, November 13, 2020

11:00 AM - 11:55 AM

Panel: Understanding Effects of Early Childhood Education at Scale, Virtual Room 6

• Paper: The Alignment of Mathematics Instruction from Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten in New York City, Robin Jacob, Anna Hart Erickson (University of Michigan), Amy Claessens (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Danielle Shaw Attaway, Mimi Engel (University of Colorado, Boulder), Shira Mattera (MDRC)
• Paper: Examining Sources of Heterogeneity in a Multi-Site Evaluation of a Mathematics Curriculum Intervention, Tyler Watts (Columbia University) and Shira Mattera (MDRC)

11:00 AM - 11:55 AM

Panel: Optimizing Technology to Support Parent Engagement in Program Services, Virtual Room 13

• Organizer: Dina Israel (MDRC)
• Panel Chair: Katie Pahigiannis (US Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation)
• Discussant: Ed Davies (Power of Fathers, Children's Home and Aid)
• Paper: DadTime: Developing & Implementing a Mobile App to Encourage Fatherhood Program Participation, Rekha Balu, Patrizia Mancini, and Rebecca Behrmann (MDRC)

12:00 PM - 12:55 PM

Panel Paper: Promoting Parental Engagement — Improving Engagement in Elementary School Selection, Virtual Room 9

• Rekha Balu, Barbara Condliffe, Margaret Hennessy, Jed Teres and Vianny Lugo-Aracena (MDRC)

1:00 PM - 1:55 PM

Panel: Cost-Benefit Analyses of Intensive Interventions to Improve Employment Outcomes: Findings and Methods, Virtual Room 12

• Paper: Cost-Benefit Analysis of the WorkAdvance Demonstration, David H. Greenberg (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) and Kelsey Schaberg (MDRC)
• Paper: Benefits and Costs of the Recycleforce Enhanced Transitional Jobs Program, Kimberly Foley, Mary Farrell, Riley Webster (MEF Associates), and Johanna Walter (MDRC)

2:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Panel: Building the Evidence Base on Career and Technical Education: Educational and Occupational Outcomes, Virtual Room 7

• Panel Chair: Paul Burkander (Mathematica)
• Discussants: Riley K. Acton (Miami University) and Rachel Rosen (MDRC)

2:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Panel: Lottery-Based Evaluations of Early Education Programs: Opportunities and Challenges, Virtual Room 6

• Panel Chair: Rebecca Unterman (MDRC)
• Discussant: Erica Greenberg (Urban Institute)
• Paper: Challenges and Opportunities of Using Lotteries for Oversubscribed Boston Prekindergarten Programs to Estimate Causal Impacts, Rebecca Unterman, Meghan McCormick, JoAnn Hsueh (MDRC), Anna Shapiro, Christina Weiland (University of Michigan), Catherine E Snow (Harvard University),  and Jason Sachs (Boston Public Schools)

• Paper: Leveraging Pre-K Application Lotteries to Evaluate Teacher Professional Development: Weighing the Advantages and Disadvantages, Rachel Abenavoli, Pamela A. Morris, Elise Cappella (New York University), and Rebecca Unterman (MDRC)

2:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Panel: Building Evidence on Employment Strategies: Expanding the Use of the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Model, Virtual Room 11

• Panel Chair: Tiffany McCormack (US Department of Health and Human Services)
• Discussant: Peter Baird (MDRC)
• Paper: Individual Placement and Support and Directions for Future Research, Lily Freedman (MDRC)