On April 15, Northern California Grantmakers hosted a webinar to discuss lessons from the transformation of New York City’s high schools and the creation of small schools of choice. MDRC President Gordon Berlin and Research Associate Rebecca Unterman presented MDRC’s evaluation of the small school initiative. Berlin then led a panel discussion with Carnegie Corporation of New York Vice President Michele Cahill and Institute for Student Achievement President and CEO Gerry House. The webinar can be viewed here.

Taking advantage of lottery-like features in New York City’s high school admissions process, MDRC’s study provides rigorous evidence that new NYC’s small public high schools are narrowing the educational attainment gap and markedly improve graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students.