Publications

In this commentary originally published by the Alabama Daily News, Sarah Picard and Leah Nelson discuss how the strategy to fund justice systems through fines and fees is unfair and destructive.

This brief presents early results from an analysis of how legal fines and fees are assessed and distributed in Jefferson County, Alabama.

This brief offers advice on setting up a high-dosage tutoring program (which involves small-group sessions scheduled during school three or more times a week).

This report examines how three child support agencies experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on employment, earnings, and unemployment insurance patterns.

This brief describes how child support changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, and relays agency staff members’ and parents’ perspectives on those changes.

This post describes an exercise for social services organizations that uses program attendance and engagement data analysis as part of a team-building effort—promoting equity by engaging diverse staff members in discussions about how to improve enrollment, service delivery, and participation outcomes.

In this commentary originally published by Route Fifty, Rick Hendra writes that artificial intelligence opens new opportunities for policymaking and service delivery, but it’s not magic. 

Hannah Zey, who works at Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, shares advice for using vendors to recruit tutors for tutoring programs.

Since the early 1990s, MDRC has partnered with pioneers in career and technical education to help them assess the effectiveness of their programs and to improve their services to students.

The Center for Data Insights at MDRC partners with career and technical education organizations to augment their data analytics capacity, supporting the analysis that happens before, during, after, or separate from impact evaluations. These partnerships generally fall into one of three collaboration models: consultation, cocreation, and coaching.

In this commentary originally published in Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity, Clint Key describes three ways funders and policymakers can better support the scaling of sector-based workforce training programs.

In this commentary originally published in the Deseret News, Dina Israel writes that the demand for fatherhood programs is growing, but more needs to be learned about how and why these programs work.

This report presents findings from a multimethod study of racial and ethnic disparities in the pretrial processes of seven jurisdictions across the country.

This brief shares findings about cross-functional teams, which try to bring change to higher education by assembling departments that often work separately.

This brief presents findings from a study of noncredit career and technical education programs that were implemented in Virginia community colleges.

High-dosage tutoring (HDT)—or three tutoring sessions of 30 minutes or more a week—is an effective way to improve academic outcomes for K-12 students. Ellen Kim, program manager of Chicago Public Schools’ Tutor Corps, speaks about the successes and challenges of developing an HDT program.

For a decade, MDRC and its collaborators have studied multiple measures assessments, an alternative to using tests to determine whether students can succeed in college-level courses.

This report describes two interventions informed by behavioral science to improve attendance at required activities among recipients of public assistance.

This report explores Addiction Recovery Care, a Kentucky-based program that combines residential treatment and employment services for individuals with substance use disorders.

This snapshot highlights three lessons that demonstrate how 10 workforce programs created opportunities for improving services during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.