Publications

This brief from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) provides a regional perspective on the unique challenges and opportunities of nursing workforce needs within western rural communities.

A study of a model that embeds soft skills in career and technical education courses in New Orleans finds that the approach is feasible and improves student engagement.

MDRC draws on its research, program design, and technical assistance work to synthesize lessons about advising and coaching.

An MDRC study finds NYC’s Advance & Earn program effectively supports disconnected youth through education and paid work, with opportunities to strengthen pathways and partnerships.

A long-term study of an early social-emotional learning program implemented in New York City finds that benefits faded as students progressed through high school.

Programs offered by Brotherhood Crusade and the LA LGBT Center show how employment training for young people can be tailored to meet clients’ needs.

This MDRC issue focus shares guidance for sector-based training providers who aim to support people with past criminal legal system involvement.

Describes the Business and Industry Leadership Team model of business involvement in community college technical programs and introduces MDRC’s study of it.

Recruitment can be difficult for social service organizations. This post describes methods used in the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies project to reach and enroll clients.

This brief compares conventional interpretation of research results with Bayesian methods, arguing that the latter better answers policy-relevant questions.

This study examines how community colleges are changing their placement policies as they adopt corequisite models of developmental education.

Describes an intervention aimed at students with college credits but no credential (“stop-outs”) that nearly doubled reenrollment across four colleges.

Advice for colleges on implementing a multiple measures assessment placement system, which uses indicators like GPA instead of only test scores.

Building on an earlier MDRC study, the Grameen Financial Diaries study explores how microloan borrowers’ financial well-being improved without large net income gains.

This issue focus summarizes lessons from MDRC’s recent pilot tests of innovative, new digital assessments for young children.

This brief describes survey results on tutor profiles, experiences, and career goals, and highlights policy strategies to bring more tutors into teaching.

In March 2026, Kelsey Schaberg testified about internship, career readiness, and work experience programs before the Connecticut General Assembly’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.

A study on the use of multiple measures—high school grade point averages, course-taking patterns, and standardized test scores—to assess students’ college readi­ness.

In a blog post originally published by the Data Quality Campaign, Angela Perry and Alyssa Ratledge describe how implementing Workforce Pell provides an opportunity for states to invest in modernizing, expanding, and improving their state data systems.

This brief reports on the long-term effects of a two-year social-emotional learning program delivered to kindergarten and first-grade students starting in 2008.