Back to School: MDRC's Education Research Agenda
MDRC - Issue Focus:
In today's economy, more than ever before, graduating from high school and obtaining a postsecondary credential are the keys to better economic opportunity.
MDRC began its research on education in 1991 in response to discouraging evaluation findings from "second chance" programs intended to help high school dropouts do better in the labor market.
Given MDRC's history of studying initiatives for low-income adolescents, our first studies focused on school-based reforms in secondary schools and evaluated programs and policies designed to help students graduate from high school equipped to make successful transitions to college and the labor market.
But our education portfolio today ranges from pre-K to postsecondary, including studies of school-based interventions in elementary schools; school district-wide reforms; and after-school and preschool programs --- as well as innovative programs to help low-income students overcome obstacles to success in community college.
MDRC is evaluating the Dreamkeepers Emergency Financial Aid initiative, an emergency scholarship program for community college and tribal college students, and is developing the Student Support Partnership Integrating Resources and Education (SSPIRE) to help a group of colleges in California effectively integrate traditional student support services with intensive academic instruction and supports.
MDRC has examined three prominent comprehensive high school reform interventions that have had some measure of success in improving student outcomes: Career Academies, First Things First, and Talent Development.
MDRC is helping to fill important gaps in what is known about the role that skills instruction --- and schools themselves --- can play in after-school programs in economically disadvantaged communities.
