Program areas at MDRC
Family well-being and child developmentfor decades, MDRC has been a leader in developing and studying interventions to improve outcomes for children living in families with low incomes. Our current work in this area focuses on two main domains: early care and education (ece) systems and family-focused service systems. In early care and education, we've worked with practitioners to develop and test interventions to improve classroom quality, curriculum and professional development, math interventions and supports, early childhood assessments, and p-3 alignmentas well as studied ways to support and build the ece workforce. In family-focused services, MDRC has been evaluating various home visiting models and has(see schedule o)been a leader in cocreating and studying services in fatherhood programs.
K-12 educationfor 25 years, MDRC has been learning what may be most effective to raise the academic achievement of young people who are at risk of failing. We collaborate with public school systems, charter organizations, and national nonprofits to evaluate their programs and to use that information to help them develop evidence-based strategies for continuous program improvement.
Youth development, criminal justice, and employmentmdrc is testing tailored interventions for young people disconnected from the worlds of school and work, young people and adults at risk of entering the criminal justice system, ex-prisoners reentering their communities, and people with work-limiting disabilities. The findings of our new studies as they emerge are intended to expand implementation of effective programs in the different public assistance, enforcement, and service delivery systems that interact with populations that face barriers to employment.
Postsecondary educationpolicymakers and the philanthropic sector have focused new efforts on increasing student persistence and achievement in postsecondary education. MDRC has identified the most effective programs developed by others, helped replicate those programs in new contexts, and assisted communities and institutions in developing new interventions based on the evidence developed in the studies available. We are now focused on helping states and higher education institutions adopt and scale the more successful interventions that have been developed and tested.
Economic mobility, housing, and communitieslong regarded as the premier investigator of policies to improve the lives of families participating in public benefits programs, MDRC has brought its program development skills and reputation for methodological rigor to the challenge of learning how best to improve the economic health of workers and communities. The concentration of poverty and an associated lack of access to good jobs, affordable housing, quality goods and services, and economic and political resources presents special challenges for improving the prospects of residents of neighborhoods with high poverty rates. MDRC has evaluated a number of "place-based" projects that addressed urban poverty and joblessness. We are also evaluating a number of housing choice voucher reforms, helping to improve the nation's principal housing assistance programs.prior to 2022, the center for effective career and technical education and the center for criminal justice research divisions were merged with other divisions and a new division, information, dissemination, program development, methodology and strategic initiatives, was formed. The center for effective career and technical education is connected with three of the divisions but most closely associated with k-12 education and the center for criminal justice research is part of the cost center youth development, criminal justice and employment.
Information, dissemination, program development, methodology and strategic initiatives:information and dissemination: for MDRC's evidence to make a difference in the public policies and practices that affect people with low incomes, it must reach a broad audience. We produce clearly written research reports as well as policy briefs, "how-to" guides and toolkits, infographics, blog posts, commentaries, videos, and podcasts that distill the results of our studies and discuss their implications for policy and practice. We widely disseminate our findings to the media and public interest groups; to government officials and philanthropy; at professional conferences and in journal articles; through news bulletins e-mailed to more than 17,000 people; via our comprehensive website; through a robust social media presence, particularly on facebook, x/twitter, and linkedin (with a combined 60,000+ followers); and through the provision of hands-on technical assistance to public and nonprofit program operators. We maintain several well-read blogs, including ideas and evidence, the implementation research incubator, reflections on methodology, inpractice, and the future of career and technical education. MDRC's information and dissemination efforts are funded both by project funds and by its endowment and grants from foundations.program development: MDRC operates more than 100 active projects, funded by government agencies and foundations, through its five policy areas and two centers. MDRC's program development department works with the policy areas and centers to incubate new work and find supporters to fund it.methodology: MDRC is known for developing and using cutting-edge research methodologies and sharing them with the larger field through journal articles, working papers, tools for researchers, and its reflections on methodology blog. As a demonstration of our commitment to open science and research replicability, MDRC makes available public use data files and restricted use data files from its evaluations for other researchers to access.strategic initiatives: MDRC maintains cross-departmental working groups focused on developing and maintaining corporate strategies related to quantitative methods, implementation research, program operations, and data security. We launched an equity collaborative in 2020 to integrate perspectives of diversity, equity, and inclusion more fully in our work with program operators, practitioners, and research participants. Our office of diversity and inclusion is developing a three-year diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging plan to advance our internal dieb strategy.
Center for data insightsthe center for data insights furthers MDRC's long-standing commitment to helping organizations with which we collaborate their programs and systems by harnessing the benefits of operational data-science techniques those that produce actionable insights that can affect daily practice. Ranging from simple descriptive summaries to advanced machine learning algorithms, the center's projects aim to use institutions' increasingly rich data to provide new insights that can help them refine and target their services.
Center for applied behavioral science (cabs)too often, programs and policies do not consider the way people actually think and behave. It is often assumed that those most in need will find a way to overcome obstacles, but behavioral science demonstrates that even small hassles create barriers that prevent those in need of services from receiving them. Applying these insights can improve the way programs are designed and services are delivered. Cabs has collaborated with more than 100 agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofits in 26 states to develop and test behavioral interventions to improve outcomes for clients and students.