Implementing an Evidence-Based and Domain-Specific Pre-K Curriculum: A Conversation with Cheryl Ohlson and Michelle Maier
Release Date: 01/22/2024
Can Data Literacy Set Up Eighth-Graders for Success?
Evidence First
In a competitive labor market, students graduating from high school need skills that can translate into meaningful careers. PREP KC is a leading K-12 education intermediary in the Kansas City region, bringing educators and industry professionals together to give students real-world learning opportunities and prepare them for in-demand careers. Responding to increasing demand for data literacy across all industries, PREP-KC launched its Data in Action course in 2023 to give eighth-grade students early exposure to data analytics. It aims to prepare students for high-demand careers and...
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The Long-Term Benefits of Focusing on Children's Early Math Skills
Evidence First
Children's early math skills are a strong predictor of later outcomes, like high school and college graduation rates, underscoring the long-term benefits of focusing on early math education. States across the country have increasingly focused on early literacy, enacting laws that require screening for reading difficulties, and aligning classroom instruction with the science of reading. This momentum is now expanding to math education, although more gradually. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Shira Mattera, a senior research associate at MDRC, who is leading...
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Taking Evidence to Practice: A Conversation About MDRC’s New Technical Assistance Initiative with John Martinez
Evidence First
Since MDRC’s founding more than 50 years ago, evidence-building and data-driven technical assistance (TA) have been a crucial part of its work. MDRC is now a comprehensive and innovative approach to TA, to ensure that effective service strategies reach more people and improve lives. MDRC’s approach to technical assistance leverages the organization’s years of on-the-ground experience to help nonprofits and government agencies build new evidence, use existing evidence, and harness data to advance their goals. The approach centers on technical assistance informed by data and evidence,...
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Building Evidence on Promising Sector Programs
Evidence First
Sectoral training programs have emerged as a promising driver of economic mobility for people with low incomes. These programs prepare people for quality jobs in specific industries where there's strong employer demand and an opportunity for career advancement. Studies find that sectoral programs can meaningfully improve participants' earnings, yet not all programs have the support they need to apply the best research evidence to improve their services. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with three guests: , Deputy Director of Learning and Impact at , a collaborator and funder...
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How to Improve College Completion Rates for Underserved Students: A Conversation with Emily Dow and Elena Serna-Wallender
Evidence First
Postsecondary education is a crucial factor in achieving economic mobility. However, graduation rates at community colleges remain low, particularly for students from low-income families. One effort to help students graduate and succeed in the workforce is MDRC’s Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS), a comprehensive student support program supported by 15 years of MDRC’s postsecondary research. Through its Expanding SUCCESS Initiative, MDRC is partnering with states and districts to scale the SUCCESS program to new locations and...
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Economic Mobility Through Remote Sector Training: A Conversation with Edith Yang
Evidence First
Sector-based training programs prepare people for jobs in specific industries where there is strong local demand and an opportunity for career advancement. Several models for technology jobs have been found to be effective in improving long-term earnings for workers with low incomes. But for many people, the programs are too expensive and too far from home. With support from the $100-million Google Career Certificates Fund, Social Finance is leading an initiative that will allow training providers to better support 20,000 learners in getting industry-recognized certificates that can...
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Fines and Fees in Jefferson County, Alabama: A Conversation with Leah Nelson and Sarah Picard
Evidence First
Every year, courts across the United States impose millions of dollars in fines, fees, and restitution charges on people for traffic violations, misdemeanors, and felonies. In theory, these assessments are intended to punish and deter unlawful behavior, compensate victims for financial losses, and raise money for the justice system. However, they don’t often accomplish those goals; instead, research suggests they erode community trust in law enforcement and saddle community members with debt many will never be able to pay. The Center for Criminal Justice Research at...
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Supporting College Students in Rural Areas
Evidence First
Both college-going and college completion rates are far lower in rural areas than in other geographical settings. To learn what works to help rural students enroll in and complete college, MDRC, supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), has launched the National Rural Higher Education Research Center. The center will work with college systems to conduct eight research studies in two regions: the South and the Mountain West. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with , research associate at MDRC, about the research questions the Center will address in...
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Scaling Up High-Dosage Tutoring: Early Lessons from the Personalized Learning Initiative
Evidence First
Many states and school districts are eager to expand high-dosage tutoring programs, a proven way to accelerate student learning by providing personalized instruction in small group settings several times a week. But there are challenges to getting these programs successfully off the ground, like recruiting tutors in a tight labor market, fitting sessions into already packed school days, and ensuring consistent student participation. To help practitioners address these challenges, the University of Chicago's Education Lab and MDRC launched the Personalized Learning...
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Promoting Equity in Developmental Education Reform: A Conversation with Nikki Edgecombe and Michael Weiss
Evidence First
Developmental education, also known as remedial education, refers to courses that some entering college students will have to take if they are deemed unprepared for college-level courses. However, studies have shown that developmental education can actually hinder students’ progress in college. Additionally, students of color, adults, first-generation students, and those from low-income backgrounds are disproportionately placed in developmental education programs, so there’s a lot of interest among policymakers, college practitioners, and researchers in reforming developmental education...
info_outlineMost pre-K classrooms use a whole-child approach to educational curricula, which focuses on the broad development of children’s academic skills. By contrast, domain-specific curricula focus more on specific areas of learning, such as math, literacy, or science. MDRC has partnered with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to implement a new domain-specific curriculum in its schools.
In this episode, Leigh Parise speaks with Cheryl Ohlson, DCPS deputy chief of early childhood education, and Michelle Maier, MDRC senior associate, to outline their domain-specific curriculum strategy and to explain some of the ups and downs of their ongoing implementation in pre-K programs across Washington, DC. They explain how domain-specific curricula intersects with other important trends in pre-K education, including the importance of play and of providing developmentally appropriate instruction. Ohlson also discusses how teachers were trained to teach domain-specific curricula and addresses some of the challenges of implementing the initiative at scale.