For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

Although substantial areas of agreement exist regarding the characteristics of effective community-university partnerships for research, there is little empirical research on the relationship between the characteristics of such partnerships and their outcomes. In this study, we explored the relationship between partnership characteristics and…

The Kentucky System of Interventions (KSI) framework emphasizes optimizing instruction through targeted accelerated learning, development of teacher expertise and responsiveness to the needs of all learners. This approach to Response to Intervention (RtI) provides the structures needed for closing achievement gaps, ensuring readiness to learn and…

Youth with autism, like youth from other disability subgroups, often participate in state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs to obtain employment. While youth with autism represent a small percentage of all VR closures, the number with autism who closed out of VR more than tripled between 2003 and 2008 (see figure). In this Data Note, the…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

The changing demands of the 21st century--and the students growing up in it--are generating fundamental challenges to historical assumptions about what education looks like. The challenge today is to provide a deeper level of personalized learning to each and every student so that all can achieve mastery of the Common Core standards and other…

Increasing the number of young people who attain postsecondary credentials has become one of the primary educational objectives of the 2010s. While low college success rates are typically linked to students' lack of academic preparation for college and their subsequent need for developmental or remedial instruction, research suggests that even…

Vulnerable children in Michigan face intersecting disparities, with race, class and geographic location often combining to limit access to health, education and economic security. Addressing this reality requires reliable and comprehensive data that can guide thoughtful action within communities and among institutions alike. To this end, the W. K.…

This brief summarizes efforts to reform developmental education at Zane State College and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Focused on accelerating student success and progress, the two schools pursued distinctive approaches to reform that aligned with their institutional missions and student populations. Recognizing that the…

A college credential is essential for individuals seeking to earn family-supporting wages. However, over 90 million Americans face considerable barriers in obtaining the basic academic skills necessary to enroll in college-level courses. Research, combined with the challenges experienced daily by those in the workforce development field, has led…

Enrollment is rising across the nation's community colleges, but completion rates remain untenably low. Reformers are focusing on the importance of using comprehensive, high-quality data on student progress and completion to bring about change. A core tenet of Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count has been to embed a culture of…

This document provides abstracts from a sample of studies that examine risk and/or protective factors or suicide prevention programs for American Indian/Alaska Native youth. Prior to the individual literature summaries, the document includes a section called "From the Literature: Overview of Risk and Protective Factors." The exhibits in…

A garden can be a magical place for young children and offers them rich and engaging learning experiences as they interact with a variety of plants and wildlife throughout the year. This book guides you through the process of creating a garden, however small, for young children. It looks at the impact a garden area can have on children's overall…

"Understanding the Montessori Approach" is a much needed source of information for those wishing to extend and consolidate their understanding of the Montessori Approach and how it is used in the teaching and learning of young children. It will enable the reader to analyse the essential elements of this Approach to early childhood and and its…

"The Adventurous School" tells the uplifting stories of three primary schools who took charge of renewing their vision, their place in the community and their curriculum to become environments where children, teachers, parents and partners thrived. The book takes the reader through each school's five year journey and gives real-life…