Government agencies collect vast amounts of administrative data in their day-to-day activities, primarily for program operations. But the information is less often used as a research tool or fully harnessed for its evidence-building potential. This brief is the fourth in a series of publications from MDRC about the Temporary Assistance for Needy…

Since its inception in 1993, the National Guard Youth Challenge Program has produced over 200,000 graduates across dozens of sites located in the states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Currently, the program operates 39 sites. House Report 117-88, accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2022, included…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) play an important and unique role in the higher education system. For example, more than one-third of African-Americans who received a doctorate in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics in 2016 obtained their undergraduate degrees from an HBCU, and many also received their doctorates…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides supplemental foods, nutrition education, and referrals to healthcare and other social services to low-income, nutritionally at-risk women, infants, and children up to 5 years of age. About 40 percent of all infants and 22…

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, requires the U.S. Department of Education (Department) to provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so poses an undue hardship. The objective of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) inspection was to review the Department's administration of its…

Employee performance is a critical factor in the success, or failure, of any organization. Therefore, it is paramount that the leadership and/or management team in an organization establishes and implements an approach that can effectively assess and evaluate the performance of its employees in an objective manner. Research administrators are…

When a community loses its Head Start provider, the Office of Head Start (OHS) deploys its interim manager to temporarily operate this federally funded early childhood education program. Since 2000, OHS has placed more than 200 programs under interim management. As of September 2024, 18 of 1,600 Head Start programs nationwide were under interim…

This statutory report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from April 1, 2024, through September 30, 2024. The audits, investigations, and related work highlighted in the report are products of OIG's mission to identify and stop fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote…

Field-based practicum experiences are essential in connecting classroom theory to the real world. In this mixed methods study, we analyzed principal candidates' perceptions of their summer residency practicum experiences via a self-assessment principal leadership competency instrument and virtual semi-structured interviews. We found that principal…

As our education systems continue to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic we urge the next administration to prioritize investing wisely in the future of our nation through federal programs and policies that support the nation's 50 million K-12 public school students. A comprehensive and significant investment in the education of our public school…

Many children with developmental disabilities are not identified before age 3 years of age, preventing them from being able to fully benefit from early intervention services. Early childhood educators, particularly those in Early Head Start (EHS) programs, are important partners in the early identification of children with developmental delays.…

Educators shape the quality of early education programs and are essential to children's learning and healthy development. However, the early childhood education field is often challenged in retaining educational staff. Using a descriptive research design this study explores turnover and retention through the voices of Head Start and Early Head…

"Still Asleep at the Wheel" continues the investigation of the U.S. Department of Education's Charter Schools Program (CSP) that began with the March 2019 report "Asleep at the Wheel: How the Federal Charter Schools Program Recklessly Takes Taxpayers and Students for a Ride" (ED612862). This report takes up where the first…

This "Building Capacity for Change" "playbook" highlights practices and strategies that proved to be effective in supporting the rollout and implementation of certain programs under the New York State Department of Health's First 1,000 Days on Medicaid Initiative, a series of evidence-based reforms aimed at improving health and…

The Early Childhood Directors Leadership Institute (ECDLI) project addressed a need for effective professional development with a series of Institutes using the Program Administration Scale (PAS), the Program Management Inventory (PMI), and the Plan-Do-Study-Act model, over a 3-year period. Each of the 100 participating program directors in the…