MDRC's On the Path to a Degree (OnPath) initiative partners with colleges to address persistent challenges students face with enrolling in college, securing financial aid, and meeting academic benchmarks, with the goal of increasing student persistence so that college can be a launchpad to good jobs and upward economic mobility for more students.…

Background: As more universities seek to offer international experiences for engineering students, it is important to design such programs to effectively support student learning abroad. Previous research on study abroad has focused on a limited number of outcomes and therefore failed to consider the diversity of experiences students may have in…

What would it look like to create a mentoring program specifically designed for transfer students, supporting them from pre-arrival to their graduation day? Whereas transfer student transition programs are often created with a deficit mindset or modeled after first-time, first-year research, these higher education professionals sought to create a…

This toolkit offers guidance on how to implement efficient, engaging, and effective enhanced outreach to students. It includes both messaging strategies and ways to analyze the results of outreach messaging to determine what is working and what is not. The guidance in this toolkit explains how to craft messages and analyze engagement data to…

This chapter highlights several of the significant design and facilitation considerations used to support adult working learners pursuing online learning across educational contexts. These include the integration of inclusive online learning practices, the design and facilitation of quality interactions in the online environment, and application…

Among the 50 states, 44 use free and reduced-price lunch enrollment to identify low-income students. These data are also commonly used to allocate federal, state, and local funding to schools serving low-income children. School and district poverty rates, as determined by free and reduced-price lunch enrollment, additionally feature prominently in…

This article draws on a five-year mixed methods study and focuses on the way staff tailor support within a comprehensive college transition program to meet the needs of low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized students by adapting programmatic offerings and requirements to fit students' multifaceted needs. The study also identifies…

Persistent gaps in digital skills leave many seniors excluded from essential services, social connections and civic participation. Traditional training models, often designed for the general population, frequently fail to reflect the realities of older learners, such as different learning paces, lower familiarity with technology or age-related…

Student food insecurity is associated with lower grades, depression, higher perceived stress and lower graduation rates. Campuses across the country are responding to the problem in a variety of ways, including distribution of food directly to students through food pantries. This research is based on a national survey of campus food pantries to…

Honors classes in secondary schools are designed to provide advanced learning opportunities for both identified gifted students and high-potential students. They also serve as a bridge to AP/IB classes or other advanced coursework. Beyond preparing students for future courses, honors classes can play a role in talent development by supporting…

Background/Context: The last few decades of research on teacher professional learning (PL) show clear evidence that PL programs can shift instructional practice and accelerate student learning. Yet many programs continue to be ineffective, raising the question: what are features of effective PL design? Prior work attempting to answer this question…

Concerns about mental health and wellbeing in doctoral researchers have grown in recent years. To address these concerns, preventative strategies that seek to mitigate the onset of poor mental health and wellbeing could be valuable. This article outlines the co-design approach adopted to generate evidence that could inform the design of inductions…

Postsecondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) institutions are confronted with growing demands to improve efficiency while boosting student outcomes and achieving performance metrics for funding. As enrollment competition grows and funding sources change, technical colleges are looking to develop new programs and identify untapped student…

This study investigated the impact of professional development support structures for enhancing teacher mastery of Response to Intervention (RTI) in an urban elementary school setting. With a focus on effective implementation strategies, the research explored the role of tailored professional development initiatives in equipping educators with the…

The purpose of this research study was to explore secondary education teachers' perceptions of why they may be underprepared to support English language learners (ELLs) in the mainstream classroom. With the increasing number of ELLs in public schools across the United States, teachers with the background, training, and/or knowledge of how to…