LifeSkills Training is the only program to prevent substance use disorder among adolescents that has evidence of effects on substance use outcomes from multiple randomized controlled trials. Evaluations have shown that the version for middle school students reduces their use of substances in high school, but these studies were conducted in the…

In March 2022, Child Trends contracted with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware, Minnesota's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for early care and education (ECE) programs. The evaluation, required by the 2021 Minnesota Legislature, includes several research activities…

A method called multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUA) provides a decision-making framework that facilitates comparative analysis of multiple real-world decision alternatives with unique complex attributes. Utility analysis as a measure of effectiveness has been minimally used by educational researchers to date, despite clear relevance in complex…

This study examines the impacts of two AmeriCorps programs, Minnesota Reading Corps and Wisconsin Reading Corps, where AmeriCorps volunteers provide literacy tutoring to at-risk kindergarten through third-grade (K-3) students utilizing a response-to-intervention framework. This evaluation replicates a prior randomized controlled trial evaluation…

The Policy Practice in Field Initiative was created to seed innovation and develop new models for an integrated approach to enhance the policy skill set of all social work students regardless of specialization. Funds provided to the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) are regranted to schools and programs of social work for field placement and…

Child Trends contracted with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware, Minnesota's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for early care and education (ECE) programs. The evaluation includes several legislatively mandated research activities designed to assess the…

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) contracted with Child Trends in 2022 to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware to explore its effectiveness in supporting the state's children, families, and early care and education (ECE) workforce. As part of this evaluation, the team at Child Trends conducted an analysis of Rating and…

The Research Sprints program offers faculty partners the opportunity to collaborate intensively and exclusively for one week with a team of librarians to achieve significant progress on research or teaching projects. This longitudinal study extends previous immediate and short-term assessments by interviewing Research Sprints participants at two…

This report presents findings from the annual evaluation of the MacPhail Center for Music Online School Partnerships and Sing Play Learn programs. Results are reported in aggregate, across all schools that participated in the evaluation this year. The MacPhail Center for Music Online School Partnerships program aims to increase access to…

In response to rising college tuition and student debt over the past three decades, some institutions, localities, and states have implemented a range of tuition-free promise programs to promote college access and success. Programs vary widely in their design features, including eligibility stipulations and award structure. I explore the growing…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has been increasingly emphasized in educational research and practice for promoting children's wellbeing. Perhaps the most well-known SEL framework is the model provided by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This framework has become the dominant framework informing state SEL…

Minnesota's Preschool Development Birth through Five grant (PDG) is a partnership of the Minnesota departments of Education, Health, and Human Services, along with the Children's Cabinet, to align education and care systems?across the state.?The three-year, $26.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports…

In 2019, MDRC launched the Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS) project to improve college completion rates for traditionally underserved students, such as students from low-income backgrounds and students of color, at community and broad-access colleges (those that have open or minimally selective admissions…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based approach to addressing behavior issues in schools. The Minnesota Department of Education and the Regional Training Projects sponsor three training sessions per year for schools that are participating in Minnesota's two-year training sequence for PBIS. This report is…

What is credible and actionable evidence can vary by program discipline in the Cooperative Extension Service. Through a series of interviews with program leadership from Agriculture, Natural Resources, Youth Development, Family Development, and Community Vitality, a case study of one state's Extension system is described. While programs certainly…