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…

Background: Alternative food programs have been proposed as solutions to food insecurity and diet-related health issues. However, some of the most popular programs--farmers markets and community-supported agriculture--overwhelmingly serve White and upper-middle-class individuals, exacerbating food security and health disparities. One explanation…

We examined how the Twin Ports Climate Conversations (TPCC), a community-based climate communication project, is influencing local climate awareness and response. A survey of TPCC participants and subsequent roundtable discussion event were used to explore program impacts, outcomes, and future directions. Results showed that the TPCC project has…

Introduction: In the USA, syringe services programmes (SSPs) provide a range of harm reduction services and have numerous benefits for communities. However, stigma, misconceptions about SSPs and changing policies/legislation remain a challenge to effective implementation. This study reviews the implementation of two digital interventions,…

Child care has been in a downward spiral for twenty years and is a main factor exacerbating the growing worker shortage. New attention before and financial aid during the pandemic perhaps slowed the spiral, but it hasn't reversed it. The primary cause of the shortage in Greater Minnesota is simple: family child care providers, who supply the bulk…

The purpose of this study was to explore how a Virtual Professional Learning Community (VPLC) might serve as effective professional development for large ensemble teachers in rural communities interested in improving their pedagogy. We used a case study approach to investigate four rural music teachers who actively participated in an online…

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…

Community college completion has been proven to be a ticket to a middle-class life. Moreover, we know that poverty causes educational barriers, including community college completion. Community colleges across the nation are identifying significant equity gaps between students from poor versus middle-class or affluent households. One solution to…

This report explores the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Deep-End Initiative, which is helping juvenile justice jurisdictions safely and significantly reduce youth confinement -- especially for young people of color. In America today, youth of color are consistently over-represented in courtrooms and detention centers, youth prisons and other…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

For many non-traditional candidates, the path into teaching is riddled with bumps and detours. They must pay for increasingly expensive coursework and certification costs, attend classes that conflict with work schedules, and forgo wages to complete unfunded student teaching requirements. These roadblocks can deter valuable local…

Statway® is an accelerated developmental mathematics intervention program for college students who are not yet prepared to succeed in a college-level math course. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching created the initiative to increase student success rates in developmental mathematics and subsequent credit-bearing, college-level…

With support from the Blandin Foundation, Invest Early is a comprehensive early childhood collaborative in Itasca County, Minnesota, that serves young children and their families with risk factors that may impede school success. The core services consist of early childhood education, parent education, health services, and extended-day child care,…

There are a variety of services and supports in Minnesota for children and youth with autism who are age 0-21. These include services and supports provided by state agencies, including the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Department of Health, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and…

In 2016, the University of Washington's School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center launched a three-year study examining the feasibility, effectiveness, and efficiency of a Brief Intervention Strategy for School Mental Health Clinicians (BRISC). SMART partnered with Wilder Research and the University of Maryland to…