The Center for Data Insights at MDRC has partnered with organizations to develop and execute a variety of data projects, some with long-standing partners that have participated in MDRC's long-term evaluations; others with newer partners that are just beginning to use data for program improvement. Important lessons about the essential ingredients…

Purpose: This study explored the acceptability and practicality of implementing a Direct Skills Teaching (DST) approach to increase job interview preparation for individuals who were receiving state vocational rehabilitation (VR) services in four states. Method: Counselors-in-training facilitated a four-session curriculum teaching "Presenting…

Improving low-achieving schools is a critical challenge facing urban education. Recent national policy shifts have pressed states to take an expanded role in school improvement efforts. In 2009, a federal grant competition called Race to the Top (RttT) compelled states to improve their capacity to implement ambitious education reform agendas.…

This report is intended to help governors, legislators, department secretaries, and advocates find information on ways to strengthen the structure and function of their existing cabinets, or create a new cabinet. The survey in this report is the nation's only survey of state child and youth policy coordinating bodies. The biennial survey assesses…

About 13 percent of children aged 3 through 21 enrolled in public schools received special education services in school year 2015-16, and about 3 percent of children from birth through age 2 received special education services. Concerns about the difficulties identifying and evaluating children for special education have been raised by the media,…

Utilizing "assemblage," a notion associated with Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we explore what discourses of transparency can, and cannot, accomplish in a network of education reform that includes schools, government agencies, and community organizations. Drawing on data collected between July 2011 and March 2013 in an…

"Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2016" marks the thirteenth consecutive year Evergreen has published its annual research of the K-12 education online learning market. Throughout the past thirteen years there has been a constant presence that has become the backbone, supporting the growth and success of online learning--the array…

K-12 education resources are often allocated non-strategically, with schools spending time and money on activities that have little relationship to student outcomes. Most of these decisions take place within districts, rooted in the processes of setting schedules, staffing levels, and assignments, and creating final budgets. Local Education…

Race to the Top States offer a wide range of supports for local educational agency (LEA) implementation of one of four school intervention models. Some States allocate resources on a regional basis, while others coordinate resources at the State level. Certain States also use data tools to measure district needs, capacity and progress on key…

This paper serves as the introduction to the State Children's Cabinets and Councils Series, a set of reports intended to capture and organize the decisions and experiences of more than 20 children's cabinets and councils and present them against an emerging set of expectations about what the public and policy makers could and should expect from…

This report describes the use of Lead Turnaround Partners (LTPs) in the current School Improvement Grant (SIG) program and provides the results of document review, surveys, and interviews with eight State Education Agencies and seven Lead Turnaround Partner organizations. The study focuses on the implementation of the transformation and turnaround…

This report presents the final recommendations of the Special Media Records Project for the improved management and preservation of machine-readable records in New York State government agencies. The first of three parts of the report discusses strategic issues in the management and preservation of electronic records, including key trends in…

In the wake of a U.S. Justice Department investigation that found widespread use of excessive force by staff at upstate psychiatric care facilities for mentally ill children, this new edition of Child Welfare Watch identifies shortcomings in mental health services and explores possible solutions, including the expansion of alternatives to…

This quarterly issue of the dictionary catalog contains all New York State monographs cataloged or recataloged at the state library between January 1 and April 4, 1980. Titles related to the state, but not necessarily official publications of the state agencies (e.g., town charters, ordinances) may also appear. Cataloging practices, filing rules,…