MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization based in New York City; Washington, DC; and Oakland and Los Angeles, California. MDRC is led by an executive team and Virginia Knox as President since October 15, 2019.[1]
MDRC | |
 | |
| Formation | 1974 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Policy research |
| Headquarters | New York, NY |
President | Virginia Knox |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation |
History edit
In 1974, the Ford Foundation and six government agencies together created the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. Its purpose was to implement and document the results of new programs intended to help the poor.[2] In the 1980s and 1990s, it became known for its evaluations of state welfare-to-work programs.[2] It formally retired its original name and adopted "MDRC" as its registered corporate identity in 2003.[3][4]
MDRC works across the United States, in Canada, and in the United Kingdom.[4] Their 2021 budget is $66 million, which they derive from government contracts, foundations, corporations and individuals.[5]
In May 2018, MDRC named its first Director for Outreach, Diversity, and Inclusion[6] and made this position part of the executive team.[7]
Focus areas edit
MDRC focuses on five policy areas and has two centers:[8]
- Family well-being and children's development
- K-12 education
- Postsecondary education
- Youth development, Criminal justice, and employment
- Economic mobility, housing, and communities
- Center for applied behavioral science
- Center for data insights
Accomplishments edit
MDRC helped pioneer the use of random assignment to test social programs.[9] Its evaluations of welfare work programs influenced the welfare reform of the 1990s.[10] In the 1990s and 2000s, MDRC's evaluation of the Career Academies high school reform model, which showed impacts on participants' earnings eight years after graduation, influenced the expansion of the model around the nation.[11] MDRC was the intermediary for the first social impact bond demonstration in the United States, a project to reduce recidivism among 16- to 18-year-olds incarcerated at Rikers Island.[12][13] MDRC's study of the City University of New York's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) has demonstrated that the program has doubled the three-year graduation rate of students who begin college requiring remedial education.[14]
Affiliated people edit
References edit
- ^ "Our People". About MDRC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ^ a b Kohler, Scott. "Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation" (PDF). Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society.
- ^ "About MDRC: MDRC History". 27 April 2012.
- ^ a b admin (2012-04-27). "About MDRC - History". MDRC. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
- ^ brad (2012-09-20). "About MDRC - Financial Profile". MDRC. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
- ^ "Crystal Byndloss Named MDRC's Director for Outreach, Diversity, and Inclusion". MDRC. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ^ "Our People". MDRC. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ^ "History of MDRC". About MDRC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ^ Bornstein, David (October 17, 2012). "Social Change's Age of Enlightenment". New York Times.
- ^ Mead, Lawrence (July 8, 2004). "Research and Welfare Reform" (PDF). NYU Department of Politics.
- ^ Hoye, J.D.; David Stern (September 10, 2008). "The Career Academy Story: A Case Study of How Research Can Move Policy and Practice". Education Week.
- ^ Chen, David (August 2, 2012). "Goldman to Invest in City Jail Program, Profiting if Recidivism Falls Sharply". New York Times.
- ^ Porter, Eduardo (July 28, 2015). "Wall St. Money Meets Social Policy at Rikers Island". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-08-12
- ^ Scrivener, Susan, Michael J. Weiss, Alyssa Ratledge, Timothy Rudd, Colleen Sommo, Hannah Fresques (February 2015). textDoubling Graduation Rates: Three-Year Effects of CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students. New York: MDRC.