Beware the pitfalls of short-term program effects: They often fade
Highlights: For many social programs, it is important from a policy perspective to know not just whether the program produces positive effects in the short term, but whether the effects endure long enough to constitute a meaningful improvement in participants’ lives....Major federal randomized trial finds disappointing early effects of home visiting for low-income families—but obscures a potentially important silver lining
Highlights: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently reported early findings from a large randomized controlled trial (RCT) of home visiting services for at-risk families with young children. The services included four program types, or...FDR’s call for “bold, persistent experimentation”: An antidote to 40-year stagnation in key areas of social policy (part two in a series)
Highlights: In our previous report, we described 40 years of stagnation in key areas of social policy— e.g., little change in earned income of low/moderate income Americans or in educational achievement of high school students. Given the stagnation’s endurance and...“Government by guesswork” is not solving the nation’s social problems. A fundamentally different—evidence based—approach is needed (part one in a series)
Highlights: In key areas of social policy, the United States has made little progress over many years: (i) The earned income of the bottom 40 percent of the population is almost unchanged since the late 1970s, after adjusting for inflation. (ii) The average reading...Main Findings Misreported in Major Study of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Expansion
Highlights: We review a recent large randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Paycheck Plus program, which tested the effects of expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income, single adults without dependent children. The EITC is a refundable tax credit...Large randomized trial finds disappointing effects for federally-funded programs to facilitate the re-entry of prisoners into the community. A new approach is needed.
Highlights: This report discusses findings from a well-conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT) of program services funded by the Department of Justice’s Second Chance Act (SCA) Adult Demonstration Program, aimed at facilitating the re-entry of prisoners into the...National Academy of Sciences publishes questionable, potentially chance findings on the crime effects of restoring vacant urban lots
Highlights: We review a recently-published article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reporting findings of a randomized controlled trial that evaluated the effects of restoring vacant urban lots. The article claims that the restoration intervention...Large randomized trial finds “Year Up” workforce training produces major earnings gains for low-income young adults (but longer-term follow-up is needed)
In this report we discuss unusually promising findings from a large, multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Year Up program for low-income young adults. This newly-published study found earnings effects that are among the largest of any workforce training...Large randomized trial finds state pre-k program has adverse effects on academic achievement. Reform is needed to increase effectiveness.
Highlights: This report discusses new findings from a well-conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Tennessee’s voluntary prekindergarten program for low-income children. This study is the first large RCT of a state-funded pre-k program and one of only two such...Showing 10 of 37 Reviews