After-school programs can play an important positive role in the academic and personal development of young people, especially in an era when many parents work full time. Launched in 1997, the Extended-Service Schools (ESS) Initiative helped establish after-school programs in 17 communities across the country, each of which adapted one of four program models to local circumstances and needs. In this report, Public/Private Ventures and MDRC present the findings from their joint evaluation of the initiative, focusing on ESS programs in six cities where intensive data collection was conducted. Among the themes examined in the report are the programs' implementation, quality, and cost and their effects on students' after-school participation and attitudes toward school.

Because meaningful improvements in literacy require more hours of instruction than most adult learners receive, low student persistence is a critical issue for providers of adult education. This interim report from the Literacy in Libraries Across America persistence study describes adult students' characteristics and patterns of participation in nine library literacy programs and examines new strategies developed by the programs to raise persistence. Based on an implementation analysis and a look at participation levels before and as the strategies were put in place, the findings highlight public libraries' advantages as providers of literacy services and point to lessons for program design and implementation.

This paper looks at curricular and program redesign strategies being used in community colleges today to speed nontraditional students' advancement from lower levels of skill into credential programs and to shorten the time commitment that earning a credential demands of them. It presents a framework for understanding the range of experimentation with program and class reformatting and redesign, and identifies programs that exemplify promising approaches. The paper concludes with issues and questions that MDRC will need to address in assessing whether to proceed with a research program focused on program redesign efforts geared to working adults' needs.

Examining federal, state, and institutional programs, the paper presents a framework for understanding challenges to securing comprehensive financial assistance for low-income working students. The paper identifies promising approaches for supplementing student financial aid based on a range of programs implemented in the past and planned for the future. It also raises issues that bear consideration in designing a program that would be both effective in ways that can be measured through random assignment studies and replicable.

From the National Center for Children in Poverty, this article highlights effective programs, policy opportunities, and other strategies to improve educational outcomes for children. This brief is to inform policymakers and other stakeholders on strategies to promote the healthy educational development of children.

This article for the NGA Center on Best Practices reviews why reading and literacy activities are important for States. Literary readers have been shown to be more likely than nonreaders to pursue social and civic activities such as volunteering and attending sporting events. Therefore, literary reading may enhance community life and civic engagement. This resource provides information to States on creating literacy programs.

This study aimed at reviewing the correlation between home computers and educational outcomes. Specifically, it was found that teenagers with access to a computer at home are 6 to 8 percent more likely to graduate from high school. It is hypothesized that home computers reduce non-productive activities such as crime and truancy.

From the Brookings Institution, this policy brief reviews the impact of a universal preschool policy on economic growth. Authors conclude that a universal policy would cost the government $59 billion; however, would have the potential to add $2 trillion to the national GDP by 2080.

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) studied TANF applicants taking part in a post-secondary education program through a local non-profit while on the TANF caseload. By interviewing students, this study explored the challenges and rewards of the program experiences of low-income mothers.

This report from the Brookings Institution reviews the role of education in helping low-income children advance economically. Authored by Isabel Sawhill, she concludes that the U.S. education system tends to reinforce rather than compensate for differences in family background, and in order to strengthen opportunity for America’s children, more effective investments in education need to be made.