Using Data and Evidence to Support Communities: A Conversation with Milton J. Little, Jr.

Leigh Parise talks with Wendy Tippett of the Palm Beach County (FL) Community Services Department and Meghann Cotter of Micah Ecumenical Ministries, Fredericksburg, VA, to learn how they use shared housing as part of a strategy to end homelessness in expensive housing markets.

Researchers and practitioners are shaping the future of education and social policy by putting data and research evidence at the center of their decisions.    In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with John B. King, Jr., chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), which is the largest comprehensive system of public higher education in the country. King previously served as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under President Obama, led the nonprofit organization EdTrust, and was education commissioner for the state of New York. King also serves on MDRC's Board of Directors.  King and Parise discuss the role of evidence in ensuring student success and the top challenges facing higher education today.

As the global economy has grown increasingly competitive, interest in career and technical education (CTE) has experienced a resurgence among policymakers and educators as a way to ensure that more students leave school prepared for well-paying jobs.    Innovative new programs at both the secondary and postsecondary education levels seek to give students technical training for specific careers, durable skills training to prepare them for the workforce, and work-based learning opportunities where they can get hands-on experience and develop connections to employers and the workforce.   In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Kate Kreamer, Executive Director of Advance CTE, the national nonprofit that represents state CTE directors and state leaders of career and technical education. They discuss how CTE has evolved, how it can meet the needs of learners in a changing labor market, and where more research is needed.

Using data and research evidence can help nonprofit and community-based organizations develop new programs, support existing ones, and advocate for more effective government investments.   In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Milton J. Little Jr., President and CEO of the United Way of Greater Atlanta – one of the nation's largest United Ways, serving 13 counties in the Atlanta metro area. Little is a member of MDRC's Board of Directors, where he serves as treasurer.   Little and Parise discuss the importance of independent research and how using data and evidence can help community-based organizations improve the lives of the people they serve.

In Memphis, one in three people live near or below the poverty line. Memphis Works for Everyone (MemWorks), a partnership between MDRC and Slingshot Memphis, seeks to strengthen pathways to living-wage jobs for Memphis workers. MemWorks is using research and data to determine what local programs, policies, and interventions will help more workers improve their economic mobility. In this episode, Leigh Parise speaks with Jared Barnett, president and CEO of Slingshot Memphis, to discuss this partnership and what they're learning.

In this year-in-review episode, Leigh Parise revisits conversations from 2025 about the power of evidence and collaboration to drive change: how data can inform decisions, how partnerships can break down barriers, and how innovative strategies can open doors for learners and workers alike.

Graduation rates at community colleges have remained low, especially for students with low incomes. One effort to help students graduate and succeed in the workforce is MDRC's Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS), a comprehensive student support program supported by 15 years of MDRC's postsecondary research. Through its Expanding SUCCESS Initiative, MDRC is partnering with states and districts to expand the SUCCESS program to new locations and campuses.   In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Jonathan Lowe, program director of Coaching for Success at Dallas College, and DeShawn Preston, a research associate at MDRC, about implementing a model of comprehensive student supports at Dallas College, as part of the Expanding SUCCESS initiative.

Transferring credits from a community college to a four-year institution remains a crucial strategy to boosting bachelor's degree attainment and improving outcomes for graduates. But transfer students often face significant challenges to having their credits accepted and, more importantly, applied to degree requirements at four-year institutions. Faculty members in teaching, research, and administrative positions play a pivotal role in decisions about whether and how credits transfer. Yet little is known about how they approach these decisions or what factors influence their judgment. MDRC is working with three University of Texas System colleges to better understand how faculty members make these decisions within a large and complex transfer landscape. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Marjorie Dorimé-Williams, senior research associate at MDRC, leading the study.

In a competitive labor market, students graduating from high school need skills that can translate into meaningful careers. PREP KC is a leading K-12 education intermediary in the Kansas City region, bringing educators and industry professionals together to give students real-world learning opportunities and prepare them for in-demand careers.   Responding to increasing demand for data literacy across all industries, PREP-KC launched its Data in Action course in 2023 to give eighth-grade students early exposure to data analytics. It aims to prepare students for high-demand careers and develop their interest in math and science fields.    MDRC will conduct an evaluation to test whether this course can help boost academic achievement and whether more students will opt for a high school pathway in science, technology, engineering, or math.    In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Doug Elmer, vice president of PREP KC and Zeest Haider, research associate at MDRC, to learn more about the program and the evaluation.

Children's early math skills are a strong predictor of later outcomes, like high school and college graduation rates, underscoring the long-term benefits of focusing on early math education.   States across the country have increasingly focused on early literacy, enacting laws that require screening for reading difficulties, and aligning classroom instruction with the science of reading. This momentum is now expanding to math education, although more gradually.   In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Shira Mattera, a senior research associate at MDRC, who is leading multiple studies looking at early math instruction and skills. They discuss evidence-based strategies that state education leaders can implement to strengthen early mathematics instruction and learning.