Research projects

Funder: Urban Institute's Student Upward Mobility Initiative (SUMI)YPL is analyzing the Industry Recognized Credentials (IRCs) earned by high school students in Michigan Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. This project includes 3 major goals: Develop a classification of credentials and evaluate credential quality across CTE fields of study.Analyze patterns of credential attainment across student groups and assess fairness, alignment with specific occupations, and relationships with other measures of academic achievement.Explore relationships between credential attainment and postsec...

Funder: Kresge FoundationCollege students in the Detroit region face many obstacles to earning a college degree, with limited access to reliable public transportation being a major barrier to postsecondary student success. To address this challenge, the Youth Policy Lab is partnering with the Detroit Promise Authority Zone, the Partnership for Education Equity and Research (Detroit PEER) at Wayne State University, and Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the University of Michigan to evaluate the Detroit Promise's Catch-a-Ride Mobility Wallet pilot program. The project provides Detroit Promise...

Funders: Smith Richardson Foundation and Arnold VenturesYouth Policy Lab is conducting a three-year national study of the impacts of school cellphone policies on academic outcomes and student wellbeing. This initiative was launched at a pivotal moment as districts are rapidly implementing cellphone restrictions. One component of this project involves partnering with Yondr, a company that makes cellphone-blocking pouches for schools, to understand how these pouches affect academic achievement, school engagement, behavioral incidents, chronic absenteeism, and socio-emotional measures.A second co...

Funders: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Spencer FoundationYouth Policy Lab has partnered with colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention to examine the impact of school cellphone policies in Michigan. This study aims to identify variability in district cellphone policies; understand the barriers to and facilitators of implementation; and estimate their impact on indicators of community violence, including fights in school, school discipline, and police incidents; as well as a range of mental health, ...

The Livingston Educational Service Agency (LESA) has partnered with Youth Policy Lab to better understand the college and career opportunities available to students in the county’s school districts and charter schools.  Through an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, YPL is looking at various programs, including Career and Technical Education (CTE), Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Enrollment (DE), and Early Middle College (EMC).  The research team’s work also includes collecting insights from school staff and administrators about the main challenges to expanding access and partici...

High-quality early learning programs boost children's kindergarten readiness and effects can last into adulthood. However, defining and measuring quality is difficult and expensive. Classroom video observations are a classic method used by education researchers to understand how the instructional environment relates to student learning. Although videos provide rich context on what occurs in the classroom, they require a significant amount of human labor and time to accurately code, which can lead to delays in acquiring information. Moreover, early education researchers have found that construc...

Funder: Arnold VenturesChronic absenteeism can interfere with students' learning and overall school engagement. National Heritage Academies (NHA) is investing resources in strategies to improve attendance and is partnering with YPL to learn which approaches are most effective for different groups of students and across different school settings. This project involves two complementary interventions to improve student attendance. The first is a text messaging program for parents, and the second is a case management intervention in which a dedicated school staff member works one-on-one with stud...

FUNDER: TRAILSTRAILS is a school-based program designed to enhance social and behavioral outcomes in students affected by mental health concerns by increasing the delivery of evidence-based practices, ultimately aiming to improve academic performance. TRAILS engaged YPL to explore variation in implementation of their Tier 1 Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum and Tier 2 Early Intervention programming across participating schools in Michigan with the overarching goal of understanding patterns, barriers, and effectiveness of implementation. YPL utilized survey, administrative, and publicly ...

Funder: Detroit Regional Chamber of CommerceMany Detroit-area students encounter significant barriers to completing a college degree, such as food insecurity, housing instability, and unexpected financial emergencies. In response, the Detroit Regional Chamber launched the Detroit Area Talent Fund (DATF) in 2023 to provide just-in-time emergency grants to students navigating time-sensitive financial challenges. The Youth Policy Lab is partnering with the Partnership for Education Equity and Research (Detroit PEER) at Wayne State University and Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the University...

The Youth Policy Lab has partnered with Detroit Future City (DFC) to conduct a research study examining Detroit’s career-connected K-12 education landscape and its alignment with current and future workforce needs. YPL is helping to shape the overall approach and direction of the study and leading the quantitative data analysis. This includes assessing the alignment between Career and Technical Education (CTE) availability and enrollment in Detroit and the current and future labor market demands in Southeast Michigan. DFC is holding several focus groups with K-12 education, business, and nonpr...

When early high-quality math instruction is aligned across grades, it can have a positive effect on children’s math skills, attitudes toward math, and working memory. However, evidence-based pre-K learning trajectories and instructional practices are not typically integrated into the curriculum for the early elementary grades. This lack of integration can have negative results: Children may encounter the same content more than once from pre-K to kindergarten through third grade. Conversely, the math instruction they receive may not cover the areas or progression of learning that research says ...

YPL has partnered with the Juvenile Justice Clinic (JJC) at the U-M Law School to evaluate their Counsel at First Appearance pilot in select Michigan counties. Through this evaluation, we are assessing the outcomes of providing legal representation to juvenile defendants facing felony charges at their first time in court. Findings from this evaluation are expected to support efforts to scale CAFA for juveniles statewide.

With initial funding from UnitedHealthcare, YPL has partnered with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP) to conduct a landscape analysis to explore the statewide need for expanding home visiting services to infants and toddlers beyond 18 months. It will also identify what additional services, resources, and tools would be required to support such an expansion.

Funder: AccelerateYPL has partnered with Accelerate on three randomized controlled trials of small group tutoring programs with different populations. We are seeking to understand the impact of these tutoring programs on student achievement, the conditions required for successful implementation, and which students may benefit most from small-group tutoring. Ed Corps: From Fall 2024 - Spring 2025, YPL evaluated the effect of implementation support for in-person literacy tutoring for students reading below grade level in grades K-3.Cignition: In the same time period (Fall 2024 - Spring 2025), YP...

The Michigan Department of Education selected the Youth Policy Lab to conduct a study of Michigan’s current system of education governance and provide recommendations about ways to improve educational outcomes for Michigan’s students, in line with the state’s strategic goals. The study used a variety of data sources and analytical methods to review key features of education governance in Michigan, including potential school district consolidation, the allocation of authority across different levels of government, school choice, and the state’s school finance system. 

Funders: U.S. Department of Education, Arnold VenturesLiteracy tutoring is one of the most effective strategies for improving student literacy achievement. However, it can be difficult to scale and one approach to increase access is to provide virtual tutoring. While evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of in-person tutoring is strong, evidence for virtual tutoring is limited. YPL is partnering with MDRC and Reading Partners, a national organization that uses volunteer tutors to provide literacy tutoring to elementary students, to evaluate the effects of two delivery models of their tutori...

Funder: U.S. Department of EducationThe Youth Policy Lab launched an three-year evaluation during the 2022-23 school year in a large urban school district, focusing on the implementation and effectiveness of the TRAILS Early Intervention program (TRAILS-EI). This Tier 2 school-based program is designed to enhance social and behavioral outcomes in students affected by mental health concerns by increasing the delivery of evidence-based practices, ultimately aiming to improve academic performance. TRAILS-EI seeks to raise awareness and understanding of mental health, improve the accurate and time...

Many states (including Michigan) have instituted laws requiring support or retention for students who do not meet grade-level expectations in reading at the end of third grade. The Youth Policy Lab received funding from the American Education Research Association to look at the effects of North Carolina’s Read to Achieve law, which has been in place for the last decade. The analysis will look at medium term academic outcomes, and will focus on effects for English Language Learners, a growing population in North Carolina and elsewhere in the U.S.

Funded by Michigan Health Endowment Fund, and in collaboration with Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, YPL worked with medical institutions throughout Michigan to help pediatric physicians refer patients more seamlessly to EarlyOn, an early intervention program in Michigan for families with young children at risk of development delays. YPL evaluated the impact of an eFax referral template, integrated into electronic medical record systems, We measured the effects of eFax referrals on family access to EarlyOn and on physicians’ knowledge and sentiments regarding the EarlyOn...

This project examined the characteristic of participants of Michigan Reconnect, a scholarship program that provides adults age 25 and older with tuition-free in-district community college and that is overseen by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity's (MDLEO) Office of Sixty by 30. This work is part of our long partnership with MDLEO and builds upon our previous projects to study Futures for Frontliners, a similar program that provided tuition support to those in essential jobs early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research on Reconnect compared applicants to the broader pool...

During the 2022-23 school year,  Youth Policy Lab partnered with TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) to evaluate the implementation and impact of its Tier 1 Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum as part of a statewide expansion in two intermediate school districts in Michigan. To assess the program's effects on student outcomes related to social-emotional well-being and mental health, a one-year, school-level randomized control trial was conducted. Students and staff from approximately 40 schools gave feedback through surveys at the beginning an...

Funder: Arnold VenturesSince 2022, YPL has led an evaluation of SafeCare, a parental education program implemented by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). In an effort to reduce child maltreatment recidivism and foster care placement, SafeCare is offered to families either at-risk for or have a history of child neglect and/or physical abuse. This in-home program teaches caregivers skills about how to interact in a positive manner with their children; to create a safe home environment; and to recognize and respond to symptoms of illness and injury. To build a larger evi...

With support from the National Science Foundation, the Youth Policy Lab is partnering with colleagues at the University of Connecticut and Michigan State University to conduct a meta-analysis of Early Science Interventions over the past twenty years. This research will provide information about the features of science interventions that are most effective at improving teacher and student learning for young students.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, YPL partnered with TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) to examine their Tier 1 Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program in three rural Colorado school districts. Staff provided overall positive survey feedback, reporting that preparation and delivery times were reasonable, students were engaged, and the materials were suitable for their age group. Students in grades 6-12 were also surveyed to assess various Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) coping skills. Althoug...

Once seen as an alternative to college, modern Career and Technical Education (CTE) is designed to be a pathway into postsecondary education and prosperous careers for all students. However, there is a lack of rigorous empirical research on the efficacy of high school CTE for preparing students for postsecondary education and the workforce.  Moreover, we do not know what factors may mediate these outcomes or whether CTE may benefit some students more than others. Through this project, the research team analyzed Michigan data to examine (a) the characteristics of CTE participants and completers...

After the publication of YPL’s statewide analyses of racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to Career and Technical Education (CTE), Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) partnered with YPL to better understand CTE access in Washtenaw County. The research revealed that stark differences in CTE availability across districts led to many Washtenaw students having limited access to CTE, with especially unequal access to programs aligned with high-wage, high-demand occupations. Low-income, Black, and Hispanic students in Washtenaw County are less likely to attend schools that offer o...

With funding provided through Governor Whitmer’s Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies initiative, YPL evaluated the effectiveness of a pilot program to allow MIHP provider agencies to bill for additional services and care coordination for families with high levels of need for basic services. Providers received reimbursement for an additional home visit, longer home visits, care coordination services, and a discharge assessment. Key outcomes included social determinants of health, such as food security, financial stability, education, employment, treatment for mental health symptoms, treatment for subs...

As evaluation partners for Project AWARE—a Michigan Department of Education-Michigan Department of Health and Human Services initiative on youth mental health—YPL examined a variety of efforts by state and local agency partners to better support students’ healthy development.  Youth Policy Lab worked with the Project AWARE team to design and implement a multifaceted assessment of the five-year initiative’s success in increasing mental health awareness, strengthening interagency collaboration, and streamlining service coordination in three participating communities across the state.

Kalamazoo County passed a Career and Technical Education (CTE) millage in 2019 and wanted to use this new source of funding to restructure CTE delivery within the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA).   In addition to expanding career awareness and exploration opportunities among younger students, millage revenues were designated to build a new countywide technical center. KRESA approached YPL to ask for assistance identifying CTE programs the center should offer.  This project sought to answer the following research questions: Which occupations are projected to exhibit the grea...

Funder: Arnold VenturesYPL has partnered with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to conduct an impact evaluation of the Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP). This program supports Medicaid-eligible families during pregnancy and infancy by partnering them with qualified home visitors to address their needs and connect them with resources and providers in the community. With the goal of increasing participation in the program, outreach specialists conducted enhanced recruitment to a subset of MIHP-eligible individuals in 2023-2026. YPL is evaluating the program's impact on key...