Catherine Armstrong Asher

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...

In 2019, Youth Policy Lab partnered with TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) and the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment. This initiative was designed to guide future activities and establish a baseline for evaluation by gathering data from 3,500 DPSCD staff, 11,000 students in grades 8-12, 800 family members, as well as DPSCD Police and community mental health agencies.

Funder: Detroit Regional Chamber of CommerceAs a part of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s economic development strategy, several programs are focused on improving post-secondary degree and credential attainment. These programs include: Detroit Drives Degrees, the Detroit Promise, and the Detroit College Access Network. The Youth Policy Lab serves as the strategic data partner to the Chamber, analyzing data for their State of Education and Talent annual report and supporting their vision of improving the talent pipeline in southeast Michigan region by increasing postsecondary access and success.

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...

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.

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: 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...

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.

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.