Robin Tepper Jacob

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. The Youth Policy Lab launched a three-year evaluation during the 2022-23 school year in 84 DPSCD schools, focusing on the implem...

The Strong Beginnings program provides home visiting, social support, referrals to resources, and other wraparound services to high-risk pregnant women, new mothers, and babies with the goal of reducing rates of infant mortality and low birth-weight. The Youth Policy Lab has partnered with MDHHS and Michigan State University (MSU) to support the evaluation of Strong Beginnings to determine its impact on rates of: 1) pre-term birth and 2) ‘rapid-repeat’ pregnancies (new pregnancies occurring within 12-24 months of a recent birth), an indicator of positive long-term outcomes for moms and babies....

Alignment of academic content for grades PreK-3 is considered important among practitioners, policymakers, and educational researchers alike. However, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which alignment across grades, even within schools or districts, actually exists. Using classroom observations and curriculum analysis, we examined the alignment of three widely used elementary math curricula across grades PreK-3. While we found that content is generally aligned across grades, instructional environments and pedagogical practices may not be. Kindergarten in particular, may be poorl...