Summaries of Research Grants
Arnold Ventures’ Evidence and Evaluation team funds rigorous research, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental designs (QEDs) evaluating policies and of programs across the spectrum of U.S. social policy. This page provides links to summaries of grants that have been funded by our Evidence and Evaluation team. Each summary includes a description of the program to be evaluated; the grant recipient, term, and funding; and a link to the study’s pre-specified analysis plan. We update this page as new grants are funded.
Please note: Each summary describes the study as planned at its inception. Any material changes made to an ongoing study are documented in the study’s analysis plan and posted to the Open Science Framework (linked to within each summary).
For the results of these studies, visit our Findings from Research Grants page, which is regularly updated as new findings are reported.
Jump to a section using the menu below:
- Civic Involvement
- Criminal Justice & Violence Prevention
- Early Childhood
- Employment & Training
- Health Care Delivery
- Housing/Homelessness
- K‑12 Education
- Post-Secondary Education
- Regulatory Policy (Health, Safety, Environmental)
- Social Safety Net
- Substance Abuse Prevention / Treatment
- Unplanned Pregnancy Prevention
Civic Involvement
Evaluation of Online Voter Turnout Tool
Criminal Justice & Violence Prevention
Randomized Controlled Trial Measuring Long-Term impacts of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) on Criminal Justice and Post-Secondary Education Outcomes
Randomized controlled trial of Project SCOPE – a police co-responder model, aimed at diverting vulnerable populations from criminal arrest within the transit system
Randomized controlled trial of ConTextos’ Authors Circle – a jail-based memoir‑writing program for pre-trial detainees, aimed at reducing jail misconduct and recidivism
Randomized controlled trial of Functional Family Therapy-Gangs (FFT‑G), a therapeutic intervention for justice-involved youth
RCT of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) for high utilizers of hospitals and jails in Dallas County
A large RCT of Big Brothers Big Sisters community-based mentoring program for youth at risk of criminal involvement
RCT of Interventions – a cognitive behavioral treatment program for justice-involved individuals with mental illness
Evaluation of Critical Time Intervention case management program for recently released jail detainees in Chicago
RCT of Motivational Interviewing plus Critical Time Intervention for hospitalized gunshot wound victims, to prevent future risky behavior
RCT of Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens – an intensive mentoring program for youth with histories of maltreatment
RCT of providing Pell Grant eligibility to prison inmates to pursue postsecondary education
RCT of Therapeutic Communities and Interactive Journaling in Florida state prisons
RCT to evaluate Youth Advocate Programs (YAP): Providing intensive mentoring and “wraparound” supports for disengaged Chicago youth
Evaluation of the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI) to Prevent Violence in Chicago, Illinois
Expansion and replication of the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) sexual assault resistance program at five U.S. universities
Early Childhood
RCT of SafeCare – an in-home, parent-training program that aims to reduce child neglect and maltreatment
A randomized controlled trial to evaluate KIN TECH – a kinship navigation program designed to support kinship caregivers of children involved in the child welfare system and prevent child maltreatment
Longer-term follow-up of the Baby’s First Years large-scale RCT
Randomized controlled trial of 123-MOMS to reduce maternal depression among new mothers and improve early childhood cognitive development
Extending the analysis of the Nurse Family Partnership’s impacts on maternal and child mortality: long-term follow-up of three randomized controlled trials
Evaluation of Child First, a home visiting program for low-income families with at-risk young children
Comparing full-day and half-day preschool: Long-term follow-up of an RCT
Large-Scale Replication RCT of Nurse Family Partnership in South Carolina
RCT of Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP)
Long-term follow-up to an RCT of Chicago Heights Early Childhood Center (CHECC) educational interventions for disadvantaged preschool-aged children
Employment & Training
Randomized Controlled Trial of Colorado Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) for new unemployment insurance claimants
Randomized Controlled Trial Measuring Long-Term impacts of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) on Criminal Justice and Post-Secondary Education Outcomes
Randomized controlled trial of Apprenti: a workforce development program providing registered technology apprenticeships
Long-term follow-up of the WorkAdvance study, evaluating the effectiveness of four different sector-focused workforce development programs for unemployed and low wage working adults
A long-term follow-up of two welfare reform randomized trials from the 1990s, measuring effects on parent and child outcomes 15 to 24 years after study entry
A randomized controlled trial to evaluate Bridges to Success, a mentoring program to help low-income individuals obtain employment and financial stability
Effects of Federal antidiscrimination and affirmative action enforcement audits on female and minority workforce composition
RCT of Year Up’s Professional Training Corps – a workforce training program for economically disadvantaged urban young adults
RCT of English for Advancement, a workforce advancement intervention for adult English language learners
RCT of Nevada’s Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program for new unemployment insurance claimants
RCT evaluation of the Per Scholas workforce training program in two expansion sites
Long-term follow-up of the randomized trial of Project QUEST’s workforce training program for low-income individuals in healthcare-related fields
11-year follow-up of the RCT of Project QUEST: A workforce development program for low-income adults
A randomized controlled trial of Transforming Impossible into Possible, a program designed to address cognitive and social barriers to employment for disadvantaged, unemployed adults
Health Care Delivery
RCT evaluation of the Transitional Care Model across four hospital systems
Housing/Homelessness
Expansion and Randomized Controlled Evaluation of Critical Time Intervention
A randomized controlled trial to evaluate a supportive housing program for people experiencing chronic homelessness and high rates of justice involvement and emergency department utilization
K‑12 Education
RCT of the Check and Connect dropout prevention program in rural high schools
Randomized controlled trial of a teacher training program for Khan Academy in Puerto Rico, aimed at increasing math achievement
A randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate New Mexico’s oversubscribed “Dual Language Immersion” charter schools, and the state’s elementary and high school charter schools as a whole
Expanding the long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of KIPP charter middle schools
Randomized controlled trial of ASSISTments’ virtual training model – a lower-cost adaptation of the ASSISTments web-based study tool, aimed at increasing math achievement
RCT of Annual Summer Book Fairs for high-poverty elementary schools
RCT of a program, implemented city-wide in Baltimore, that provides eyeglasses to disadvantaged students to improve learning outcomes
RCT of a vision care intervention in disadvantaged Chicago elementary schools, designed to improve eyeglass usage and learning outcomes
RCT of Bernie’s Book Bank, a free book-distribution intervention for high-poverty students, to be conducted in a large sample of Chicago-area elementary schools
RCT of ASSISTments, a web-based homework support tool for 7th grade aimed at increasing student math achievement
RCT of career and technical education programs in New York City high schools
A randomized replication trial of Career Academies in California public high schools
Long-term follow-up of an RCT of Core Knowledge Charter Schools
RCT of the Educational Liaison dropout prevention program for middle and high school students in foster care
Evaluation of Fostering Opportunities Program, which provides youth in foster care with an advocate focused on helping them succeed in school
RCT of high-dosage math tutoring for disadvantaged ninth-graders in Chicago and New York City Public Schools
RCT of the web-based Healthy Minds intervention to prevent youth depression
Continuation of a promising RCT of high-dosage literacy tutoring for disadvantaged 1st graders in Chicago Public Schools
Long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of KIPP charter middle schools
RCT of the Minnesota Math Corps, a widely implemented one-on-two tutoring program for 4th-8th grade students in Minnesota
RCT of Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports, a school-wide reform initiative designed to increase K‑12 academic achievement and reduce behavioral problems
RCT of a comprehensive music education program for disadvantaged youth, measuring the impact on academic achievement
RCT of the Literacy First Tutoring Program for struggling readers in early elementary school
RCT of a Social Belonging mindset intervention for students entering middle school
RCT of Youth Guidance’s Working on Womanhood Program, a cognitive-behavioral therapy program for disadvantaged female high school students at risk of mental illness
Randomized controlled trial of Reading Partners, a one-on-one reading tutorial program for elementary school students
Randomized Controlled Trial of Reading Is Fundamental’s Books for Ownership program, a national program that seeks to engage elementary school students in both summer and school-year reading
Evaluation of a high dosage online math tutoring program, aimed at increasing math achievement
Post-Secondary Education
Randomized controlled trial of a cost-of-living grant to community college students, aimed at increasing college retention and completion
RCT to evaluate OneGoal: a three-year program to help low-income high school students prepare for and succeed in college
Long-term follow-up of the RCT of Bottom Line to evaluate the impacts of a successful college advising program on employment, earnings, and debt accumulation
Randomized controlled trial of Part-Time Students Accelerating in Learning (PT SAIL), an adaptation of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for part-time, currently enrolled students at an Ohio community college
Long-term follow-up of the ongoing RCT of the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) at three Ohio community colleges
RCT of Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE), a comprehensive program providing academic, personal, and financial supports to predominantly low-income students in a four-year college
RCT of Capital IDEA’s program to help low-income adults complete postsecondary education and obtain well-paying jobs in the field of nursing
RCT of InsideTrack’s coaching and mentoring program for recent college dropouts
RCT of tnAchieves, an intensive coaching program for low-income community college students
Long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of the Monitoring Advising Analytics to Promote Success (MAAPS) student-advising program at 11 universities
RCT of providing college students with federal loan eligibility information
RCT evaluation of Federal Work Study for college undergraduates across the City University of New York system
RCT of a correctional education program for prison inmates, aimed at increasing postsecondary enrollment and decreasing recidivism
Longer-term follow-up of an ongoing RCT of the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) at three Ohio community colleges
Replication RCT of City University of New York’s (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) at Westchester Community College
RCT of the ASAP model in two West Virginia community colleges, aimed at increasing occupationally-focused degree completion and earnings
RCT of Creating Birds of a Feather – an intervention aimed at increasing student success in college
RCT of Bottom Line, an program that provides one-on-one guidance to help low-income, first-generation students get into and graduate from college
RCT of College Forward — a program that provides individualized coaching to help low-income students get into and graduate from college
Long-term follow-up of an RCT to evaluate North Carolina’s Early College High Schools
RCTs investigating the near and medium-term impacts of behavioral nudge interventions to improve college entry and persistence among low-income students
RCT of One Million Degrees, a program providing financial, academic, professional, and personal supports for low-income community college students
RCT of up-front performance incentives for instructors and students in community colleges
Replication RCT of Stay the Course, an intervention designed to increase college persistence and completion by low-income community college students
Evaluation of Tacoma Housing Authority’s College Housing Assistance Program (CHAP), which provides rental assistance vouchers to homeless or “near-homeless” community college students
An RCT of Multiple Measures Assessment in Texas
Regulatory Policy (Health, Safety, Environmental)
Evaluation of automated enforcement of outdoor water restrictions in Fresno, California
RCT of Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) workplace inspections
RCT to evaluate the effect of receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) on mortality among older adults
Substance Abuse Prevention / Treatment
Evaluation of peer navigators for emergency department patients presenting with an opioid overdose
Replication RCT of PROSPER, a community-wide system for delivering evidence-based substance misuse prevention programs for youth
RCT of PROSPER – a community-wide substance abuse prevention program for youth
RCT Evaluation of LifeSkills Training in Minnesota
RCT Evaluation of LifeSkills Training to Prevent Substance Abuse in High School Students
Unplanned Pregnancy Prevention
Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy (T.O.P.P.)
Replication RCT of Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy (T.O.P.P.) in 11 New York City hospitals
