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MDRC released new findings today from its multiyear study of small high schools in New York City. These schools, which serve mostly disadvantaged students of color, continue to produce sustained positive effects, raising graduation rates by 9.5 percentage points. More of their graduates also emerge ready for college: 6.8 percentage points more according to one measure of college readiness used by the City University of New York.

A 2012 study by the nonprofit research group MDRC found that New York City students who attended small, specialized high schools that typically served about 400 students each were more likely to graduate than students at large, traditional high schools, some of which served 3,000 students or more.
 

The conversation around increasing degree attainment often focuses on helping more students from disadvantaged backgrounds get prepared for and admitted to college. But at a recent forum on Capitol Hill, the conversation shifted toward a more nuanced aspect — helping students gain admittance to the college that represents the best academic fit. The concept is known as “match.”

Improving the path to college for low-income students is such a priority among policymakers that a high-level conference on the matter was held Wednesday at the National Press Club featuring Hoxby, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard University.