In a series of evaluations, researchers took advantage of a lottery that gave low-income uninsured adults the chance to apply for Medicaid in the United States to examine the impact of health insurance on these outcomes over the first two years.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the effect of a basic CCT program, as well as two complementary interventions, on households’ vulnerability to irregular weather patterns. Providing households with vocational training or capital grants to generate non-agricultural income helps improve consumption and resilience to weather shocks.

This study examined the impact of an administrative simplification and a series of behavioral nudges (all via letters sent by mail) on enrollment in subsidized health insurance plans. The administrative simplification, which provided a streamlined path to enrollment, had the largest effect on enrollment, as compared to personalized and generic reminder letters.

Researchers studied the impact of providing outreach and assistance to households that are likely eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, on enrollment in the program.

Researchers used Chicago’s school choice program, which uses a random lottery to allocate slots in elementary schools, to evaluate how the opportunity to attend a higher-quality school impacts academic achievement. They found that lottery winners are more likely to attend higher-performing schools, but they do not have higher test scores than their peers who were not offered slots.

Researchers partnered with local agencies in King County, Washington to evaluate the impact of providing transit subsidies on rates of FTA in court. While the study was disrupted due to Covid-19, the pilot results indicated that transit subsidies had little effect on reducing FTA.

Researchers, in partnership with the São Paulo Education Secretariat, conducted a randomized evaluation in ninth grade classrooms to investigate the mechanisms driving the effects of communicating with parents on education outcomes.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of changes in school management practices on student outcomes over time by introducing a large-scale principal training program for school directors in Puerto Rico and testing different strategies to sustain improved management practices after the program.

Researchers sent emails to schools posing as parents of students with randomly-varied characteristics to assess if schools responded differently to different types of students. The researchers found that on average both charter and traditional public schools were less likely to respond to students that were signaled as having disabilities, a behavior problem, or low prior academic achievement. The researchers also found that compared to traditional public schools, charter schools were less likely to respond to messages that signal the student has a disability.

Researchers conducted a randomized intervention to measure the impact of financial incentives for reaching daily step goals on physical activity and depression risk during the Covid-19 pandemic, to better understand the association between physical activity and mental health. While program participants significantly increased their daily steps relative to the comparison group, this change in physical activity did not lead to improvement in their mental well-being.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of text message reminders on rates of failure to appear in court (FTA) among people who are unhoused and housed in rural Shasta County, California. The reminders reduced FTA rates for the housed population, but did not impact FTA rates for people experiencing homelessness.

Researchers worked with the City of Rochester and local social service providers to evaluate the Bridges to Success program, in which participants were paired with mentors who helped them move towards economic self-sufficiency.

Researchers partnered with policymakers in New York City to evaluate the impacts of a redesigned court summons form and text message reminders on failure to appear (FTA) in court. A randomized evaluation found that text message reminders were able to reduce FTA by up to 26 percent, translating to 3,700 fewer arrest warrants per year.

In this randomized evaluation, researchers evaluated the impact of a medical debt relief program (that buys and relieves a portion of individuals’ medical debt) on measures of mental and physical health, health care utilization, and financial well-being—including financial distress, credit score, debt balances, and repayment behavior. Individuals randomized to receive debt relief did not see improvements in the health and financial outcomes measured compared to those in the comparison group.

Researchers will conduct a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different types of notifications on rates of failure to appear in traffic and criminal misdemeanor courts.