Recent Clients
How To Buy An Election: Machine Learning to Predict Election Results
The Federal Election Prediction Model predicts U.S. House of Representatives election results using advanced machine learning algorithms. The analysis predicts the number of votes a candidate will receive in a given election cycle, taking into account campaign...
Bearing the Cost of Early Care and Education in Colorado: An Economic Analysis
BRC partnered with the Butler Institute at the University of Denver to understand Colorado’s early childhood workforce, including its current scope and the costs and obstacles to expanding it to meet future needs. The project was led by Dr. Meg Franko, Executive...
Palm Beach County Social Return On Investment (SROI) Analyses
BRC is working with the Children’s Services Council (CSC) of Palm Beach County to estimate the social return on investment (SROI) of the CSC’s programs. The analyses are based on the costs and social benefits of the CSC’s investments in early childhood education, professional development and quality improvement, family supports, and other programs. Benefits are calculated by reviewing the most recent literature on outcomes and economic benefits of each of the CSC’s program, adjusting for local costs. The resulting analyses will be used to help identify the most effective ways for the CSC to invest its funding and to communicate the value of the CSC’s programs to stakeholders.
Denver Preschool Program Access and Capacity Study
BRC led a study to evaluate access and capacity for preschool in Denver. The study, which was sponsored by the Denver Preschool Program (DPP) examined availability of licensed preschool slots throughout the city, and yielded a need index which represented the ratio of preschool-age population to preschool slots in each census tract in Denver. In addition, the study used geo-coded data on provider locations to determine the number of high-quality preschool slots within walking distance of each of Denver’s public housing units.
Pay For Success Technical Support
BRC is working with the Sorensen Impact Center at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business to provide technical support for Pay For Success programs across the West. BRC’s role includes providing cost-benefit analysis, evaluation consultation, and research design support for communities and organizations considering Pay for Success programs in early childhood.
Massachusetts Non-Traditional Hours Child Care Study
BRC Partnered with Linda Mills Consulting to conduct a study of the need for non-traditional hours child care in Massachusetts for the Mass. Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). The study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate access to and need for child care outside of traditional work hours. The study involved focus groups and interviews with providers and a survey which was distributed to 2,000 parents throughout the state.
Colorado Early Investment Model
The Colorado Early Investment Model is the first interactive model to map costs and benefits of a state’s entire early childhood system. The model was commissioned by the Colorado Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC) to help stakeholders better understand the scope of the state’s current EC system, and the costs associated with expanding the system.
ELPASO Evaluation
Engaged Latino Parents Advancing School Outcomes (ELPASO) is a new grassroots imitative funded by the Community Foundation of Boulder County as part of its School Readiness Initiative. The program aims to empower the Latino community to drive school readiness outcomes for children throughout the county.
Latest News
The Moral Imperative Of Effective Altruism
This past August, a thousand or so entrepreneurs gathered in Berkeley, California to talk about making the world a better place. They represented the usual suspects you’d find at a Bay Area conference – data wonks, business strategists, venture capitalists, and...
Strengthening Colorado’s Early Childhood Workforce
BRC is partnering with the Butler Institute at the University of Denver to better understand the economic contribution of the child care sector, and to determine sustainable strategies for building a highly qualified workforce.
Using Evidence To Do The Most Good: The Effective Altruism Global Conference
This summer I had the opportunity to attend the EA Global conference in Berkeley, which brought together people from the realms of philosophy, international health and development, research methods, nonprofit management, philanthropy and many other fields to think about ways to make our work as effective as possible.
Presentation at the Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors Conference
Each year, the Annual Conference of the Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors hosts one of the nation’s most dynamic conversations about the feasibility, research, and policy implications of Pay for Success programs. The conference is organized by the Institute for Child Success, Ready Nation, and Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah, with whom I partner as a Senior Research Fellow.
Presentation on Pay For Success at Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference
Last week I had the opportunity to present on the opportunities and challenges presented by Pay For Success programs in early childhood. Two early childhood PFS are already in progress in the U.S. – in Chicago and Utah — and another has just been launched in South Carolina.
Two Definitions of Child Care Quality
As I think about the conversations I heard about early childhood in the past year, I find people are usually speaking the same language. At conferences, in journals, and in legislative chambers, those of us who live within the early childhood realm generally agree...
Andrew Brodsky Partnering With Policy Innovation Lab On Pay For Success TA
I’m excited to be working with the Policy Innovation Lab at the University of Utah’s Sorensen Global Impact Investing Center to help develop Pay For Success programs across the Western U.S. The PIL works across sectors to develop innovative, data-driven approaches to...
The Five Warning Signs Of EAU (Evaluation As Usual)
Is your organization suffering from Evaluation As Usual (EAU)? Symptoms of EAU include overly enthusiastic language about successes, wish-washy discussion of potentially negative results, and a general lack of objective and critical data analysis and discussion....
EC State Advisory Councils Final Report Highlights Colorado and New York Cost-Effectiveness Models
The final report from the Early Childhood State Advisory Councils, released in May, documents the $92 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to 45 states to help build higher-quality early childhood systems. The funding touched the lives...
Cool New Cost Effectiveness Tool From Center For Cost-Benefit Studies
Apart from the words “free ice cream”, there’s nothing more exciting in my mailbox than an e-mail that says “new web-based cost-effectiveness tool.” Given the approximately 550$ billion we spend on K-12 education alone in this country, understanding the impact of...