Early Reading and Math Achievement

"The Early Reading and Mathematics Achievement of Children Who Repeated Kindergarten or Who Began School a Year Late." Lizabeth M. Malone, Jerry West, Kristin Denton Flanagan, and Jen Park, May 2006. This report examines the association between kindergarten enrollment status (repeating kindergarten or delaying entry) and children's first-grade reading and math achievement. Based on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, the authors find that in fall 1998, five percent of all children were repeating kindergarten; six percent were attending kindergarten for the first time even though they were age-eligible to do so a year earlier. At the end of first grade, children who repeated kindergarten had lower reading and math knowledge and skills than those who started on time. At the end of first grade, children whose kindergarten entry was delayed demonstrated slightly higher reading knowledge and skills than those who started on time. In math, these children were behind their classmates who began kindergarten on time.

Rural Welfare-to-Work

"Paths to Work in Rural Places: Key Findings and Lessons from the Impact Evaluation of the Future Steps Rural Welfare-to-Work Program" March 2006, Alicia Meckstroth, Andrew Burwick, Michael Ponza, Shawn Marsh, Tim Novak, Shannon Phillips, Nuria Diaz-Tena, and Judy Ng. Helping low-income families in rural areas find gainful employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency is an ongoing policy concern. The Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies demonstration is using rigorous experimental designs to build knowledge about how to help low-income families in rural areas strive toward sustained employment and self-sufficiency. This report examines an employment-focused case management initiative deployed in southern Illinois. Despite a lack of impacts on employment, earnings, and self-sufficiency, the findings imply a need for stronger interventions in rural areas and demonstrate the challenges inherent in designing, implementing, and evaluating programs in these types of settings.

Riding the Technology Wave

“New Hospital Information Technology: Is It Helping to Improve Quality?” Trends in Health Care Quality, Issue Brief #3. Suzanne Felt-Lisk, May 2006. Although health information technology (IT) is at the center of efforts to improve the nation’s health care system by enhancing patient safety and reducing inefficiencies, little evidence exists to link IT to quality improvements and efficiency gains. This new issue brief reports on how six types of information technology have affected hospital quality, based on interviews with senior hospital executives. The findings suggest that IT has been an important factor in enhancing quality, particularly in terms of more timely clinical information, diagnosis, and treatment.

Medicare's Drug Benefit

"Premiums and Cost Sharing Features of Medicare's New Prescription Drug Program, 2006." Marsha Gold, May 2006. The Medicare drug benefit that Congress created in 2003 aims to provide more private plan options for senior and disabled beneficiaries in Medicare, with increased payments to attract sponsors and to support added benefits attractive to enrollees, especially in rural areas. The effects of these changes and additional payments are highly visible, with a total of 1,314 Medicare Advantage plans and 1,429 stand-alone prescription drug plans being offered. Beneficiaries in most states have a large range of choices, with at least 40 stand-alone drug plans, and, in some areas, dozens of Medicare Advantage options. This brief provides a comprehensive look at premiums, deductibles, and selected cost-sharing features of Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans in 2006, including Medicare HMOs, new regional (and traditional local) PPOs, and private fee-for-service plans, and compares them to stand-alone Medicare drug plans. The new analysis finds that Medicare Advantage plans on average charge less for their drug coverage ($18 per month) than stand-alone drug plans ($37 per month).

SIPP Data for Disability Analyses

"A Guide to Disability Statistics from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)." David Wittenburg and Sandi Nelson, December 2005. This paper discusses the utility of the SIPP data in disability analyses. It includes a summary of descriptive statistics on people with disabilities from multiple SIPP panels, including the most recent one (2001). The findings provide insight into the health, employment, income, and program participation outcomes associated with different definitions of disability and illustrate the potential for using SIPP data in further disability analyses.

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