New Research Proves Personalized Student Supports Improves Academic Performance and Long-Term Earnings

A novel study conducted by a Harvard-Cornell research team demonstrates that individualized supports for students struggling in high-poverty schools—addressing needs from academic to health and housing—advances economic mobility.

The EdRedesign Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Education today announced new co-sponsored research that shows providing students born into low-income families with personalized supports, whether in the form of academic, social, housing, or health assistance, significantly raises test scores, boosts high school graduation rates, and improves adult earnings. 

Authored by Benjamin Goldman, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Cornell University, a Research Principal at Opportunity Insights and a former Linda G. Hammett Ory Fellow and current Research Affiliate at EdRedesign; and Jamie Gracie, a former Linda G. Hammett Ory Fellow and current Postdoctoral Fellow with EdRedesign and an Affiliate of Opportunity Insights, the working paper titled, “When Resources Meet Relationships: The Returns to Personalized Supports for Low-Income Students,” evaluates Communities In Schools (CIS), a program that places a "site coordinator" in high-poverty schools to connect students with both in-school supports (such as tutoring and mentoring) and out-of-school resources (including nutrition assistance, housing supports, and health services), tailored to their individual needs.  

Key findings from the study include that Communities In Schools’ individualized student supports: 

• Raises standardized test scores. Three years of access to CIS increases high-risk students’ math test scores by 0.18 (.11 unscaled) standard deviations.
• Produces substantial gains in high school graduation and college enrollment. Three years of CIS exposure raises high school graduation rates for students by 5.2% and two-year college enrollment by 9.1%.  
• Advances economic mobility. The authors project that three years of CIS exposure increases earnings at age 27 by 4.3% annually.
• Yields a return on investment. Three years of CIS exposure—an investment by CIS of about $3,000 per student—is estimated to increase lifetime earnings by more than $75,000 ($36,000 in present day value).

“Initiatives like improving teacher quality, reducing class sizes, and expanding tutoring have all been shown to make a difference for children and youth, but students from low-income families may face additional barriers that can make taking advantage of these resources difficult,” says Gracie. “Our findings demonstrate that pairing resources with a social connection and a caring adult, a Navigator, can make meaningful progress in expanding economic opportunity.”  

“The academic gains we observe from CIS programs are only one piece of the broader picture explaining improvements in graduation rates and earnings,” explains Goldman. “CIS also helps keep students engaged in school and reduces adverse outcomes such as suspensions. These non-cognitive improvements are a key part of the program’s long-run impact.”

CIS is the largest integrated student supports program in the country, leveraging personalization to serve 2 million students across more than 3,500 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia each year.

“Nearly 50 years ago, CIS pioneered a simple idea centered around the belief that every child deserves a community of support strong enough to carry them through school and into adulthood,” said Rey Saldaña, a Communities In Schools alumnus who now serves as the organization’s National President and CEO and a 2025-2027 EdRedesign By All Means Senior Fellow. “This research affirms what we witness every day: when you build authentic relationships with and connect students to the right resources, you transform the trajectory of their lives. We’re proud to offer a proven model that empowers students today and opens doors to opportunity for generations to come.”

This research comes at a time when personalized student supports initiatives, through both Communities In Schools and other leading models and strategies, are expanding across the country. The existing examples show tremendous promise for future policy and local, state, and national approaches.  

“This important research on Communities In Schools implementation shows that it is a promising intervention to improve student outcomes,” comments Margaret Spellings, Former Secretary of Education under President George W. Bush, now President and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. “The findings show that individualized, relationship-based programs that address students' academic and non-academic needs can significantly increase the success of our most at-risk students. By providing targeted supports, Communities In Schools helps better prepare students for the workforce and puts them on a path toward long-term self-sufficiency.”   

“We’ve long sought to close the academic and economic achievement gap for low-income students, effectively tackling intergenerational poverty. Personalized student supports is a cornerstone strategy that enables a full range of public and private services to connect with struggling young people through a relationship with a caring adult. It’s a scalable model that should be applied to any community or school district in America,” says John King, former Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama, now Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY).

“This research offers practical guidance for programs and policies that aim to improve student outcomes and expand opportunity in communities where it has long been limited. Like other interventions we’ve studied—such as helping families move to higher-opportunity areas—these findings underscore a critical insight: pairing social supports with traditional financial investments is key to driving impact. In this case, combining integrated student services and navigation with public school funding delivered substantial and lasting gains in both educational success and economic mobility,” adds Raj Chetty, Director, Opportunity Insights, and Professor of Economics, Harvard University. 

The theory behind personalized integrated student supports is central to Success Planning, a core element of EdRedesign’s strategy to expand opportunities and ensure upward mobility for all children and families. Success Planning is a relationship-based strategy that connects each child or youth to an adult Navigator who co-creates a personalized plan for action that addresses a range of needs both inside and outside of the classroom.

“We know that children born into poverty are disproportionately likely to become adults living in poverty because of systemic barriers and obstacles,” notes Tauheedah Jackson, Deputy Director and Director of the Institute for Success Planning, EdRedesign. “We’ve long recognized that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t sufficient. This research validates our Success Planning strategy, which prioritizes meeting children and youth where they are, building on their individual strengths, and addressing their unique needs. Providing personalized integrated supports that center trusting relationships is key to addressing the impacts of intergenerational poverty. This is a significant addition to the body of research showing that trusting relationships and personalized, comprehensive supports and opportunities are essential for children’s healthy development and success in school and in life.”  

EdRedesign’s Success Planning strategy is a complementary approach that can be aligned and implemented within a variety of models and contexts, including CIS. EdRedesign’s Institute for Success Planning Community of Practice includes Communities In School affiliates and Promise Neighborhoods, Full-Service Community Schools, Blue Meridian Partners Place Matters communities, and members of Partners for Rural Impact, Purpose Built Communities, StriveTogether, and William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children’s Zone networks, among other national and local strategies. Success Planning, when integrated within a strong cross-sector cradle-to-career place-based strategy has the potential to amplify impact and accelerate progress toward outcomes that support upward mobility for children and youth experiencing the impacts of intergenerational poverty. To date, 34 communities from across the country, in rural, urban, and suburban areas, have participated in EdRedesign’s Institute for Success Planning Community of Practice to build, scale, and sustain their own local initiatives grounded in their specific contexts.

“EdRedesign was founded over ten years ago on the big ideas that personalization and cross-sector collaboration can close educational, health, and well-being gaps, while increasing opportunity for all kids in and out of school,” says Paul Reville, Founder and Faculty Director, EdRedesign; Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, Harvard Graduate School of Education; former Massachusetts Secretary of Education. “This research is another critical step in providing hard evidence that those big ideas are not only feasible but effective, efficient, and successful in removing barriers and unlocking opportunity.”   

The compelling results of this research aren’t the only novel part of the study. The methods used by Goldman and Gracie reflect some of the latest strategies in data analysis. For example, they find that long-run program impacts can be reliably forecast using short-run administrative data on both test scores and non-cognitive outcomes like attendance and discipline. This approach offers promise for evaluating interventions in real time by looking beyond test scores to capture the full dimensions of student development that programs affect.  

“We're committed to growing the evidence base for this burgeoning field as we work to identify the most effective interventions in creating pathways to social and economic mobility for millions of young people and families across the nation,” notes Rob Watson, Executive Director, EdRedesign; Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education. “Tackling intergenerational poverty is one of the great issues of our time and we're eager to facilitate collaborations between the nation's leading economic mobility researchers and place-based practitioners to answer big questions and understand what works along the cradle-to-career continuum.”  

To learn more about this latest research, explore the policy brief, paper, and non-technical summary.  

About EdRedesign

Founded in 2014 by Paul Reville, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, EdRedesign provides catalytic support to the cradle-to-career place-based partnership field to drive systems-level change and open personalized pathways to well-being, educational attainment, civic engagement, and upward mobility. To support this growing field to effect transformational change that serves the needs and talents of individual children and youth, our work focuses on talent development, actionable research, our Institute for Success Planning, and our By All Means initiatives. Our mission is to ensure the social, emotional, physical, and academic development and well-being of all children and youth, especially those affected by racism, poverty, and disinvestment.

Contact  
Julie M. Allen, Senior Director of Strategic Communications, Development, and Operations 
julie_allen@gse.harvard.edu

Sarah Grucza, Director of Communications and Public Affairs  
sarah_grucza@gse.harvard.edu