All Research Topics

The USC Price Center for Social Innovation brings an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to social innovation research. Through relevant, rigorous research, Price Center faculty explore a variety of topics that seek to inform and advance new models of equity and opportunity for low-income children and families.

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The Social Innovation Trap: Critical Insights into an Emerging Field
Emergency Aid Programs at USC and LACCD
Education
An Evaluation of the Emergency Aid Programs at the University of Southern California and Los Angeles Community College District

In its third year of implementation, the Leonetti/ O’Connell Family Foundation’s emergency aid programs at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) have continued to provide direct cash assistance to students experiencing financial hardships.

Research
Criminal Justice
Building Safety In Los Angeles: A Policy Agenda For Local Health and Safer Communitie

This report aims to assist jurisdictions trying to reimagine public safety through focusing on key policy areas, and applies policy frameworks to present day Los Angeles.

Research
Housing Instability
Accelerating Employment Retention Strategies for the Precariously Housed

This report outlines the findings from the project’s activities including an employer survey, Innovation Lab sessions, and case studies

Research
Education
The Segregation Index

The Segregation Index will be a comprehensive resource for tracking neighborhood and school segregation in the U.S., across every neighborhood and every school.

Research
Inequality
Resilience and Rebuilding: Recommendations for an Equitable Recovery in South L.A.

This report examines ways to improve pandemic recovery and to remove pre-pandemic barriers in South Los Angeles.

Research
Inequality
Examining the Complex Social Safety Net For Low-Income Working Families

This report examines the resources and benefits available to families and identifies the points at which the social safety net may become a barrier to economic independence.

Research SIB
Social Innovation
Social Impact Bonds 2.0

The complexity of social problems, paired with constrained public resources, requires social innovators to identify new approaches for financing the delivery of social services.

Social Impact Bonds 2.0? Findings from a Study of Four UK SIBs

Chris Fox, Hilary Olson, Harry Armitage

Policy Evaluation and Research Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University and USC Price Center for Social Innovation

Year: 2020

NDSC Criminal Justice Data Initiative: Year 1 Wrap Report

Elly Schoen, Gary Painter, and Erroll Southers

Neighborhood Data for Social Change

Year: 2020

The past decade has elevated the urgent need for police reform, brought to the forefront by high-profile police killings and movements like #BlackLivesMatter. To better understand conceptions of public safety and support the growing public interest in criminal justice reform, … Continue reading →

Toward a Framework for Public Accountability in Education Reform

Ethan Hutt, Morgan Polikoff

SAGE Publications

Year: 2020

Public accountability through information disclosure is a pillar of modern education reform efforts. Despite the ubiquity of this approach, we argue that public accountability in education is under-theorized and often predictably unlikely to achieve its intended policy goals. Drawing on … Continue reading →

The Formalized Processes Districts Use to Evaluate Mathematics Textbooks

Morgan Polikoff, Shauna E. Campbell, Sarah Rabovsky, Cory Koedel, Quynh Tien Le, Tenice Hardaway, Hovanes Gasparian

Journal of Curriculum Studies

Year: 2020

Textbooks are a widely used educational intervention that can affect student achievement, and the marginal cost of choosing a more effective textbook is typically small. However, we know little about how textbooks get from the publisher to the classroom. The … Continue reading →

Curriculum Reform in the Common Core Era: Evaluating Elementary Math Textbooks Across Six U.S. States

David Blazar, Blake Heller, Thomas J. Cane, Morgan Polikoff, Douglas O. Staiger, Scott Carrell, Dan Goldhaber, Douglas N. Harris, Rachel Hitch, Kristian L. Holden, Michal Kurlaender

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Year: 2020

Can a school or district improve student achievement simply by switching to a higher quality textbook or curriculum? We conducted the first multi-textbook, multi-state effort to estimate textbook efficacy following widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and … Continue reading →

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