L to R: Joaquin Tamayo, Acting VP of Policy and MarCom, CIS National; Benjamin Goldman, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Cornell University and Research Affiliate at EdRedesign; Sharon Vigil, CEO, CIS of Central Texas; Dylan Amankwaah, Site Coordinator, CIS of the Nation’s Capital

 

On Tuesday, March 3, policymakers, press, and education leaders gathered at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center for a special briefing: “The CIS Effect: How Integrated Student Supports Create Economic Opportunity in America.”

The centerpiece was the federal debut of groundbreaking new research conducted by Opportunity Insights in partnership with the EdRedesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Authored by Benjamin Goldman, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Cornell University and Research Affiliate at EdRedesign; and Jamie Gracie, Postdoctoral Fellow at EdRedesign, the study is the first of its kind to track CIS students into adulthood and measure real, long-term economic outcomes.

Research findings reframe integrated student supports not as a social program, but as critical economic infrastructure with measurable, lasting returns for both students and taxpayers.

The briefing featured a powerful lineup of speakers:

Bill Milliken, Founder and Vice Chair of Communities In Schools, shared reflections on his advocacy efforts that have guided CIS for nearly five decades. Sharon Vigil, CEO of Communities In Schools of Central Texas, offered a practitioner’s perspective on what the model looks like in action. And Dylan Amankwaah, a third-year Site Coordinator with Communities In Schools of the Nation’s Capital, gave voice to the work on the ground and the students behind the data.