Child Policy

RAND Child Policy serves as a gateway to RAND research on children's issues from prenatal to age 18, and provides easy access to objective information that will help improve policy and decisionmaking. RAND research on child policy is conducted by multiple research divisions, and draws upon the expertise of over 140 researchers and consultants.

Child Policy research is organized by topic area, including research projects and publications. We deliver up-to-date research findings on children's issues to those who need it at the local, state, and national level. In addition, we offer a monthly email announcement of new RAND publications and projects, as well as a quarterly newsletter for Congressional staff.

We also operate the Promising Practices Network (PPN) on Children, Families and Communities to provide easy-to-understand information on what works to improve outcomes for children and their families.

More »Featured Research

Public and Private Collaboration Can Provide Arts Education, Aid Child Development — Jun. 18, 2008

Amid cutbacks in school arts education funding, public and private organizations in six urban regions have collaborated to expand access to arts learning for children in and outside of public school.

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Room for Improvement in California's Use of High-Quality Preschool Programs — Jun. 18, 2008

More than half of California’s preschoolers attend center-based early care and education programs, but the children who have the most to gain from preschool frequently are those least likely to participate in the programs.

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Ask the Experts about Television Exposure in Young Children — Jun. 19, 2008

What does research tell us about media and outcomes for young children? Child Policy experts answer your questions on the topic of videos and television programming for children under two years old.

View All »Related News & Commentary

June 18, 2008: Most California Children Attend Center-Based Preschools; Educational Quality of Programs Falls Short

June 18, 2008: Creative Collaborative Approaches Work to Maintain, Extend Arts Education in Six U.S. Urban Areas

June 10, 2008: Virginity Pledges May Help Postpone Intercourse Among Youth

May 12, 2008: RAND Study Provides Primer for Using Economics to Help Guide Early Childhood Policy Initiatives

May 7, 2008: Charter School Students in Chicago Enjoy Better Graduation, College Entry Rates

View All »Featured Reports

Early Childhood Interventions: Proven Results, Future Promise

Considers the potential consequences of not investing additional resources in children's lives, the range of early intervention programs, the demonstrated benefits of interventions having high-quality evaluations, the features associated with successful programs, and the returns to society associated with investing early in the lives of disadvantaged children. The findings indicate the existence of a body of sound research that can guide resource allocation decisions.

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Inspiration, Perspiration, and Time: Operations and Achievement in Edison Schools

In 2000, Edison Schools, the nation's largest education management organization, asked RAND to analyze its achievement outcomes and design implementation. RAND evaluated Edison's strategies for promoting student achievement in its schools, how it implemented those strategies, how its management affected student achievement, and what factors explained differences in achievement trends among its schools.