Renewing Public Education

The nation's public education system leaves much to be desired. Increases in public funding for education have brought about neither equity nor hoped-for increases in student performance. Indeed, performance in math, science, and reading is no better than it was in the early 1970s, although gains during the 1980s and early 1990s reversed the declines of that decade. The level of funding per student has risen but still varies enormously. Average spending in some states is twice as high as in others; within the same state, differences of $5,000 per student across districts are not uncommon. Many of the urban poor and immigrant children have special educational needs, yet these groups often must attend classes in decrepit physical plants and face dangerous conditions in and out of school. Moreover, their schools often have overworked staff and inadequate materials and equipment. Too many students are dropping out of high school at a time when even a high school education is viewed as the bare minimum for obtaining a job.

There is growing recognition that schools must change their perspectives on learning, their organization and management, and their classroom activities, if they are to serve the needs of today's diverse and dynamic society. Reform initiatives abound and assessments to date suggest promising directions, but no clearly successful model has emerged.

The American system of higher education, considered the best in the world, is also beset by problems that threaten its standing. American colleges and universities are coping with larger enrollments, including a growing number of students who need remedial education, at a time when the cost of providing education is outstripping the resources. Tuition has soared to make up the difference, a trend that threatens to exclude millions of students. Standards of quality are at risk.

There is broad consensus that providing high-quality education must be a national priority. RAND is helping America pursue this priority.

• For over two decades, RAND has conducted a notable series of school reform assessments and is now a partner in developing, implementing, and testing one of the country's most ambitious school reform efforts, New American Schools.
• We're developing new ways to measure the outcomes of school reform, including the effectiveness of different types of tests, from hands-on performance to Web-based assessments.
• We've launched a broad program of studies examining both the cost and the effects of class-size reduction on teaching and learning.
• We've been at the forefront of research on the fiscal crisis facing higher education, and we have examined how an outmoded governance system, designed for an era of growing resources, can blunt reform efforts.

A consistent lesson emerges from our work: Major impediments to education reform are often elements of the system itself -- structural and political problems that prevent innovators from making the kinds of changes that would lead to markedly better results. With this lesson in mind, we're applying our experience to help create schools and colleges that put the welfare of students above other interests.

Reassessing the System

We're examining the design and implementation of proposed reforms -- charter schools, vouchers, contracting arrangements, site-based management, new partnerships between communities and schools. As we learn how successful reforms can take root, we're also assessing whether the education system can evolve to meet the challenge or whether successful innovation will demand new institutions.

A Systematic Approach to Thinking

We've called for a more systemic approach to thinking about the enterprise that fosters collaboration between schools and colleges. Only by linking the parts of the system can we establish clear standards, assess how students are doing, offer effective teacher training and development, concentrate on changing the processes that produce good outcomes, and reward progress.

Meeting Education Needs

At all levels of education, we are working to ensure that the system meets the needs of poor, urban, and ethnically diverse communities.

Despite considerable progress, gaps persist in educational achievement among ethnic and racial groups. We are evaluating the ways in which vouchers and whole-school-design reforms may benefit schools serving large numbers of disadvantaged students.

Our product is empirical, timely, usable analysis of what's working, what isn't, and why. We are committed to helping build a continuum of education from kindergarten through college that is accessible to all Americans and provides the training our nation's people will need in the 21st century.

What Others Have To Say

Bruce Karatz

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kaufman & Broad Home Corporation; Member, RAND Board of Trustees; Chairman, RAND Education Advisory Board
 

"RAND has changed the nature of the policy questions in a number of areas in American education -- such as helping the at-risk population, improving testing, and restructuring higher education. I believe RAND's education research is making a difference in both policy and practice."

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Maria, a fifth grader in Long Beach, California, was involved in RAND's experiment with "hands-on" testing in science class.

Maria remarks, "I would rather take a test like this because it's not just facts you memorize. You have to actually think about an experiment and this is more like real science."