RAND's research on pre-K, K-12, and higher education covers issues such as assessment and accountability, choice-based and standards-based school reform, vocational training, and the value of arts education and policy in sustaining communities and promoting a well-rounded community.
Many factors contribute to a student's academic performance, but research suggests that, among school-related factors, teachers matter most. What's less clear is how to measure an individual teacher's effectiveness. A new RAND Education website features fact sheets, blog posts, research briefs, and more on this important issue.
Working for pay is associated with substance use and delinquency among older adolescents, although information is scant about younger youth who work. This study investigates associations between self-reports of having a job and substance use and delinquent behaviors in a sample of U.S. 5th graders.
The authors use unique data to estimate the determinants of cognitive ability among 14-17-year olds in Senegal. Closing the schooling gaps between poor and wealthy children will also close most of the gap in cognitive skills between these groups.
The authors sought to describe the prevalence, characteristics, and mental health problems of children who experience perceived racial/ethnic discrimination.
The authors explored the level of violence exposure and trauma symptoms in Latino youth and the relationship of these factors with English language fluency.
This study describes preliminary data from a pilot study of a new program, Support for Students Exposed to Trauma, adapted from the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools program.
This article examines data from 2,575 high school students who participated in a teen-dating violence intervention study. The majority of participants were Latino (91%), and the sample was nearly evenly split with respect to gender (51% female). Items from two scales (boy-on-girl violence; girl-on-boy violence) reflecting teens' attitudes about dating violence were calibrated with the graded item response theory (IRT) model and evaluated for differential item functioning (DIF) by gender. Results support the use of IRT scores that account for DIF to minimize measurement error and improve inferences about gender differences in attitudes about dating violence
To establish the prevalence of recanting of life-time inhalant use, the authors identify correlates of recanting to gain insight to its causes and develop a method for distinguishing recanters who truly are versus are not life-time users of inhalants.
This report builds on the previous Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) program evaluation reports, presenting findings from three years of the TEEG program. Overall, the report discusses the participation decisions of eligible schools, the implementation experiences of TEEG participants, the manner in which performance pay plans were designed, and the program's outcomes.
This study explored the relationship between mathematics and science achievement and reform-oriented teaching over a 3-year period.
The authors found that men with higher and lower education levels, including those who did not complete high school, had similar HRQOL and self-efficacy outcomes. Because of the close relationship between income and education, broader studies into the associations of these variables and prostate cancer outcomes are needed.
Examines the impact of community and family poverty and educational attainment on educational goals and attainment among rural white youth (n=200).
Site visits offer a useful means to evaluate the implementation of school district obesity-related policies and develop interventions to translate school food policies into practice.
Researchers developed and evaluated a tool to help low-literacy patients adhere to their medication regimens after discharge from the hospital.
Examines whether teacher licensure test scores and other teacher attributes affect elementary student achievement, using longitudinal student-level data from Los Angeles.
In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita displaced more than one-fourth of Louisiana public school students. This article examines how these students fared in the first academic year following the storms.
Childhood overweight has increased rapidly over the last two decades. Energy-dense foods are cheaper per calorie, which could be a partial explanation for why the highest rates of obesity are observed among groups of limited economic means.
This article examines the expectation to complete a bachelor's degree among a predominantly low-income, mainly African American, panel of Baltimore youths at the end of high school, at age 22, and at age 28.
A four-year study of the nation’s largest private contractor of public school management reveals the ways in which Edison’s comprehensive approach, which aims to promote high-quality instruction, is affected by variation in school leadership and district policies.
Ways in which the assistance and resources provided by Edison as well as accountability mechanisms have translated into principal and teacher actions.
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