To determine which interventions are most effective in improving student, teacher, and school performance, RAND researchers investigate a variety of approaches — including pay-for-performance incentives for educators, summer learning programs for disadvantaged students, training techniques for military personnel, and continuing education for adult learners. Metrics for assessing educational outcomes and the impact of national and local policies also are considered.
REPORT
This briefing uses existing statewide and county data to provide California early care and education quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) planners and other stakeholders with important information about some fundamentals of the proposed QRIS rating scheme that could inform California's QRIS design in advance of field-based pilot efforts.
REPORT
Better child outcomes are the ultimate goal of early care and education (ECE) quality improvement (QI) efforts, but assessing these outcomes is difficult and rarely done. This study identifies five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of QI initiatives such as quality rating and improvement systems. The study assesses the merits of each strategy and offers guidance for its use.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Identifies five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives designed to raise the quality of care in early care and education settings such as quality rating and improvement systems.
PROJECT
UK Higher Education Funding Councils will begin using a new Research Education Framework in 2014 to assess the quality and impact of a university's research before providing further funding. RAND Europe's ImpactFinder can help UK higher education institutions evaluate their research impact.
REPORT
The ImpactFinder provides an overview of research impact and a basis for more detailed examination of the 'why and how' of research translation. The tool is implemented as a web questionnaire and collects information across a range of social, cultural and economic impacts. It was developed to meet the need of the UK's new framework for research funding but potentially has wider application.
COMMENTARY
The results from Montgomery County demonstrate that an integrative housing policy can be an effective form of school policy for disadvantaged children, writes Heather Schwartz.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This article examines the micropolitics of implementing New York City's Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program and school governance bodies (Compensation Committees) that determined distribution of school-level rewards among personnel.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Develops and tests an approach to program-level assessment of interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) courses that identifies strengths and deficiencies in technical, production quality, and pedagogical aspects of IMI courseware.
COMMENTARY
Motivation alone does not improve schools. Even if incentives inspire staff to improve practices or work together, educators may not have the capacity or resources to bring about improvement, writes Julie Marsh.
NEWS RELEASE
A New York City program designed to improve student performance through school-based financial incentives for teachers did not improve student achievement, most likely because it did not change teacher behavior and the conditions needed to motivate staff were not achieved.
REPORT
A New York City program designed to improve student performance through school-based financial incentives for teachers did not improve student achievement, most likely because it did not change teacher behavior and the conditions needed to motivate staff were not achieved.
RESEARCH BRIEF
New York City's Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program did not improve student achievement at any grade level, perhaps in part because it provided no significant additional motivation beyond other accountability incentives.
REPORT
In 2007, Hawai'i launched its P–3 initiative, which aims for every child to read at grade level by third grade. The first year of RAND's multiyear evaluation examined P–3 plans, activities, and policy in two demonstration sites and at the initiative level to determine how the system underlying P–3 monitors, incentivizes, and supports efforts to promote literacy. The evaluation team also helped develop logic models to…
MULTIMEDIA
Catherine Augustine and Jennifer McCombs, researchers at the RAND Corporation, spoke with RAND media relations officer Joseph Dougherty about the loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer months and how students who attend summer programs can disrupt the educational loss and do better in school than peers who do not attend the same programs.
NEWS RELEASE
The loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer months is cumulative over the course of a student's career and further widens the achievement gap between low- and upper-income students.
REPORT
The loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer is cumulative over the course of a student's career and further widens the achievement gap between low- and upper-income students. Those who attend summer programs can disrupt that loss and do better in school.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Summer learning programs can prevent the summertime loss of knowledge and skills that disproportionately affects low-income students. A study of existing programs resulted in targeted recommendations for school districts, policymakers, and funders.
REPORT
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) could be reauthorized in 2011, and there is much discussion about the most-effective way to balance federal and state responsibilities for improving schools and how best to frame federal policy to promote this goal.
RESEARCH BRIEF
To improve schools, federal policymakers should consider state capacity, cost, and state politics and design policies that support more experimentation, evaluation, and dissemination of new knowledge while avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach.
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