Learning from School Leaders About SEL During a Time of Crisis
It would be easy for social and emotional learning to fall by the wayside as school leaders work to address students' health, safety, and learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and funders should take seriously the perspectives and concerns that school leaders have shared.
Sep 4, 2020 The RAND Blog
How to Reopen Schools: Q&A with RAND Experts
The debate over opening U.S. schools is growing more heated by the day. In this Q&A, RAND researchers discuss the different approaches for reopening, how online learning went in the spring, ways to help disadvantaged students, and more.
Jul 23, 2020 The RAND Blog
How COVID-19 Affected the Nation's Schools: New Data Gives Insights for Planning
RAND surveyed teachers and principals to gauge how the pandemic has affected schooling, what supports these educators need, and how they are thinking about the next school year.
May 26, 2020 The RAND Blog
Schools Pivot Online in Wake of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts
Nearly all school-age children in the United States are no longer in the classroom as districts shut down to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus. RAND education researchers discuss how this situation might exacerbate educational inequities, how districts and teachers are innovating and what they need, and what parents can do.
Apr 2, 2020 The RAND Blog
Online Doesn't Have to Mean Impersonal
Children's needs extend beyond the purely academic. It is important that their social and emotional well-being is supported as instruction moves online during the COVID-19 pandemic. A whole-child view of what students need could benefit them now more than ever.
Apr 2, 2020 The 74 Million
Navigating College and Career Readiness in a Time of Uncertainty
How we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic today will likely have longer-term effects. This means that we need to think about people who are actively preparing for that future: high school students looking to enter college and careers.
Mar 26, 2020 The RAND Blog
Back to School Means Back to SEL for America's Teachers and Principals
Schools are increasingly adopting programs and practices to build social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. Policymakers can benefit from understanding the educator perspective: how they feel about SEL, what they're doing to promote it, and what resources they need.
Sep 4, 2019 CASEL Measuring SEL Blog
For Teachers, a Good Boss Makes All the Difference
Districts that try to place an effective leader in every school could reap educational benefits in the classroom. Giving a teacher a good boss also could be a powerful element in a broader strategy to recruit and retain highly effective educators.
Apr 4, 2019 The 74 Million
How Do You Measure Social and Emotional Learning?
As the desire to improve SEL for all students grows, it is increasingly important to measure its effectiveness. But the field has lacked an organized method of identifying, choosing, and using the best assessments to measure students' competencies. Two newly developed tools can help.
Mar 28, 2019 The Hechinger Report
Measuring Social-Emotional Skills, Carefully
In the often-fraught debate over education policy, there is growing agreement that educators should pay close attention to the development of the social and emotional skills that allow students to persevere when working on difficult tasks, regulate emotions, and work effectively in teams. But measuring such skills remains a significant challenge.
Feb 28, 2019 FutureEd
Choosing the Right Social and Emotional Learning Programs and Practices
Educators have become increasingly interested in supporting students to cultivate the inter- and intra-personal skills that are developed through the process of social and emotional learning. A new guide developed at RAND is meant to help educators adopt evidenced-based interventions that fit the needs of their students and communities.
Feb 5, 2019 The Wallace Foundation
Finding the Right Assessment Tool: Another Resource for Educators and Researchers
To teach something effectively, educators need to determine whether their instructional approaches are working, and make adjustments to those approaches as needed. The Assessment Work Group and RAND have developed tools to assist educators in finding and using assessments to measure social and emotional learning and higher-order cognitive competencies.
Nov 7, 2018 The Measuring SEL Blog
Learning How to Measure Social and Emotional Learning
Educators and policymakers are increasingly focusing on non-academic competencies, known as social and emotional learning. To support growth in these areas, teachers need assessments that can help them understand how well students are learning these skills, and what instructional approaches work best.
Jan 11, 2018 FutureEd
Building Support for Social and Emotional Learning: Having an Evidence Base Is Critical
Students need more than proficiency in reading or math. Perseverance, active listening, empathy and good decision-making help kids succeed both academically and in life. Schools need access to high-quality social and emotional learning assessment measures to ensure programs will improve student learning and their futures.
Dec 14, 2017 The Measuring SEL Blog
How Parents Can Find Out What They Need to Know in an Era of School Choice
To make an informed choice about schools, parents need to know about the quality of instruction, services, and the overall school climate. Schools need a better system of measuring and collecting data on performance, and a way to make it accessible to families.
Feb 21, 2017 U.S. News & World Report
What's Behind Record High School Graduation Rates? It's Complicated
Graduation rates among U.S. high schoolers have risen for the fourth straight year. Which reforms are making a difference? And who, or what, should get credit?
Oct 21, 2016 United Press International
Helping Pittsburgh Stay on the Cutting Edge of Education Innovation
Local organizations, educators, and leaders are creating remarkable learning experiences for Pittsburgh's young people, and other cities around the country are striving to replicate their innovations.
May 8, 2016 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The High Stakes of 'Soft Skills'
With the recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, Congress is broadening what it considers success when it comes to judging school quality. One potential new indicator being discussed in some states is social and emotional learning, which has been linked to success later in life.
Apr 7, 2016 U.S. News & World Report
Technology Is Only Part of Personalized Learning
The concept of personalized learning has gained favor in recent years, partly because new technology applications help to facilitate it. But those who characterize this instructional approach as
Mar 4, 2016 The RAND Blog
Standardized Tests Can Be Smarter
Capping the amount of time students spend testing is a reasonable response to unchecked growth. However, a better response would be to systematically review testing programs, focusing on tests that offer the most value.
Nov 2, 2015 U.S. News & World Report
Reauthorizing ESEA: What We Know and Where We Should Go with School Improvement
Federal policy should ensure that school improvement is a priority, that schools adopt proven reforms that fit the school context, and that schools and their districts are held accountable when federal resources are used for school improvement.
Feb 11, 2015 The RAND Blog
Reauthorizing ESEA: Four Recommendations to Improve Teaching Effectiveness
Policies aimed at boosting teaching effectiveness are a key component of a strong ESEA reauthorization. Addressing discrepancies in teacher quality helps teachers improve, retains effective teachers, and makes the teaching profession an attractive option for those contemplating careers.
Feb 3, 2015 The RAND Blog
Reauthorizing ESEA: Four Recommendations to Make Testing Work
Will Congress be able to reauthorize ESEA in 2015? Success will depend on legislators clearing several hurdles, such as decisions regarding teacher quality, school improvement, and charter schools. And at the center of the debate remains the issue of federal requirements for testing.
Jan 21, 2015 The RAND Blog
A Plan for Measuring Hard-to-Measure, 'Soft' Skills
Research increasingly suggests that 'soft' skills are important for college and career success, as well as for promoting civic engagement. So far, these skills are largely unmeasured in schools. But new research may pave the way for change.
Dec 10, 2014 Education Week
How to Assess 21st Century Competencies: 12 Key Lessons
Assessing competencies such as creativity and global awareness can provide educators with a broader set of indicators they can use to inform instruction and set goals with students. However, evidence about the effects of testing suggests that caution and careful planning is warranted when developing a new assessment system.
Feb 18, 2014 Education Week
Are High-Stakes Tests Counterproductive?
If we want testing to exert beneficial effects on teaching and learning, we need to advocate for higher-quality tests and for evaluation and accountability systems that use multiple measures and do not rely exclusively on test scores, write Laura Hamilton and Gabriella C. Gonzalez.
Apr 22, 2013 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
School Principals Respond to Performance-Based Evaluation System
It's fair to say the program turned out to be an important step for the district in the context of its overall reform plan considering how important high-quality school leadership is for improving teaching and learning, write Laura Hamilton and John Engberg.
Aug 15, 2012 The RAND Blog
The Limits of Average Test Scores
The Limits of Average Test Scores, in Pittsburgh Business Times on May 11, 2007.
May 11, 2007 Pittsburgh Business TImes
Think It Through on Tests
Published commentary by RAND staff: Think It Through on Tests, in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mar 28, 2007 Philadelphia Inquirer
Parents of Schoolchildren: Start Your Information Engines
Published commentary by RAND staff.
Oct 10, 2004 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Test-Based Accountability: Making It Work Better
Published commentary by RAND staff.
Feb 20, 2002 Education Week