Rita T. Karam

Senior Policy Researcher; Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in education, University of California, Riverside; M.A. in sociology, California State University, Fullerton; B.A. in sociology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

One Page Bio

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Rita T. Karam is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She specializes in educational policies, educational equity, and program improvement. For over 18 years, she has been investigating school reform, science, engineering and technology (STEM) education, and post-secondary education and workforce preparation using experimental and quasi-experimental methods. Karam has also examined the delivery of education to Syrian refugees in host countries. She utilizes mixed methods including surveys, interviews, and observation. In her research, she considers various factors such as the complexity of programs and heir coherence with local policies as well as other government policies, and their alignment with cultural values.

Karam is currently leading multiple studies examining issues surrounding literacy and employment opportunities.

She earned her Ph.D. in education from the University of California, Riverside.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Karam, R., Straus, S., Byers, A., Kase, C., Cefalu, M., "The Role of Online Communities in Promoting Sociotechnical Capital among Science Teachers," Educational Technology Research Development, 2017

Karam, R, Pane, J., Griffin, B.A., Robyn, A., Phillips, A., and Daugherty, L., "Examining the Implementation of Technology-Based Blended Algebra I Curriculum at Scale Cognitive Tutor Algebra 1 Program in Middle and High Schools," Educational Technology Research Development, 2016

Karam, R. and Zellman, G. , "Educating Syrian Refugees: Challenges Facing Host Countries," Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 2017

Karam, R., Goldman, C., Basco, D., and Carew, D. , Managing the Expansion of Graduate Education, RAND (RR-1899), 2017

Karam, R., Stecher, B., Tsai, T., Grimm, G., and Schweig, J, Mathematics Audit of DoDEA Schools, RAND (RR-1272), 2016

Languages

English, Arabic

Commentary

Postsecondary Education

College in America Could Be Changed Forever
COVID-19 is threatening to upend the models that both public and private higher education depend on in the United States. As universities consider whether to postpone in-person classes until next year, many parents and students may be questioning the value of a traditional higher education.
Jul 7, 2020
CNN
Postsecondary Education

Coronavirus Forces Colleges Online. Will Learning Ever Be the Same?
Colleges and universities have turned to online courses to help slow the spread of COVID-19. But distance learning may also hold promise as a long-term strategy to help make higher education more accessible and affordable.
Mar 16, 2020
Fox News Channel
Workforce Development

How Community Colleges Can Establish Better Partnerships with Employers
Career and technical education programs give students a chance to engage in learning relevant to their chosen fields and apply immediately for jobs. A strategic vision of collaboration between industry and community colleges can benefit all parties.
Jun 6, 2019
The RAND Blog
Private-Sector School Management

How to Navigate Public-Private Partnerships in Higher Ed
Universities are partnering with private companies that have the resources to help them compete in the online learning market and maximize student enrollment. Do their different missions—providing high-quality education and making a profit—dilute the quality of the courses?
May 26, 2017
RealClearEducation
Early Childhood Education

Countering Extremism: Early Childhood Education Forgotten
Global attention has turned to education as a way to counter extremism. But what has been missing from the conversation is a focus on learning in children's first years, when much brain development occurs. In the Middle East and North Africa, government underinvestment in formal programs for young children is the norm.
Jun 8, 2016
The National Interest
Education Reform

Implementing Education Reforms to Enhance School Performance
Although countries differ greatly in how their education systems are structured, financed, and the extent to which they are centralized, they share common obstacles that undermine reform success. Beyond the obvious steps of providing adequate resources and professional development, there are ways to improve the implementation of school-wide reforms.
Nov 13, 2015
The RAND Blog

Publications

Report
Career Services and College-Employer Partnership Practices in Community Colleges: Colleges in California, Ohio, and Texas
In this report, the authors systemically examine the type of career services and college-employer partnership practices across three states -- California, Ohio, and Texas -- and a sample of community colleges that operate within them.
Jul 6, 2022
Report
Alternatives in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
RAND researchers used a novel focus group approach to assess which, if any, of five possible alternative futures in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be supported by Israelis and Palestinians.
Feb 10, 2021
Report
Georgia II STEM Higher Education Interim Evaluation Report
The authors evaluate the implementation of a San Diego State University partnership with three universities in the country of Georgia, part of a U.S.-Georgia collaboration to improve university education in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Jan 5, 2021
Report
Air Force Nonrated Technical Training: Selected Topics to Improve Efficiency
The authors identify insights relevant to Air Force technical training from how colleges and universities size their instructor corps, best practices associated with supply chain management, and approaches for developing a flexible instructor pool.
Jun 29, 2020
Report
Effectiveness of Screened, Demand-Driven Job Training Programs for Disadvantaged Workers: An Evaluation of the New Orleans Career Pathway Training
The authors of this report examine the implementation and effectiveness of a New Orleans job training program that helped lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for and find skilled jobs in particular industries.
Oct 17, 2019
Research Brief
What Works for Job Training Programs for Disadvantaged Workers: The Case of New Orleans' Career Pathways Training Program
The authors of this brief examine the implementation and effectiveness of a New Orleans job training program that helped lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for and find skilled jobs in particular industries.
Oct 17, 2019
Journal Article
Advancing STEM-Based Business Sustainability: Mending the Curricular Gap
Businesses are increasingly facing economic, social, and environmental sustainability challenges. This article discusses STEM-based business sustainability curricula to help educators prepare students.
Jul 3, 2019
Tool
Tools for Improving Corequisite Models: A Guide for College Practitioners
This toolkit acts as a guide to improvement strategies for teams of practitioners at colleges, providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to carry out rapid cycles of data-driven improvement to address issues they face on the ground.
May 28, 2019
Journal Article
Georgia II STEM Higher Education Evaluation Design Report (Revised)
U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation is funding a higher education partnership in the country of Georgia. This report delineates the evaluation design and approach that will be used for evaluating the successes and challenges of this effort.
2019
Draft
Practitioner Perspectives on Implementing Developmental Education Reforms: A Convening of Six Community Colleges in Texas
Provides a description of the various convening sessions and the perspectives of practitioners regarding promising practices and lessons learned regarding key developmental education reforms.
Dec 3, 2018
Journal Article
Perceived Peer Norms, Health Risk Behaviors, and Clustering of Risk Behaviors Among Palestinian Youth
Prevention education programs for Palestinian youth should be structured to deal with a range of connected risk behaviors& for which certain youth may be at risk, not just single behaviors such as drug use.
Aug 28, 2018
Journal Article
Health risk behaviours of Palestinian youth: Findings from a representative survey
Prevention outreach for youth risk behavior in the occupied Palestinian territory, and elsewhere in the region, should be directed at subgroups and areas identified as highest risk.
Jun 19, 2018
Report
Promoting the Long-Term Sustainability and Viability of Universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
This report identifies five options that would improve the long-term sustainability and viability of the universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education in the coming years.
Apr 25, 2018
Journal Article
Pursuing Excellence in Graduate Education and Research While Serving Regional Development
This chapter examines policies that Texas can use to encourage institutions to pursue excellence in graduate education and research, while meeting state labour market needs.
2018
Journal Article
The Role of Online Communities of Practice in Promoting Sociotechnical Capital Among Science Teachers
We found few significant predictors of collaborative participation in these virtual CoPs.
Oct 31, 2017
Journal Article
Educating Syrian Refugees: Challenges Facing Host Countries
Wealthy regional governments could share more of the responsibility of supporting refugee education with the current host countries so that an entire generation of Syrian children is not lost.
Sep 15, 2017
Report
Managing the Expansion of Graduate Education in Texas
RAND researchers analyzed policies and practices that the state, higher education systems, and individual higher education institutions in Texas can use to manage the expansion of their master's, doctoral, and professional programs.
Mar 3, 2017
Report
Managing the Expansion of Graduate Education in Texas: Executive Summary
RAND researchers analyzed policies and practices that the state, higher education systems, and individual higher education institutions in Texas can use to manage the expansion of their master's, doctoral, and professional programs.
Mar 3, 2017
Journal Article
Examining the Implementation of Technology-Based Blended Algebra I Curriculum at Scale
This article examines the implementation of a widely used blended algebra curriculum and the relationship between implementation and student outcomes.
Dec 28, 2016
Research Brief
Adapting to the New Normal: Educating Syrian Refugee Children in Jordan
RAND's evaluation of Jordan's Emergency Education Response Programme for Syrian refugee children identified significant successes and longer-term challenges. Key recommendations related to developing medium-term thinking and targeting gendered needs.
Sep 19, 2016
Report
Evaluation of the Emergency Education Response for Syrian Refugee Children and Host Communities in Jordan
RAND's evaluation of Jordan's Emergency Education Response Programme for Syrian refugee children identified significant successes and longer-term challenges. Key recommendations related to developing medium-term thinking and targeting gendered needs.
Sep 19, 2016
Report
Options for Educating Students Attending Department of Defense Schools in the United States
The Department of Defense Education Activity operates or contracts with local agencies to operate schools on 15 contiguous U.S. installations. This report evaluates the options for educating military-connected children on these installations.
Sep 13, 2016
Report
Mathematics Audit of the DoDEA Schools: 2014–2015
This report is an audit of the then-current Department of Defense Education Activity mathematics program, built around standards established in 2009, to help prepare for a transition to Common Core State Standards, which began in 2014--2015.
Aug 10, 2016
Draft
Prevalence and Patterns of Health Risk Behaviors of Palestinian Youth: Findings from a Representative Survey
Investigates the prevalence and patterns of risk behaviors as well as of mental health, perceptions of the risks of such behaviors, and the factors increasing vulnerability to as well as protection from engagement in them.
Jul 25, 2016
Report
Retaining U.S. Air Force Pilots When the Civilian Demand for Pilots Is Growing
Increases in major airline hiring could cause Air Force pilot shortfalls. The authors analyzed supply, compensation, and demand to estimate changes in civilian pilot pay and hiring and the level of aviator retention pay needed as a countermeasure.
Jul 12, 2016
Report
Initiatives to Improve Quality of Education in the Kurdistan Region — Iraq: Administration, School Monitoring, Private School Policies, and Teacher Training (Kurdish-language version)
RAND supported the Kurdistan Regional Government in its aims to restructure its Ministry of Education, develop plans for a school quality assurance system, review support of private schools, and assess the content and quality of in-service training.
May 13, 2016
Report
Initiatives to Improve Quality of Education in the Kurdistan Region — Iraq: Administration, School Monitoring, Private School Policies, and Teacher Training (Arabic-language version)
RAND supported the Kurdistan Regional Government in its aims to restructure its Ministry of Education, develop plans for a school quality assurance system, review support of private schools, and assess the content and quality of in-service training.
Apr 21, 2016
Report
Initiatives to Improve Quality of Education in the Kurdistan Region — Iraq: Administration, School Monitoring, Private School Policies, and Teacher Training
RAND supported the Kurdistan Regional Government in its aims to restructure its Ministry of Education, develop plans for a school quality assurance system, review support of private schools, and assess the content and quality of in-service training.
Feb 26, 2016
Journal Article
Substance Use Among Palestinian Youth in the West Bank, Palestine: A Qualitative Investigation
This study provides insights into the perceived prevalence and patterns of alcohol and drug use among Palestinian youth.
2016
Research Brief
Aligning Education and Training to Meet Energy Workforce Needs
The need to fill semiskilled jobs in the West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania energy sector and rapidly evolving technology and innovations require improving the pipeline of trained workers entering the labor force serving the industry.
Aug 31, 2015
Report
Energy-Sector Workforce Development in Southwestern Pennsylvania: Aligning Education and Training with Innovation and Needed Skills
This report describes energy-sector innovation that affects skill demand, describes postsecondary training programs that adapt to evolving demand, and makes recommendations for energy-sector training programs in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Aug 31, 2015
Journal Article
Predicting Child Development Knowledge and Engagement of Moroccan Parents
We developed, tested, and administered a survey to a small number of parents of children aged six years and under in Casablanca, Morocco in 2013 to assess parents' child development knowledge and how they view their role as teachers of their young children.
2015
Journal Article
Effectiveness of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I at Scale
This article examines the effectiveness of a technology-based algebra curriculum in a wide variety of middle schools and high schools in seven states.
Jun 1, 2014
Draft
Addendum to Effectiveness of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I at Scale
Presents alternative analyses of data from large-scale effectiveness studies of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I in middle schools and high schools.
May 30, 2014
Journal Article
Perceptions of Sexual Risk Behavior Among Palestinian Youth in the West Bank: A Qualitative Investigation
Young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are profoundly affected by violence, high unemployment, and economic hardship.
2014
Journal Article
How Moroccan Mothers and Fathers View Child Development and Their Role in Their Children's Education
The purpose of this study was to explore parents' understanding of and support for their children's early development.
2014
Research Brief
Does an Algebra Course with Tutoring Software Improve Student Learning?
Examines whether the Cognitive Tutor Algebra I (CTAI) algebra curriculum, which includes tutoring software, is effective in improving the math test scores of middle and high school students, relative to traditional algebra instruction.
Nov 18, 2013
Journal Article
Sexual Stigma, Psychological Well-Being and Social Engagement Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Beirut, Lebanon
Findings suggest that effective coping with both internal and external sexual stigma is central to the psychological well-being and social engagement of men who have sex with men in Beirut, much as has been found in Western gay communities.
Jun 1, 2013
Report
Analysis of Costs in an Algebra I Curriculum Effectiveness Study
Examines the costs of implementing Carnegie Learning's Cognitive Tutor Algebra I curriculum and comparison algebra I curricula (published by Prentice Hall, Glencoe, and McDougal Littell).
Jul 12, 2012
Research Brief
Transforming Indonesia's Centralized Education System to School-Based Management
This study provides a quantitative and qualitative status report on the implementation of school-based management (SBM) in Indonesia, identifies factors associated with the successful practices of SBM, and assesses SBM effects on student achievement.
Jun 5, 2012
Report
Implementation of School-Based Management in Indonesia
This study provides a quantitative and qualitative status report on the implementation of school-based management (SBM) in Indonesia, identifies factors associated with the successful practices of SBM, and assesses SBM effects on student achievement.
May 29, 2012
Journal Article
How Curriculum and Classroom Achievement Predict Teacher Time on Lecture- and Inquiry-Based Mathematics Activities
This study drew on data from a large, randomized trial of Cognitive Tutor Algebra (CTA) in high-poverty settings to investigate how mathematics curricula and classroom achievement related to teacher reports of time spent on inquiry-based and lecture-based mathematics activities.
2012
Report
Continuing Challenges and Potential for Collaborative Approaches to Education Reform
The Collaborating for Education Reform Initiative (CERI) provided grantees with funds, guidance, and technical assistance to develop collaboratives and carry out activities to improve teaching and learning.
Mar 3, 2011
Journal Article
Promoting Quality and Variety Through the Public Financing of Privately Operated Schools in Qatar
Qatar began establishing publicly funded, privately operated "independent schools" in parallel with the existing Ministry of Education system in 2002.
2010
Research Brief
Qatar's K–12 Education Reform Has Achieved Success in Its Early Years
Describes RAND's evaluation of the progress made in the first years of Qatar's K-12 education reform.
Aug 25, 2009
Research Brief
Qatar's K-12 Education Reform Has Achieved Success in Its Early Years (Arabic version)
Describes RAND's evaluation of the progress made in the first years of Qatar's K-12 education reform.
Aug 25, 2009
Report
Implementation of the K-12 Education Reform in Qatar's Schools
RAND's analysis of the early years of Qatar's system-wide K-12 education reform finds that students in new, Independent schools perform better than those in Ministry schools, but most are still not meeting the new, higher curriculum standards.
Aug 25, 2009
Report
Evaluating Comprehensive School Reform Models at Scale: Focus on Implementation
Describes and applies a methodology for quantitatively measuring a school's level of comprehensive reform, and summarizes results.
Nov 7, 2006
Research Brief
Comprehensive School Reform: The Implementation Gap
This research brief explains that at the current level of implementation, comprehensive school reform can be expected to have little effect on student achievement.
Nov 3, 2006
Draft
Assessing The Implementation Of Comprehensive School Reform Models
Oct 20, 2004

Multimedia

5:21

From Day One: The Importance of Early Learning
Feb 24, 2021
4:37

Preventing a Syrian Lost Generation: RAND's Work on Refugees
Jun 7, 2017