Benjamin K. Master

Policy Researcher

Washington Office

Education

Ph.D. in education policy, Stanford University; BA in economics, Brown University

Overview

Benjamin Master is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation within the economics, sociology, and statistics department. His research has focused on issues of education and workforce development. He has experience leading projects involving both quantitative and qualitative research methods, with expertise in experimental design and analysis, quasi-expeimental techniques to support causal inference, survey methods and analysis, formative evaluations, and case study analyses. He also has experience providing formative and strategic feedback to foundations and other research partners. Master serves as an on-call quality assurance manager within RAND's Education and Labor division. He is also a collaborating researcher at the RAND Lowy Family Middle Class Pathways Center.

Master has published numerous studies addressing the impact, implementation, and costs of large-scale programmatic interventions aimed at human capital development, particularly for educators. He is committed to conducting research that has the potential to improve educational and workforce outcomes and enhance equity at scale. Master earned a Ph.D. in education policy and organization studies at Stanford University.

Research Focus

Commentary

'Grow Your Own' Prep Programs Can Improve Diversity of the Teaching Workforce
Black and Hispanic educators are much more likely than white educators to say they plan to leave the profession, threatening to exacerbate an already overwhelming lack of diversity. Local, “grow your own” alternative teacher preparation programs can help to strengthen the diversity of the teaching workforce, as well as enable districts to address broader staffing challenges.
Mar 9, 2022 The 74 Million
Lost Learning and the Costs of COVID-19
President Biden's plan calls for $130 billion to help schools safely reopen and identifies summer school or other supports to help students compensate for lost learning time as permissible uses of this funding. Recent RAND research can shed light on how Congress might consider divvying up these funds to support students over the next year.
Feb 10, 2021 The RAND Blog

Publications

Report
Widening the Pathway: Implementation and Impacts of Alternative Teacher Preparation Programs Across Three Contexts
The authors describe implementation of three alternative teacher preparation programs—called Teacher Effectiveness and Certification (TEACh) programs—and their effect on teacher recruitment, teacher retention, and student achievement.
Dec 16, 2021
Report
The Changing Nature of Entrepreneurship
Online platforms and services have helped increase entrepreneurship in the United States, but concentration in the online marketplace has created challenges for entrepreneurs. Can entrepreneurship remain a viable pathway to financial success?
Aug 18, 2021
Report
Equity in Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities
Inequities in wealth and access to capital diminish entrepreneurship start-up and success for women and racial and ethnic minorities. Policies to rectify these inequities could boost wealth accumulation among these groups and economic growth.
Aug 3, 2021
Report
Transforming Global Education Through Evidence: An Evaluation System for the BHP Foundation's Education Equity Global Signature Program—Executive Summary
This report is a summary of research for the evaluation of the BHP Foundation's Education Equity Global Signature Program.
Apr 15, 2021
Report
Transforming Global Education Through Evidence: An Evaluation System for the BHP Foundation's Education Equity Global Signature Program
In this report, researchers develop a framework to evaluate the BHP Foundation's Education Equity Global Signature Program, explain methods for assessing progress over five years, and present preliminary results after a year of evaluation.
Apr 15, 2021
Report
Entrepreneurship in America: Challenges and Opportunities
This Perspective describes recent trends in entrepreneurial activity in the United States. The trends show that entrepreneurial activity is declining and that the United States lags many other developed countries.
Mar 11, 2021
Report
COVID-19 Testing in K–12 Schools: Insights from Early Adopters
This report describes approaches that early adopters of COVID-19 testing in U.S. K–12 schools were using as of December 2020, highlighting key facilitators that made testing feasible, acceptable, and effective.
Mar 9, 2021
Journal Article
Developing School Leaders: Findings From a Randomized Control Trial Study of the Executive Development Program and Paired Coaching
This article presents the results of two randomized control trials evaluating the impacts of the National Center on Education and the Economy's Executive Development Program and coaching on schoolwide practices and performance.
2021
Report
Growing Teachers from Within: Implementation, Impact, and Cost of an Alternative Teacher Preparation Program in Three Urban School Districts
The authors investigated implementation and costs of the Teacher Effectiveness and Certification (TEACh) initiative in three urban school districts, as well as the program's impact on teacher recruitment, job performance, and retention.
Sep 29, 2020
Research Brief
How Can Assistant Principals Be Trained as Instructional Leaders? Insights from the PLUS Program
This research brief summarizes study findings of a school leadership program and offers three recommendations for school districts and school leadership training programs to consider as they strive to improve instructional leadership effectiveness.
Jul 7, 2020
Report
Pathways to Instructional Leadership: Implementation and Outcomes from a Job-Embedded School Leader Training Program
The authors describe the initial implementation and impacts on staff and student outcomes of the Pathway to Leadership in Urban Schools program, which focused on newly hired school assistant principals, in one large urban district over four years.
Jul 7, 2020
Report
Effects of the Executive Development Program and Aligned Coaching for School Principals in Three U.S. States: Investing in Innovation Study Final Report
In this report, part of a series on professional development for school principals, the authors analyze the effects of a professional development program and paired coaching for middle school principals in three states.
Jul 1, 2020
Report
Putting Professional Learning to Work: What Principals Do with Their Executive Development Program Learning
This report presents findings from part of RAND's evaluation of the National Institute for School Leadership's Executive Development Program (EDP) for sitting school principals, focusing on how principals applied their EDP learning and coaching.
Oct 7, 2019
Report
Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable, and Effective Way for Districts to Improve Schools
This report describes the implementation of The Wallace Foundation's Principal Pipeline Initiative and its effects on student achievement, other school outcomes, and principal retention.
Apr 8, 2019
Report
Preparing School Leaders for Success: Evaluation of New Leaders' Aspiring Principals Program, 2012–2017
This report analyzes whether schools and students led by graduates of New Leaders‘ Aspiring Principals program outperformed comparison schools and students in the same district.
Feb 25, 2019
Report
Combining Entrepreneurship and Web Development for High School Students: A Pilot Evaluation of the Startup Tech Program and High School Students' College and Career Aspirations
This pilot evaluation of Startup Tech assesses whether 12th-grade students experienced either improved self-efficacy or changes in their college and career plans during the year in which they were in the program.
Jan 6, 2017
Journal Article
Teacher Workforce Developments: Recent Changes in Academic Competiveness and Job Satisfaction of New Teachers
Policy makers and school leaders are perennially concerned with the capacity of the nation's public schools to recruit and retain highly skilled teachers.
Jun 6, 2016
Report
Improving Teaching Effectiveness: Access to Effective Teaching: The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Through 2013–2014
This report attends to the distribution of effective teachers between low-income minority (LIM) and other students in Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching sites and what might explain changes in LIM students' access to effective teaching.
Jun 6, 2016
Research Brief
Trends in Access to Effective Teaching: The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Through 2013–2014
This brief summarizes a RAND Corporation evaluation of the effectiveness of key reforms of the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching for low-income minority students in three public school districts and a charter management organization.
Jun 6, 2016
Report
Examining the Early Impacts of the Leading Educators Fellowship on Student Achievement and Teacher Retention
Presents findings from preliminary analyses of the Leading Educators Fellowship program, which is dedicated to training promising mid-career educators to lead their colleagues in pursuit of student success.
Aug 11, 2015
Journal Article
Staffing for Success: Linking Teacher Evaluation and School Personnel Management in Practice
Using unique data from an independently managed public charter school district, I explore the extent to which autonomous school administrators' formative evaluations of teachers predict a variety of future personnel decisions.
2014
Journal Article
Effective Instructional Time Use for School Leaders: Longitudinal Evidence from Observations of Principals
This study examines the associations between leadership behaviors and student achievement gains using a unique data source: in-person, full-day observations of approximately 100 urban principals collected over 3 school years.
2013
Journal Article
Different Skills? Identifying Differentially Effective Teachers of English Language Learners
Our findings lend support to the notion that general education teachers can develop valuable ELL-specific instructional skills.
2012