Heather L. Schwartz

Director, Pre-K to 12 Educational Systems Program; Senior Policy Researcher

Off Site Office

Education

Ph.D. in education policy, Columbia University; B.A. in English, Swarthmore College

Overview

Heather Schwartz is the director of the Pre-K to 12 educational systems program and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She researches education and housing policies intended to reduce the negative effects of poverty on children and families. Her work falls in three policy areas intended to help close the income-based achievement gap: (1) economically integrative housing and school programs, (2) K-12 school reforms including social and emotional learning, and (3) early childhood learning opportunities. She leads mixed-method studies with experimental and non-experimental designs, and her methodological skills include benefit-cost analyses, survey design, and collecting focus group and interview data.

Schwartz earned her Ph.D. in education policy from Columbia University.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Social and Emotional Learning Evaluation
Chicago Regional Housing Choice Initiative Experiment
School Safety and Technology

Selected Publications

Melissa Diliberti, Heather Schwartz, David Grant, Stress Topped the Reasons Why Public School Teachers Quit, Even Before COVID-19, RAND Corporation (RR-A1121-2), 2021

Heather Schwartz, David Grant, Melissa Diliberti, Gerald Hunter, Claude Setodji, Remote Learning Is Here to Stay: Results from the First American School District Panel Survey, RAND Corporation (RR-A956-1), 2020

Catherine Augustine, Jennifer Sloan McCombs, Heather Schwartz, Laura Zakaras, Getting to Work on Summer Learning. Recommended Practices for Success, RAND Corporation (RR-366), 2013

"Housing policy is school policy: Economically integrative housing promotes academic success in Montgomery County, Maryland," in Richard D. Kahlenberg, The Future of School Integration, Century Foundation, 2012

Heather Schwartz, Kata Mihaly, Breann Gala, "Encouraging residential moves to opportunity neighborhoods: An experiment testing incentives offered to housing voucher recipients," Housing Policy Debate, 2017

Randall Reback, Jonah Rockoff, Heather Schwartz, "Under Pressure: Job Security, Resource Allocation, and Productivity in Schools Under No Child Left Behind," American Economic Journal, 6(3), 2014

Heather Schwartz, Susan Burkhauser, Beth Ann Griffin, David Kennedy, Hank Green, Alene Kennedy-Hendricks, Craig Pollack, "Do the Joneses Help You Keep Up? A Natural Experiment in Exposure to Non-Poor Neighbors," Housing Policy Debate, 2015

Henry Levin, Heather Schwartz, "Comparing Costs of Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: An International Perspective," Hacienda Pública Española, 201, 2012

Honors & Awards

Phi Beta Kappa, Swarthmore College
Mellon Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow, Spencer Foundation

Commentary

Commit Now to Get Summer Programming Right
When summer programs are targeted to needs, intentionally designed, and well attended, they produce positive outcomes in math and reading. But these programs need federal support, and they require early planning.
Apr 15, 2021 The RAND Blog
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
School District Leaders Indicate Online Instruction Will Outlast COVID-19. Here's What to Consider
Remote K–12 learning at scale is an unprecedented challenge for everyone involved. It can and would improve dramatically if educators, government, and philanthropy treated it as a work in progress, featuring evidence-based development of quality online curricula, continuous improvement, and engagement of teachers.
Jan 27, 2021 The 74
Coronavirus Will Require Changes in Schools When They Reopen to Protect Students
Schools will likely need to modify their practices so that their teachers, staff, and students maintain social distancing standards whenever they reopen. If a federal agency would create guidance, then educators could focus on teaching students.
Apr 16, 2020 Fox News Channel
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
How Can the U.S. Do a Better Job of Keeping Kids Safe at School?
Many proposals to improve school safety promote the use of technology, such as metal detectors and video cameras. How effective are these devices? The evidence is mixed.
Mar 26, 2018 Fox News Channel
Why Rents Have Gone Through the Roof in New Orleans and Across the Nation
The rental affordability crisis was caused by declining incomes since 2000, the slowing of new construction, households getting smaller, and the seven million foreclosures during the recession. It is a national problem in need of a national solution.
Aug 2, 2016 NOLA.com
Narrowing the Income Achievement Gap
The achievement gap between children from the highest- and lowest-income families has substantially grown since 1960. The income achievement gap is now about twice the size of the black-white achievement gap.
Jun 12, 2014 Education Week
Narrowing the Economic Achievement Gap: The Role of Housing
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.
Jan 11, 2012 Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity

Publications

Report
Will Students Come Back? School Hesitancy Among Parents and Their Preferences for COVID-19 Safety Practices in Schools
RAND researchers surveyed more than 2,000 parents of children ages 5-18 in May 2021 about their willingness to send their children to school in person in fall 2021 and whether they would vaccinate their children against coronavirus disease 2019.
Jun 10, 2021
Visualization
American School District Panel Winter 2021 COVID-19 Survey
A total of 434 district leaders from school districts and charter management organizations (CMOs) took the second survey of the American School District Panel between January 21 and March 5, 2021. This tool presents weighted survey results that are nationally representative of school districts in the United States.
May 11, 2021
Report
Urban and Rural Districts Showed a Strong Divide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from the Second American School District Panel Survey
This report includes results from the second survey of district leaders by the RAND Corporation's American School District Panel. The survey covered 2020-2021 school year instruction, COVID-19 testing and vaccines, enrollments, budget, and staffing.
May 11, 2021
Report
Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success, 2nd Ed. — Executive Summary
The authors distill lessons about implementing and improving summer learning programs gleaned from a six-year study in the five urban districts participating in the National Summer Learning Project.
Mar 25, 2021
Journal Article
Improvements in Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions May Improve Resident Diet
Investing in neighborhoods may support resident diet through improvements in neighborhood commercial environments for renters, but mechanisms appear to differ for homeowners.
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
Report
Stress Topped the Reasons Why Public School Teachers Quit, Even Before COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has added more stress to an already high-stress profession: American public school teacher. The authors of this report reveal how important stress has been—even more so than pay—to teachers' decisions to leave the profession.
Feb 22, 2021
Report
Evaluation of Delaware's Opportunity Funding and Student Success Block Grant Programs: Early Implementation
The authors examine the 2019-2020 implementation of two newly expanded Delaware weighted education funding programs, the Opportunity Fund and Student Success Block Grant, and emerging best practices, as reported by local education agency leaders.
Jan 21, 2021
Report
Remote Learning Is Here to Stay: Results from the First American School District Panel Survey
The RAND Corporation fielded a survey to the new American School District Panel to develop a national picture of school districts' needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and innovations that they plan to keep after the pandemic.
Dec 15, 2020
Report
COVID-19 and the State of K-12 Schools: Results and Technical Documentation from the Fall 2020 American Educator Panels COVID-19 Surveys
This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and data for the coronavirus disease 2019 surveys that were administered to principals and teachers in fall 2020 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels.
Nov 16, 2020
Report
Early Lessons from Schools and Out-of-School Time Programs Implementing Social and Emotional Learning
In this report, RAND researchers describe the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative, as well as findings and early lessons from the first two years of implementation in the six participating communities.
Oct 20, 2020
Report
Early Lessons from Schools and Out-of-School Time Programs Implementing Social and Emotional Learning: Executive Summary
In this summary, RAND researchers describe the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative, as well as findings and early lessons from the first two years of implementation in the six participating communities.
Oct 20, 2020
Report
Prepared for a Pandemic? How Schools' Preparedness Related to Their Remote Instruction During COVID-19
Using responses to the American Educator Panels, RAND researchers investigate how schools' pre-pandemic planning translated into remote learning practices and principals' confidence in student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sep 29, 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
COVID-19 and the State of K–12 Schools: Results and Technical Documentation from the Spring 2020 American Educator Panels COVID-19 Surveys
This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveys administered to principals and teachers via RAND's American Educator Panels in spring 2020.
May 26, 2020
Journal Article
Feasibility of Social Distancing Practices in US Schools to Reduce Influenza Transmission During a Pandemic
We assessed the feasibility of implementing other social distancing practices in K-12 schools as a first step in seeking an alternative to preemptive school closures.
May 22, 2020
Journal Article
Broken Windows, Broken Zzs: Poor Housing and Neighborhood Conditions Are Associated with Objective Measures of Sleep Health
Sleep is a critical contributor to health and well-being. Sleep disturbances may contribute to racial and socioeconomic disparities in health. Understanding socio-environmental determinants of sleep health disparities is a public health imperative.
Apr 29, 2020
Draft
Opportunities and Challenges in Using Online Learning to Maintain Continuity of Instruction in K–12 Schools in Emergencies
Explores the use of online instruction in K-12 schools during prolonged school closures and preparedness when it occurs with little warning.
Apr 16, 2020
Journal Article
School and Preparedness Officials' Perspectives on Social Distancing Practices to Reduce Influenza Transmission During a Pandemic: Considerations to Guide Future Work
The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of school and preparedness officials on the feasibility of implementing a range of social distancing practices to reduce influenza transmission during a pandemic.
2019
Journal Article
Does Large-Scale Neighborhood Reinvestment Work? Effects of Public–Private Real Estate Investment on Local Sales Prices, Rental Prices, and Crime Rates
We examine whether the substantial, combined public–private investments in Hill District, Pittsburgh, (a) increased that neighborhood's residential and commercial sales prices, (b) increased residential rental prices, and (c) reduced crime.
Mar 5, 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
Journal Article
Get Smart About Social and Emotional Learning Measurement
This paper provides guidance to educators and policymakers who are interested in measuring social and emotional learning practices and competencies. It is part of a series of papers on SEL published by the American Enterprise Institute.
Aug 22, 2019
Report
Energy Efficiency as a Tool for Preservation of Affordable Rental Housing: Evaluation of the Efficiency Emphasis in the MacArthur Foundation's Window of Opportunity Initiative
From 2012 to 2015 the MacArthur Foundation awarded 39 grants and loans totaling $27.5 million to promote the energy efficiency of multifamily affordable rental housing. The initiative had a positive influence on most of its targeted outcomes.
Dec 10, 2018
Report
Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success, 2nd Ed.
The RAND Corporation's six-year study of the National Summer Learning Project culminates in this final report about district implementation of summer learning programs and presents the best available guidance about how to establish and sustain them.
Nov 4, 2018
Journal Article
School Practices to Promote Social Distancing in K-12 Schools: Review of Influenza Pandemic Policies and Practices
Little information is available to schools to develop policies and procedures on social distancing during a flu pandemic. Additional research is needed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of these policies and procedures.
May 4, 2018
Report
Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for Early Care and Education Programs: Making the Second Generation Better
This perspective explores ways in which states can be more strategic about the allocation of funds for and within quality rating and improvement systems to achieve their goals of expanding access to and improving the quality of ECE programs.
May 1, 2017
Journal Article
Encouraging Residential Moves to Opportunity Neighborhoods: An Experiment Testing Incentives Offered to Housing Voucher Recipients
Given the potential benefits of upwardly mobile residential moves, housing practitioners should continue testing policies to facilitate voucher-based opportunity moves.
Jan 24, 2017
Report
Evaluation of Delaware Stars for Early Success: Final Report
In 2013, the Delaware Office of Early Learning contracted with the RAND Corporation to evaluate Delaware Stars for Early Success, the state's quality rating and improvement system for early learning and care programs. This report shares all findings.
Nov 7, 2016
Research Brief
Kids Who Attend More Benefit More: Voluntary Summer Learning Programs
This brief summarizes the outcomes of two summers of voluntary academic programming (2013 and 2014) on 3,192 low-income urban students accepted into the programs who had completed third grade before the first summer.
Sep 7, 2016
Infographic
Learning from Summer: Effects of Voluntary Summer Learning Programs on Low-Income Urban Youth
This infographic summarizes several student outcomes from an assessment of five voluntary, district-led summer learning programs offered at no cost to low-income, urban elementary students.
Sep 7, 2016
Report
Learning from Summer: Effects of Voluntary Summer Learning Programs on Low-Income Urban Youth
RAND researchers assess voluntary, district-led summer learning programs for low-income, urban elementary students. This third report in a series examines student outcomes after one and two summers of programming.
Sep 7, 2016
Research Brief
Can Technology Make Schools Safer?
Key technology needs to improve safety in U.S. schools include two-way communication between teachers and emergency responders and "all-in-one" applications to integrate school safety policies, procedures, training, and alerts for staff and parents.
Aug 22, 2016
Report
Preservation of Affordable Rental Housing: Evaluation of the MacArthur Foundation's Window of Opportunity Initiative
Evaluates the MacArthur Foundation's Window of Opportunity, a 20-year philanthropic initiative begun in 2000 that has allocated $187 million to preserve privately owned affordable rental housing.
Jun 6, 2016
Research Brief
Preserving the Supply of Affordable Housing: The MacArthur Foundation's Window of Opportunity Initiative
Summarizes the achievements of the MacArthur Foundation's Window of Opportunity -- a 20-year philanthropic initiative begun in 2000 to preserve privately owned affordable rental housing -- and the lessons it offers for other philanthropic initiatives.
Jun 6, 2016
Report
The Role of Technology in Improving K–12 School Safety
The report categorizes school safety technologies, summarizes research on school violence, presents six case studies of innovative technologies, and summarizes experts' views of technologies and safety problems and their rankings of technology needs.
Apr 14, 2016
Journal Article
Health Implications of Social Networks for Children Living in Public Housing
This study examines the health composition of the social networks of children living in subsidized housing within market rate developments.
Dec 3, 2015
Journal Article
Fifty Ways to Leave a Child Behind: Idiosyncrasies and Discrepancies in States' Implementation of NCLB
Using a data set we constructed, this paper is the first national study examining which schools failed during the early years of NCLB and which performance targets they failed to meet.
Nov 24, 2015
Journal Article
Intergenerational Social Networks and Health Behaviors Among Children Living in Public Housing
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Sep 25, 2015
Report
Evaluation of Delaware Stars for Early Success: Year 2 Report
This second report from a multiyear study of Delaware's quality rating and improvement system for early learning and care programs addresses program participation and quality ratings, as well as financial incentives and technical assistance.
Jun 2, 2015
Research Brief
First Outcomes from the National Summer Learning Study
This brief describes the near-term effects of voluntary summer learning programs provided by five urban school districts to large numbers of struggling low-income elementary students in the summer of 2013.
Feb 13, 2015
Report
Ready for Fall? Near-Term Effects of Voluntary Summer Learning Programs on Low-Income Students' Learning Opportunities and Outcomes
As part of a randomized controlled trial study assessing the effect of district-run voluntary summer programs, this second report in a series looks at how summer programs affected student performance in certain categories in fall 2013.
Dec 16, 2014
Report
Evaluation of Delaware Stars for Early Success: Year 1 Report (2014)
As a first step in a larger study of Delaware Stars, a voluntary quality rating and improvement system for early learning and care programs, RAND research reviewed prior literature, examined existing data, and interviewed key stakeholders.
Jun 9, 2014
Journal Article
The Impact of Public Housing on Social Networks: A Natural Experiment
Different types of public housing have a modest impact on the health composition of one's social network, suggesting the importance of housing policy for health.
2014
Report
Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success, 1st Ed.
RAND is conducting a longitudinal study that examines the implementation and effectiveness of voluntary summer learning programs. This second report in the series provides research-based advice for school district leaders developing summer programs.
Aug 13, 2013
Research Brief
How to Get the Most out of a Summer Learning Program
The Wallace Foundation is funding a project in six urban school districts to combat summer learning loss. RAND evaluated the summer programs in these districts over two summers, drawing lessons for district leaders on how to create strong programs.
Aug 13, 2013
Journal Article
Improving Accountability Through Expanded Measures of Performance
Examines the influence of test-based accountability and explores how states and districts might consider creating expanded systems of measures to address the shortcomings of traditional accountability.
2013
Report
Is Inclusionary Zoning Inclusionary? A Guide for Practitioners
Examines whether inclusionary zoning programs in the United States serve lower-income families and provide recipients with access to low-poverty neighborhoods and high-performing schools.
Jun 1, 2012
Journal Article
Integrating Schools Is a Matter of Housing Policy
Inclusionary zoning and economic integration in suburban neighborhoods not only reduces concentration of poverty, it directly improves low-income children's academic achievement.
Oct 1, 2011
Journal Article
Knowing and Doing: What Teachers Learn from Formative Assessment and How They Use Information
This study analyzed three different middle school mathematics formative assessment programs, examining how features of each program were associated with the information they provided to teachers and the manner in which teachers used the information.
Jul 1, 2011
Report
Making Summer Count: How Summer Programs Can Boost Children's Learning
Students typically lose knowledge and skills during the summer, particularly low-income students. Districts and private providers can benefit from the evidence on summer programming to maximize program effectiveness, quality, reach, and funding.
Jun 13, 2011
Research Brief
Summer Counts: Making Summer Programs Part of the Learning Equation
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.
Jun 13, 2011
Research Brief
Expanding Measures of School Performance Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
How can the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act encourage states to expand their measures of school performance to address goals beyond just mathematics and English Language Arts?
Apr 26, 2011
Report
Expanded Measures of School Performance
Critics of No Child Left Behind dislike the narrowing effects of the law's focus on math and reading achievement and have called for efforts to broaden the measures used to rate schools. This report examines expanded measures of school quality.
Apr 26, 2011
Research Brief
The Cost of Providing Quality Early Care and Education in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Shares results of a RAND analysis of programs participating in Minnesota's Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to cover the cost of high-quality early childhood education programs.
Mar 15, 2011
Report
Cost Study of the Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program
Minnesota's Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program provides scholarships to cover the cost of high-quality early childhood education programs. This report provides detailed cost and program data for 12 participating programs.
Mar 15, 2011
Journal Article
Under Pressure: Job Security, Resource Allocation, and Productivity in Schools Under NCLB
The authors assemble the first comprehensive, national, school-level dataset concerning detailed performance measures used to calculate Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
2011
Journal Article
The Central Office in a Decentralized System
As the charter school movement has come to scale within the United States, it poses new questions about how to govern public education.
Dec 1, 2010
Report
Building a More Resilient Haitian State: French translation of summary
Ce rapport passe en revue les défis auxquels est confrontée la République d'Haïti, ainsi que les projets de réforme envisagés, afin d'identifier les priorités les plus nécessaires, réalisables et durables dans le domaine de la construction étatique.
Aug 24, 2010
Research Brief
Building a More Resilient Haitian State: Key Recommendations and Priorities
Haiti's future prosperity and peace require building a more effective, resilient state. RAND researchers identified Haiti's main challenges and recommended a set of state-building priorities that are necessary, feasible, and sustainable.
Aug 12, 2010
Report
Building a More Resilient Haitian State
Haiti's future prosperity and peace require building a more effective, resilient state. This report sifts through Haiti's many challenges and reform plans to identify the state-building priorities that are most necessary, feasible, and sustainable.
Aug 6, 2010
Journal Article
Housing Policy Is School Policy: Economically Integrative Housing Promotes Academic Success in Montgomery County, MD.
This article reports on the economic factors that influenced academic achievement for elementary school students in public housing in Montgomery County, Maryland. It argues that economic integration in housing and school policy is vital to student success.
2010
Journal Article
Educational Vouchers for Universal Pre-Schools
This article provides a brief set of arguments for government funding of universal, pre-school education. It explores the applicability of a voucher plan using a regulated market approach for the funding of universal, pre-school education.
Feb 1, 2007