Heather L. Schwartz

Overview

Commentary

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

  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

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  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

  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

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  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

  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  Journal Article

  Intergenerational Social Networks and Health Behaviors Among Children Living in Public Housing

  Provide abstract text to pubcat@rand.org alias if you wish to add optional text to this extra tag for this metadata record.

  Sep 25, 2015

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

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  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

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  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

  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

  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

Multimedia

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  05:23

  Building Strong Communities Through Affordable Housing

  Jul 16, 2012