From the RAND Blog

See below for the latest commentary from the RAND Education and Labor team. For a complete list of related blog content, see education posts and workforce posts on the RAND Blog.

  • Fred Pardee attending a Pardee RAND Graduate School Board of Governors meeting on March 28, 2014

    Frederick Pardee Dies at 89; Former RAND Researcher Gave Generously to RAND and Graduate School That Bears His Name

    Jul 1, 2022

    Frederick S. Pardee, a former RAND Corporation researcher turned real estate investor who helped endow the Pardee RAND Graduate School and gave generously to RAND throughout his life, has died. He was 89.

  • Teachers' Stress, Drug Dealing in San Francisco, Preventing Mass Shootings: RAND Weekly Recap

    Jun 17, 2022

    This weekly recap focuses on stress among America's educators, what state governments can do to prevent targeted violence, stopping open-air drug dealing in San Francisco, and more.

  • A man walks past the New York State Department of Labor offices in Brooklyn, New York, March 25, 2020, photo by Anthony Behar/Reuters

    Is a Recession Coming? A Key Indicator Is Also the King of Mixed Messages

    May 27, 2022

    When fears of inflation arise in the United States, people start paying a lot of attention to weekly unemployment-insurance claims, as an early indicator of layoffs that could augur a broader slump. But unemployment claims are a flawed gauge that may be particularly skewed by the pandemic.

  • Gun Policy, China and Taiwan, Russian Propaganda: RAND Weekly Recap

    May 27, 2022

    This weekly recap focuses on reducing America's unacceptably high rates of gun violence, what would happen if China “quarantines” Taiwan, and Russia's “firehose of falsehood.”

  • High school student presenting in a classroom with other students and teacher watching, photo by Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images

    A Four-Day Week: Is America Ready?

    May 25, 2022

    As alluring as a calendar filled with three-day weekends may seem, research shows that short school weeks can have educational and health risks for students, but also benefits for them and for school districts that make the change. Do the benefits of the condensed week outweigh the costs?

  • U.S. Army 1st Lt. Christopher Aliperti uses a prototype headset with augmented reality at Fort Stewart, Georgia, March 04, 2022, photo by Sgt. Jose Escamilla/U.S. Army

    Beware the Allure of Training Technology

    May 18, 2022

    In addition to focusing on acquiring technology that helps retain a competitive advantage, the U.S. Department of Defense could also focus on codifying processes that align technology with user needs and that adapt as technology, military operations, and needs change. Considering context when planning the development and use of training technology could be crucial.

  • A Peacekeeping Operation in Ukraine, Synthetic Opioids, Geoengineering: RAND Weekly Recap

    Apr 29, 2022

    This weekly recap focuses on why it may be time to consider a peacekeeping operation in northern Ukraine, supporting veterans with traumatic brain injury, a new response to synthetic opioids, and more.

  • Representatives from the United States, Canada, Lithuania, NATO, and Ukraine discuss the noncommissioned officer development-training course at the Office of Defensive Cooperation in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 24, 2016, photo by Staff Sgt. Adriana M. Diaz-Brown/U.S. Army

    The Value of Institutional Capacity Building Through Professional Military Education

    Apr 25, 2022

    Security cooperation rarely makes headlines. But it enhances the security of the United States and its allies and partners in an effective and cost-effective way, and may deserve more attention and support.

  • Workers stand in line to cast ballots for a union election at Amazon's JFK8 distribution center, in the Staten Island borough of New York City, March 25, 2022, photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters

    A Whole New, Same World

    Apr 20, 2022

    Workers in the United States have emerged from the pandemic with new preferences and demands, but they still lack the power to get what they want. By any meaningful measure, employers are still in charge.

  • Female teacher helping students training to be electricians, photo by monkeybusinessimages/Getty Images

    If College Isn't the Pathway to the Middle Class It Once Was—What Is?

    Apr 5, 2022

    Is college still the best path to the middle class? It's complicated. College credentials still do lead many to increased earnings, but the rapid increases in college costs, coupled with a strong labor market, have made the payoff for a college degree no longer a sure thing.

  • Multiracial group of children raising their hands in a classroom with a smiling Black woman teacher, photo by kali9/Getty Images

    How to Make Sure Your Summer Learning Program Is Effective

    Mar 30, 2022

    In the best of times, it is no small feat to put together a quality summer learning program. Given that districts are focusing not only on academic recovery from COVID learning loss, but on retaining teachers, supporting students' and teachers' mental health, and addressing increases in misbehavior, they need immediate, digestible guidance for summer programming.

  • Insights on Russia's War in Ukraine, Global Citizenship, Vaccination Equity: RAND Weekly Recap

    Mar 25, 2022

    This weekly recap focuses on Russia's war on Ukraine, medication treatment for patients with opioid use disorder, promoting global citizenship in America, and more.

  • Refugees cross the border from Ukraine to Poland after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland, March 18, 2022, photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

    For Ukrainian Refugees in Poland, Livelihood Needs Will Follow Humanitarian Ones

    Mar 18, 2022

    Host countries such as Poland that accept refugees are to be lauded for their humanitarian response. To increase the likelihood that these countries find effective policy solutions, they should view the influx of refugees not merely as a challenge, but as a significant opportunity to be seized for aiding their post-COVID recovery.

  • Faculty Leaders Program in Policy Research and Analysis

    Mar 18, 2022

    The Faculty Leaders Program is a professional development program for faculty who work with students or in disciplines underrepresented in public policy. Offered by the Pardee RAND Graduate School, the program awards fellowships and stipends to 12–16 selected faculty to participate in the policy analysis summer program, which will be held virtually this year.

  • Attendees argue at Portland Public Schools meeting held to discuss a proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate, in Portland, Oregon, October 26, 2021, photo by Sergio Olmos/Reuters

    What Is Really Polarizing Schools Right Now?

    Mar 14, 2022

    Political polarization that rises to the level of interfering with schooling isn't simply a headache; it's a fundamental problem for public education. When there is deep disagreement over the essentials—what schools teach, how they keep children safe—schools are at risk of becoming ungovernable.