The American Educator Panels

The American Educator Panels (AEP) consist of the American Teacher Panel (ATP) and the American School Leader Panel (ASLP), which are nationally representative samples of educators who provide their feedback on important issues of educational policy and practice.

Young man writing on a whiteboard while students look on

Valuable Insights from Educators Across the Country

American Educator Panels logo

Through the AEP, RAND researchers take the pulse of the nation's educators on a regular basis—getting timely answers to questions surrounding policies like the Common Core Standards, student assessments, and professional development. Our panelists represent a wide range of teachers and school leaders working with diverse student populations and in districts of all sizes.

for example

  • Teachers

    A high school life sciences teacher from a small town outside of Springfield, Missouri, who has been teaching for five years

  • Principals

    A seasoned elementary educator who was recently hired as a principal at a NYC public elementary school

Learn more about our research methods

Data That Supports Classroom Success

AEP surveys tackle some of the greatest challenges facing the U.S. school system today. By bringing educators' perspectives to the forefront of decisionmaking, policies can be designed to better support schools, principals, teachers, and students.

Review more research findings

Featured Studies

  • Teacher calling on an elementary student in class, photo by Monkey Business/Adobe Stock

    How Prepared Are Educators to Support Diverse Students?

    Most principals and teachers surveyed agreed that their preservice training prepared them to lead a school or teach in a classroom, but just over 60 percent of them felt prepared to support nonwhite and low-income students. White educators felt less prepared than their nonwhite peers.

  • A teacher helping students draw with colored pencils, photo by Jack F/Adobe Stock

    Do Educators Have What They Need to Teach Students with Disabilities?

    To serve students with high-incidence disabilities, teachers need a supportive school culture, collaboration and planning time, resources and training, access to data, and tools for using data. Survey data sheds light on the extent to which these supports are available to general and special educators in U.S. schools.

  • Elementary students holding hands and running, photo by monkeybusinessimages/Getty Images

    Support for Social and Emotional Learning Is Widespread

    Most U.S. educators believe that social and emotional learning (SEL) improves student outcomes and school climate. They agree that students should develop and apply skills like managing emotions and setting and achieving positive goals. But teachers tend to assign greater importance to SEL skills than principals.

Bringing educators' perspectives to the forefront of decisionmaking.

What our panelists are saying

  • Thank you for letting me give my thoughts on education. This is the only way I have a voice. In my district, I have been silenced or my words fall upon "broken antennae."

    - High school teacher from California

  • Thank you for the essential services you provide to further education for the students, teachers, and families of America.

    - Teacher from Louisiana

  • I wanted to just say thank you for allowing teachers across the country to participate in giving their opinions on many different topics that affect us and our students (many who challenge us daily!).

    - Grades 1-3 teacher from Delaware

Case Study: Lessons from Louisiana Teachers

The AEP can help decisionmakers understand current challenges—and inform future policy decisions. Findings from one AEP survey showed that Louisiana teachers are doing better than peers in other states when it comes to providing instruction aligned with state standards.

Louisiana teachers were more likely to consult classroom resources that address Common Core standards, and they reported teaching and thinking about instruction in ways different from teachers in other states.

These findings may be linked to the way state education officials in Louisiana have worked with teachers to help them understand and implement the standards, showing promise for using a similar model in other states.

Read more about AEP

Work with Us

Success in education depends on the knowledge and efforts of principals and teachers. If you are interested in fielding a survey or using one of our public data sets, contact the RAND team.

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