RAND Featured Research and Projects

Featured Research

  • Students making their way through a hallway at Ridgeview STEM Junior High in Pickerington, Ohio, December 21, 2021, photo by Shane Flanigan/USA Today via Reuters

    School Districts Still Struggled in Year Three of the Pandemic

    Jul 19, 2022

    Ninety percent of school districts changed operations in 2021–2022 because of teacher shortages. They increased substitute teacher pay and their number of staff above prepandemic levels. They also struggled with political polarization around critical race theory, student and staff mental health, and student learning loss.

  • A gloved hard reaches out to pick up a orange from a conveyor belt.

    Is Los Angeles County Prepared for California's Edible Food Recovery Mandate?

    Jul 18, 2022

    Experts in food recovery discuss findings from a RAND study into Los Angeles County's preparedness for a new law which requires California to significantly reduce organic waste and recover some edible food from going to landfills by 2025.

  • Southeastern Regional Superintendent Luis Lopes enters a special school committee meeting for superintendent candidates on April 5, 2022, photo by Marc Vasconcellos/USA Today via Reuters

    Superintendents Have High Job Satisfaction and Normal Turnover Rates

    Jul 12, 2022

    Although 95 percent of superintendents agreed that their job has gotten harder over the past decade, 85 percent of them were satisfied with their job as of spring 2022. The rate of those planning to leave their positions is on par with prepandemic levels.

Featured Projects

  • Two Prominent Computer Engineers Working with Programming Software on Personal Computer. In the Background Scientifically Advanced Research Center.

    Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges of Research Engagement with China

    An independent and evidence-based study into UK academics' research engagement with China explored how and why UK academics engage with China on joint research activities with the goal of better understanding how UK research organizations manage any resulting risks.

  • A still from a powerful animated video created by RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre, known as V+J, to show how Russian propaganda spreads—and how it can influence its audience by entertaining, confusing, and overwhelming them.

    Russia's Propaganda Model

    RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre, known as V+J, created a powerful animated video to show how Russian propaganda spreads—and how it can influence its audience by entertaining, confusing, and overwhelming them.

  • A still frame from a short film created by artist-in-residence V+J. The video summarizes RAND’s 2021 paper on geoengineering as a tool to address global warming.

    The Risks of Geoengineering

    Geoengineering—the intentional manipulation of the climate—could help curb global warming, but it could also have world-altering consequences. In a new animated video, RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre take a lighthearted look at this serious issue.

RAND-Initiated Research

  • Sacramento Capitol Building, California, USA

    The RAND State Firearm Law Database

    Jun 28, 2022

    As part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, RAND developed a longitudinal data set of state and District of Columbia firearm laws from 1979 to 2022 to support improved analysis and understanding of the effects of gun laws.