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Academic Achievement Gap

Research Brief

Research Brief

Does School Choice Mean Students Attend Better Schools? The Case of Post–Hurricane Katrina New Orleans

Researchers examined school choice outcomes in New Orleans following 2005's Hurricane Katrina, including exit patterns of students across sectors and school types in New Orleans and the destination schools of mobile students.

Jun 22, 2017
Research Brief

Research Brief

The Economic Returns from Investing in Early Childhood Programs in the Granite State

We assessed investments in early childhood programs in New Hampshire, summarizing benefits and economic returns of three early intervention strategies and estimating costs and benefits of statewide investments in programs for at-risk children.

Feb 15, 2017
Report

The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Early Childhood in New Hampshire

Stakeholders in the public and private sectors in New Hampshire have been focused on investments in young children. What do they need to know?

Feb 15, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Family Functioning and Predictors of Runaway Behavior Among At-Risk Youth

Adolescent runaway behavior is associated with a range of negative consequences in young adulthood. Therefore, this study aimed to examine predictors of running away in at-risk youth.

Oct 12, 2016
Research Brief

Research Brief

A Costly Divide: The Economic Impact of Gaps in Student Performance in Pennsylvania

Analysis of Pennsylvania public school student performance showed significant achievement gaps for subgroups defined by race-ethnicity and family economic status. Closing these gaps would produce considerable economic benefits.

Dec 17, 2015
Journal Article

School Choice, Student Mobility, and School Quality: Evidence from Post-Katrina New Orleans

This paper analyzes student mobility in post-Katrina New Orleans between and within the various sectors and school types using a multinomial framework.

Nov 24, 2015
Journal Article

The Effect of Attending Full-Day Kindergarten on English Learner Students

A significant and growing English learner (EL) population attends public schools in the United States.

Jul 22, 2015
News Release

News Release

Eliminating Racial and Socioeconomic Performance Gaps for Pennsylvania Students Could Have Boosted Economy by $44 ...

Eliminating race-ethnic and socioeconomic performance gaps for public school students in Pennsylvania could have boosted the state's gross domestic product by as much as $44 billion after 10 years.

Jul 13, 2015
Report

The Economic Impact of Achievement Gaps in PA Public Schools

Although Pennsylvania ranks high among U.S. states in average student performance, the achievement gaps between students classified by race-ethnicity, economic status, and parent education are among the widest nationally. Race-ethnic academic achievement gaps amount to an estimated annual cost of $1 billion to $3 billion in lost earnings.

Jul 13, 2015
Blog

Summer Learning Day: Stopping the Summer Slide

RAND is conducting the first-ever assessment of large-scale, voluntary, district-run, summer learning programs serving low-income elementary students. The results may help districts, educators, and policymakers make better decisions about funding and implementing programs to stop summer learning loss.

Jun 19, 2015
Journal Article

Equity in Competency Education: Realizing the Potential, Overcoming the Obstacles

Examines equity concerns in competency education through the lens of family income, exploring the effects and implications, as well as proposing potential mitigations.

Nov 1, 2014
Journal Article

Equity in Competency Education

Equity is a basic goal and value of competency education. Competency-based approaches should promote equity by preventing students from falling or staying behind. Family income can influence this equity and has effects and implications that can limit opportunities for some students to excel in school.

Nov 1, 2014
Blog

Ask Me Anything: Catherine Augustine on Summer Learning

With summer now underway, RAND's Catherine Augustine hosted an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, answering questions about year-round schooling, how to get the most out of summer learning programs, and more.

Jul 3, 2014
Commentary

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
Multimedia

Making Summer Count

RAND experts Catherine Augustine and Jennifer McCombs discuss the loss of knowledge and educational skills during summer, how summer programs can disrupt this loss, and how students who attend these programs perform better than peers who do not.

Jun 13, 2011
Report

Investment in Summer Learning Programs Can Help Stop the Summer Slide

The loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer is cumulative over the course of a student's career and further widens the achievement gap between low- and upper-income students. Those who attend summer programs can disrupt that loss and do better in school.

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
Dissertation

Dissertation

Exploring Family, Neighborhood and School Factors in Racial Achievement Gap

Examines the contribution of family, school, and neighborhood factors to the racial achievement gap in education.

Feb 25, 2010
Research Brief

Research Brief

The Promise of Preschool for Narrowing Readiness and Achievement Gaps Among California Children

This research brief summarizes an evaluation of the potential of preschool to make a difference in the achievement gaps among California children in order to assess the potential expansion of public funding for preschool education.

Dec 12, 2007
News Release

News Release

Studies Examine California's School Readiness and Student Achievement Gaps, and the State's System of Publicly Funded ...

California's sizeable achievement gaps in English-language arts and mathematics in second and third grades have early roots, with the same groups of children that lag in academic performance in elementary school trailing in measures of school readiness when they enter kindergarten.

Nov 8, 2007

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