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Academic Achievement Gap

Multimedia

COVID-19 and the Digital Divide: Inequities in Online Learning

RAND senior policy researcher Julia Kaufman explains how the digital divide impacted teaching and learning when schools closed last spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oct 16, 2020
Report

The Digital Divide and COVID-19

Findings from a survey of U.S. teachers reveal how limited home internet access has been a barrier to providing instruction amid pandemic-related school closures. The problem is particularly acute among high-poverty schools.

Sep 24, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Educational Attainment and Perceived Need for Urgent Care

This article presents analyses of perceived need for urgent care among seniors.

Aug 27, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

School's Out: The Role of Summers in Understanding Achievement Disparities

We use a novel data set with more than 200 million test scores for students across the United States to explore whether the "fanning out" of achievement from Grades 1 to 8 occurs while students are in school or during the intervening summers.

Jul 28, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Not Where You Start, but How Much You Grow: An Addendum to the Coleman Report

The Coleman Report (1966) first suggested that schools play a relatively small part in shaping students' achievement. The results in this paper suggest a need to update this conventional wisdom.

Jul 28, 2020
Report

Report

Using Data to Support the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Initiative: Data Collection, Metric and Dashboard Creation, and Lessons Learned

The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative was a multiyear effort to improve student outcomes by increasing access to effective teaching. The authors discuss challenges in measuring effectiveness and how the team addressed them.

Mar 5, 2020
Report

Report

Investing in Successful Summer Programs: A Review of Evidence Under the Every Student Succeeds Act

This report, which provides a systematic review of the evidence supporting summer programs and descriptions of evidence-based programs, is intended to provide guidance regarding the effectiveness of summer interventions.

Jun 5, 2019
Journal Article

Pittsburgh Equity Indicators: A Baseline Measurement for Enhancing Equity in Pittsburgh

The 2018 Pittsburgh Equity Indicators report in enables the comparison of two years of data to measure change in disparities. The report includes information on equality scores for 2017 and 2018, as well as "change scores" between years.

Apr 24, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Pittsburgh Equity Indicators: A Baseline Measurement for Enhancing Equity in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Equity Indicators assess annual progress toward equitable opportunities and outcomes for Pittsburghers of all races, genders, and incomes. The 2017 report summarizes baseline equality scores, which measure disparities in Pittsburgh.

Apr 24, 2019
Commentary

The Potential for Early Years Programmes to Close the Disadvantage Gap Is Under-Examined

Many schools are looking to close the disadvantage gap in their communities, but they need more evidence about what actually works. Research that helps policymakers and practitioners understand how early years interventions can promote equity and close the disadvantage gap is needed.

Oct 12, 2018
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
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
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
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

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RAND Education and Labor