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Disadvantaged Students

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Disadvantaged students are those whose family, social, or economic circumstances hinder their ability to learn at school. RAND conducts research on after-school programs and other out-of-school time issues, the effects on students of natural disasters, and other factors that contribute to educational disparities.

Report

Has COVID-19 Led to Divergent and Inequitable Pathways in Education?

May 27, 2021

Remote schooling is associated with fewer instructional opportunities and potentially poorer student outcomes compared with in-person schooling. Nevertheless, many schools will continue to offer a remote option after the pandemic has passed.
Commentary

Making Preschool Investments Count Through the American Families Plan

Jun 3, 2021

The American Families Plan would address disparities in preschool access by adding $200 billion for high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds. How can we make sure that this historic investment, if approved by Congress, counts?

Explore Disadvantaged Students

Report

Summer for All: Building Coordinated Networks to Promote Access to Quality Summer Learning and Enrichment Opportunities Across a Community

In this eighth report in RAND's Summer Learning Series, the authors chronicle early efforts in four communities to create coordinated approaches to summer programming, noting their challenges, enablers, and early outcomes.

Nov 10, 2021
Report

Expanding Charter School Capacity: The Case of Propel Montour

Researchers examine the expansion of Propel Schools, a small, regional charter school network in southwestern Pennsylvania, to describe the academic and behavioral experiences of continuing and expansion students from fall 2017 to spring 2020.

Sep 29, 2021
Journal Article

Benefits of Extracurricular Activities for Children: A Focus on Social Inclusion and Children from Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Backgrounds

This research note summarises the existing evidence on the benefits of extracurricular activities, how they can be used to support social inclusion, and how access for disadvantaged children can be improved.

Jun 9, 2021
Commentary

Commit Now to Get Summer Programming Right

When summer programs are targeted to needs, intentionally designed, and well attended, they produce positive outcomes in math and reading. But these programs need federal support, and they require early planning.

Apr 15, 2021
Report

Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success, 2nd Ed. — Executive Summary

The authors distill lessons about implementing and improving summer learning programs gleaned from a six-year study in the five urban districts participating in the National Summer Learning Project.

Mar 25, 2021
Research Brief

How Does Corequisite Remediation Change Student Experiences? Results from a Randomized Study in Five Texas Community Colleges

Corequisite remediation for non–college-ready students provides early opportunities to earn credit, more-intensive instruction, greater rigor, greater alignment, and increased opportunities to learn from peers.

Mar 24, 2021
Report

Student Experiences in English Corequisite Remediation Versus a Standalone Developmental Education Course: Findings from an Experimental Study in Texas Community Colleges

In this report, researchers use data from a randomized control trial at five community colleges in Texas to examine contrasts in student experiences between corequisite remediation and standalone developmental education courses.

Mar 24, 2021
Report

Evaluation of Delaware's Opportunity Funding and Student Success Block Grant Programs: Early Implementation

The authors examine the 2019-2020 implementation of two newly expanded Delaware weighted education funding programs, the Opportunity Fund and Student Success Block Grant, and emerging best practices, as reported by local education agency leaders.

Jan 21, 2021
Report

Building and Sustaining Innovative High Schools: Findings from the Opportunity by Design Study

The Opportunity by Design initiative gave support to small schools of choice to adopt a set of design principles intended to prepare students for college and careers. This final report describes the methods and findings of the five-year study.

Dec 17, 2020
Research Brief

Designing and Sustaining Innovative High Schools: Successes, Challenges, and Student Outcomes

In a five-year study, high schools adopted a set of design principles intended to prepare students for college and careers.

Dec 17, 2020
Report

Every Summer Counts: A Longitudinal Analysis of Outcomes from the National Summer Learning Project

This seventh report in a series presents longitudinal findings on the effectiveness of voluntary summer learning programs in five school districts. The authors also offer implications for policy on narrowing the achievement gap between students.

Dec 17, 2020
Report

Benchmarks for Success: Expected Short- and Long-Term Outcomes of National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Participants

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe is a residential intervention program to help teens who have dropped out of high school. Sites can compare the outcomes of their cadets with this set of population benchmarks derived from public datasets.

Dec 10, 2020
Essay

How Schools Adjusted to Life Under COVID-19

In spring 2020, nearly every school in America had to figure out how to make distance learning work. Some handed out thick packets of homework for students to do on their own. Others handed out laptops. Most principals agree that better planning for future closures should be a priority.

Nov 2, 2020
Journal Article

When Financial Aid Is Scarce: The Challenge of Allocating College Aid Where It Is Needed Most

This study estimates the effects of the Wisconsin Grant, a state-funded, need-based financial aid program for Wisconsin residents attending in-state colleges and universities.

Oct 9, 2020
Report

Schools Weren't Prepared for a Crisis Like COVID-19

Before COVID-19, less than half of U.S. public schools had a written plan for dealing with a pandemic. And only 38 states had publicly available school health emergency plans. How did schools' preparation affect their transitions to remote learning and principals' confidence in student achievement?

Sep 29, 2020
Research Brief

The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching: A Comparison of School Outcomes

RAND researchers study the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative and find associations between school improvement and staff perceptions of school leaders' behaviors, staff cohesion, and factors outside schools' control.

Sep 21, 2020
Report

Variation in Improvement Among Schools in the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching

RAND researchers investigate factors that might be associated with positive student outcomes for schools that improved during the six years of the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative.

Sep 21, 2020
Commentary

Learning from School Leaders About SEL During a Time of Crisis

It would be easy for social and emotional learning to fall by the wayside as school leaders work to address students' health, safety, and learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and funders should take seriously the perspectives and concerns that school leaders have shared.

Sep 4, 2020
Essay

The COVID Slide: How to Help Students Recover Learning Losses

Research shows that summer breaks contribute to income-based achievement and opportunity gaps for youth. How can we use what we know about summer learning to help kids in the age of COVID-19?

Jul 9, 2020

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RAND Topic:
Disadvantaged Students

Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor