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Disadvantaged Students

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 (such as Hurricane Katrina), and other factors that contribute to educational disparities.

Research Brief

Online Schools in Ohio: Examining Enrollment and Success

Who attends e-schools in Ohio? How do they perform compared with students in brick-and-mortar schools? And what do policymakers and educators need to know going forward?

Jun 8, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Student Enrollment Patterns and Achievement in Ohio's Online Charter Schools

We utilize state data of nearly 1.7 million students in Ohio to study a specific sector of online education: K–12 schools that deliver most, if not all, education online, lack a brick-and-mortar presence, and enroll students full-time.

Mar 28, 2017
Commentary

The Urgent Need for an Education Plan in Mosul

In addition to restoring Mosul's damaged infrastructure, efforts to stabilize the city must include a plan to rebuild education. Students need to make up years of missed K-12 and university education, and ISIS indoctrination needs to be undone.

Mar 27, 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
News Release

News Release

One-Stop Social Services Efforts May Improve Community College Outcomes

Students participating in programs that provide a comprehensive range of support services are more likely to persist in attending community college.

Nov 30, 2016
Report

One-Stop Social Services Efforts May Improve Community College Outcomes

Students participating in programs that provide a comprehensive range of support services are more likely to persist in attending community college.

Nov 30, 2016
Project

Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants

RAND Europe was commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to conduct an independent evaluation of Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants (MITA) is a programme that aims to develop the ways in which teaching assistants (TAs) can improve students’ outcomes.

Nov 3, 2016
Commentary

Why Being a Migrant Is Not the Biggest Barrier to Education in Europe

Migrant students tend to have lower performance and are more likely to leave school early. But factors other than migrant status, such as language barriers, can explain these differences.

Oct 31, 2016
Journal Article

To Educate or to Incarcerate: Examining Disparities in School Discipline

Several factors contribute to disparities in office referral, suspension, and expulsion in high schools. Helping students engage in school may protect against disproportionate school discipline.

Sep 30, 2016
Commentary

Free School Meals Are Still the Best Measure of Deprivation

Free school meal eligibility is not a perfect measure of student disadvantage, but it's the best there is. Other measures, such as parental education or neighborhood deprivation have also been used, but they are not as good at determining which schools are most in need.

Sep 26, 2016
Journal Article

Premigration School Quality, Time Spent in the United States, and the Math Achievement of Immigrant High School Students

Using a nationally representative sample of 1,189 immigrant youth in American high schools, we examine whether the quality of education in their country of origin is related to post-migration math achievement in the 9th grade.

Sep 22, 2016
Report

Education Policies Can Help Migrant Children in EU

Building relationships between educators and parents of migrant children in the EU, and dedicating more resources to schools with a high concentration of migrants, may help redress disparities in educational outcomes.

Sep 16, 2016
News Release

News Release

Voluntary Summer Learning Programs for Elementary School Students Benefit Those with High Levels of Attendance

Elementary school students with high levels of attendance in voluntary summer learning programs led by urban districts experienced benefits in math and reading.

Sep 7, 2016
Infographic

Infographic

Learning from Summer: Effects of Voluntary Summer Learning Programs on Low-Income Urban Youth

This infographic summarizes several student outcomes from an assessment of five voluntary, district-led summer learning programs offered at no cost to low-income, urban elementary students.

Sep 7, 2016
Research Brief

Kids Benefit from Voluntary Summer Learning Programs

Fourth graders who attended at least 20 days of summer learning programs benefited in mathematics and language arts achievement. When voluntary summer learning programs are effective, what factors are associated with success?

Sep 7, 2016
Report

Summer Learning Programs Benefit Low-Income Urban Students

Low-income students lose ground in the summer relative to their wealthier peers. High-quality voluntary summer learning programs can help disadvantaged students catch up and succeed in school, but consistent attendance is crucial.

Sep 7, 2016
Commentary

Solutions for Educating Young Syrian Refugees

Approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees are school-age children. They face a slew of struggles, not the least of which is the lack of education that they need to move forward in life. What can be done to improve the access to and quality of refugee education?

Apr 21, 2016
Journal Article

Journal Article

Can College Outreach Programs Improve College Readiness? The Case of the College Bound, St. Louis Program

In the past decade, there has been a proliferation of community- and school-based college readiness programs designed to increase the participation of students who have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education.

Apr 11, 2016
Journal Article

Journal Article

Can Broad Inferences Be Drawn from Lottery Analyses of School Choice Programs? An Exploration of Appropriate Sensitivity Analyses

Researchers can use sensitivity analyses to evaluate whether they, or stakeholders, should be careful in extending their findings on school choice programs to populations or locations beyond those studied.

Apr 1, 2016

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RAND Topic:
Disadvantaged Students

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RAND Education