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Education and Literacy

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RAND research on early childhood, K-12, and higher education covers issues such as assessment and accountability, choice-based and standards-based reform, school leadership, teacher effectiveness, technology, and vocational training. RAND also explores life skills, such as media, health, and financial literacy, as well as how time spent outside the classroom impacts student outcomes.

Report

School Leadership: Teachers and Principals May Have Different Views

Mar 14, 2019

Principals almost universally rate themselves as effective in leadership practices such as communicating a clear vision for the school and setting high standards for teaching. Some teachers rate principals lower, and this mismatch in perception could have negative consequences.
Essay

Pardee RAND Reimagines the Future of Public Policy Problem Solving

Jan 7, 2019

The Pardee RAND Graduate School is taking a new approach to public policy education. Three new streams of study and action will better align with today's policy needs. Faculty and students will shift the focus from coming up with solutions to actually implementing them.

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Commentary

What Two New Studies Reveal About Restorative Justice in Middle School and How It Can Be Done Better

There are many nuances to the implementation and impact of restorative practices, which suggests that continued experimentation could allow districts to realize the benefits of instituting these practices and reduce the cost of doing so.

Apr 17, 2019
Report

How Educators View the Rapid Life Cycle of School Reforms

Researchers and educators have noted the emergence of a school reform "churn." New initiatives and programs are adopted, only to be dropped when the next popular reform emerges. How do principals and teachers perceive continuity in the programs at their schools?

Apr 11, 2019
News Release

News Release

Principal Pipelines Benefit Students, Reduce Principal Turnover

Districts can improve schools—including boosting student achievement in reading and math—by better preparing, selecting, evaluating, and supporting principals.

Apr 8, 2019
Report

Principal Pipelines Benefit Students and Reduce Principal Turnover

Six urban districts implemented principal pipelines, a strategic approach to the hiring, preparation, evaluation, and support of school leaders. The efforts were feasible, affordable, and effective. The schools not only outperformed comparison schools in both math and reading, but they also improved principal retention.

Apr 8, 2019
Commentary

For Teachers, a Good Boss Makes All the Difference

Districts that try to place an effective leader in every school could reap educational benefits in the classroom. Giving a teacher a good boss also could be a powerful element in a broader strategy to recruit and retain highly effective educators.

Apr 4, 2019
Journal Article

Teachers Can Make a Difference Beyond Their Own Classrooms

Schools may be undervaluing good teachers by at least 30 percent. How? Because they aren't considering the spillover effects that better-educated students have on their peers.

Apr 3, 2019
Commentary

How Do You Measure Social and Emotional Learning?

As the desire to improve SEL for all students grows, it is increasingly important to measure its effectiveness. But the field has lacked an organized method of identifying, choosing, and using the best assessments to measure students' competencies. Two newly developed tools can help.

Mar 28, 2019
Report

Report

Preparing New York City High School Students for the Workforce: Evaluation of the Scholars at Work Program

This report evaluates the Scholars at Work program, which connects students in Career and Technical Education courses at New York City high schools with local employers to improve the career chances of the students and meet the needs of employers.

Mar 28, 2019
Brochure

Two Innovative Tools to "Take the Pulse" of America's Educators

This brochure describes the American Educator Panels—two innovative online survey tools that provide unique sources of accurate information about educators' knowledge, attitudes, practices, and working conditions

Mar 18, 2019
Report

Report

Cost Analysis of the South Carolina Child Early Reading and Development Education Program

This report estimates the per-pupil cost for public and private providers to deliver the South Carolina Early Reading Development and Education Program (CERDEP) for 2017-2018 and compares the cost to the reimbursement rate provided by the state.

Mar 4, 2019
Commentary

Measuring Social-Emotional Skills, Carefully

In the often-fraught debate over education policy, there is growing agreement that educators should pay close attention to the development of the social and emotional skills that allow students to persevere when working on difficult tasks, regulate emotions, and work effectively in teams. But measuring such skills remains a significant challenge.

Feb 28, 2019
Report

Preparing School Leaders for Success

The New Leaders program offers rigorous, research-based training for aspiring principals. Students in K-8 schools led by New Leaders principals outperformed students in K-8 schools led by other new principals in test scores and attendance rates. Both participants and district partners expressed favorable views of the program.

Feb 25, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Market Power and Price Discrimination in the US Market for Higher Education

We estimate an equilibrium model of private and public college competition and pricing using the NPSAS. We find substantial exercise of inefficient market power and, importantly, sizable variation by both college quality and student characteristics.

Feb 15, 2019
Report

Teachers' Access to and Use of Student Data Varies

Using student data to inform instruction is considered sound educational practice. Many teachers have access to grades, attendance records, and standardized test scores. But they don't all have the skills needed to interpret and use the data. Providing educators with more support could increase their use of student data.

Feb 14, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Text-Based Writing in Elementary Classrooms: Teachers' Conceptions and Practice

In the present study, we investigate how teachers conceptualize text-based writing and how these conceptions influence the writing tasks they assign.

Feb 12, 2019
Research Brief

Results from the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Initiative

A multiyear effort aimed at increasing students' access to effective teaching failed to achieve its goals for improved student achievement and graduation. However, the participating school districts and charter management organizations did implement better measures of teaching effectiveness.

Feb 11, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

The Use of Responsive Circles in Schools: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of the study was to examine how educators use responsive circles. We aimed to fill a gap in the literature by offering details about their implementation based on enacted responsive circles in a large urban school setting.

Feb 8, 2019
Research Brief

Educators and Employers Could Align Efforts to Fill STEM Jobs

Middle-skills STEM workers are in high demand in the oil and natural gas industry, but they need the proper training and credentials. Better collaboration between employers and colleges could bridge the gap between the skills and knowledge employers seek and what instructors emphasize.

Feb 7, 2019
Report

Report

Supporting Middle-Skills STEM Workforce Development: Analysis of Workplace Skills in Demand and Education Institutions' Curricular Offerings in the Oil and Gas Sector

In this report, researchers examine the alignment of college STEM education with the needs of employers in the tri-state region of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, as well as STEM areas in which college students need more support.

Feb 7, 2019

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RAND Topic:
Education and Literacy

Topic Synonyms:
Instruction;
Learning;
Schooling

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Laura S. Hamilton

Senior Behavioral Scientist, Distinguished Chair in Learning and Assessment, Director, Center for Social and Emotional Learning Research

Laura Hamilton is a senior behavioral scientist and distinguished chair in learning and assessment at the RAND Corporation. She directs the RAND Center for Social and Emotional Learning Research and co-directs the American Educator Panels, RAND’s nationally representative survey panels of…
Serafina Lanna

Research Assistant

Serafina Lanna is a research assistant at the RAND Corporation. Her work is focused on equity and opportunity for vulnerable and underrepresented populations across public and mental health, education and school-to-work transitions, labor and workforce development, and criminal justice policy. …

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