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Education Policy

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Education policy includes laws as well as processes and policies that educational organizations, local districts, states, and nations put in place and follow to achieve academic goals. RAND analyses have informed education policy in the United States, United Kingdom, Qatar, and many other countries.

Q&A
Amplifying Teachers' Voices: Q&A with Ashley Woo
Ashley Woo, an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D. candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, aims to bring teachers' perspectives into policymaking. In this interview, she discusses her research on teachers' responses to state restrictions on how they can address topics related to race and gender in the classroom.
Mar 16, 2023
Report
Support for Elementary Social Studies Education Varies Widely Across States
Over the past few decades, U.S. schools have increasingly sidelined students' civic development as one of their priorities. The infrastructure to support grades K–5 social studies instruction—academic standards, accountability requirements, assessment programs—is often missing or inadequate.
Mar 7, 2023

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Multimedia
Teachers’ Responses to Curriculum Restrictions
RAND policy researcher Ashley Woo presents findings from a study that examined teachers' responses to limitations on race- and gender-related topics in the classroom.
Apr 21, 2023
Research Brief
Getting Students to and Through Advanced Math
Students who take precalculus, calculus, and advanced placement math classes get a leg up when it comes to securing college admission and careers in STEM fields. But a large portion of U.S. high school students don't take advanced math. What explains this gap, and what can be done to close it?
Apr 17, 2023
Report
Coherence in English Language Arts and Mathematics Instructional Systems Across the United States
Using survey responses from a nationally representative sample of public school kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) English language arts and math teachers, RAND researchers examine teachers' perceptions of instructional system coherence.
Mar 30, 2023
Tool
The Improving Instructional System Coherence Toolkit: A Resource for K–12 Districts and Schools
This toolkit, along with an accompanying workbook and slide deck, is intended to help district and school leaders investigate and reflect on the extent to which coherence is present in their instructional systems.
Mar 30, 2023
Commentary
Can Grade Retention Help with COVID-19 Learning Recovery in Schools?
Early grade retention is getting more attention as a potential way to make up for missed learning during the pandemic. But retaining kids without providing the necessary supports or failing to identify the right kids using objective criteria will likely yield ineffective results or even lead to adverse effects.
Mar 28, 2023
Report
Getting Students to (and Through) Advanced Math: Where Course Offerings and Content Are Not Adding Up
High schoolers who take advanced math have advantages in college admissions and in securing STEM careers. This report examines how students' opportunities to prepare for and take advanced math courses in the United States differ by school context.
Mar 21, 2023
Journal Article
The Nuffield Early Language Intervention Scale-Up: Evaluation Report Year 1
This study was a mixed methods process evaluation of the implementation of NELI at scale. The objectives were to assess and understand the scaling process and to provide recommendations for supporting future scale-up of educational interventions.
Mar 10, 2023
Journal Article
The Nuffield Early Language Intervention Scale-Up: Evaluation Report Year 2
The Year 2 Report is a mixed methods process evaluation of the implementation of NELI at scale across schools in England, using surveys, interviews and case studies. It focuses on schools who signed up to deliver NELI in the 2021/22 academic year.
Mar 10, 2023
Journal Article
Teacher Pensions: An Overview
In this special issue of Educational Researcher, we present research on a variety of policy issues surrounding teacher pensions.
Mar 8, 2023
News Release
Teacher Supports, Guidance for Elementary Social Studies Education Vary Widely Across United States
The basic infrastructure to support elementary (grades K–5) social studies instruction—academic standards, accountability requirements, assessment programs—is inadequate in many states. Even where state-level infrastructure to guide teachers' instruction is in place, its comprehensiveness and quality vary greatly.
Mar 7, 2023
Commentary
How Teachers Can Shield Students from Harm as Debates Rage over Race and Gender
By conveying to girls and students of color that they are individually capable of overcoming adversity—and that who they are matters—educators might soften the blow of public laws and policies that send the opposite message.
Feb 22, 2023
Report
What Teachers Think of State Policies Limiting Their Instruction
The restrictions placed on how teachers can address race- or gender-related topics in the classroom may be leading to consequences for teachers' working conditions and for student learning. Teachers report that the limitations make it more difficult to engage students in learning, to support critical thinking skills, and to build empathy.
Jan 24, 2023
Journal Article
Designing Automated Writing Evaluation Systems for Ambitious Instruction and Classroom Integration
In this chapter, we consider the role of AI tools to support ambitious teaching practices on a sustained basis. We anchor our discussion in the use of automated writing evaluation (AWE) systems that provide formative feedback.
Jan 4, 2023
Commentary
Ten Things That Inspired Me in 2022
It would be impossible to capture all the important work that RAND does in a year. But RAND president and CEO Jason Matheny has compiled ten times he was inspired by RAND's efforts to bring insight to some of the biggest policy stories of 2022.
Dec 15, 2022
Report
Florida K–12 Mathematics Teachers' Credentials and Preparation: Findings from the 2022 Learn Together Surveys
The authors present findings on Florida mathematics teachers' credentialing pathways, preparation program content, and program resources' availability and helpfulness to offer a current picture of the mathematics teaching workforce in Florida.
Dec 12, 2022
Report
Learn Together Surveys: 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results
This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the 2022 Learn Together Surveys that were administered to K-12 principals and teachers in March 2022 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels.
Nov 3, 2022
Report
Holistic early education and care: Policy and practice in France 2017-2021
The report presents an overview of holistic early childhood education and care policy and practice in France between 2017-2021, including an analysis of broader societal, political and research trends regarding early childhood development.
Sep 8, 2022
Commentary
A Four-Day Week: Is America Ready?
As alluring as a calendar filled with three-day weekends may seem, research shows that short school weeks can have educational and health risks for students, but also benefits for them and for school districts that make the change. Do the benefits of the condensed week outweigh the costs?
May 25, 2022

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Jason M. Ward

Associate Director, RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness in Los Angeles

Jason Ward is associate director of the RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness in Los Angeles, an associate economist at the RAND Corporation, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His work uses the tools of applied microeconomics to study housing, labor markets, education,…
John F. Pane

Senior Scientist

John F. Pane is a senior scientist at the RAND Corporation. He studies the implementation and effectiveness of innovations in education, focusing on education technology, personalized/competency-based learning, math, and science. His expertise includes the application of experimental and…

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