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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.

Report

Measuring School and Classroom Climate

Dec 11, 2019

Features of a learning environment, also called school and classroom climate, are associated with higher student achievement. What do educators need to assess these features—and to help create positive, safe, and inclusive environments for students?
Essay

Social and Emotional Learning Prepares Students for Life

Aug 27, 2018

The goal of social and emotional learning is to give students the skills they need to work in teams, communicate their ideas, and manage their emotions. Research can help educators determine which programs work and which ones qualify for federal funding under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Explore Education Policy

Journal Article

Constraints, Values, and Information: How Leaders in One District Justify Their Positions During Instructional Decision Making

We investigate how leaders support their interpretations of problems and proposed solutions during closed-door negotiations around three policy decisions, and how they invoke race, class, and language in the process.

Mar 2, 2021
Report

Cutting the College Price TAG: The Effects of New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant on College Persistence and Completion

RAND researchers studied more than 450,000 recipients of New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant to explore whether larger amounts of grant aid led to higher graduation rates for students at varying income levels and types of institutions.

Feb 4, 2021
Research Brief

Would Low-Income Students Graduate Faster with a Boost in Financial Aid? Results from a Natural Experiment in New Jersey

New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant—the nation's most generous state-funded grant program per state resident college student—increased the rate of on-time bachelor's degree completion at public universities for low-income students who received it.

Feb 4, 2021
Journal Article

The Effect of Large-scale Performance-Based Funding in Higher Education

We analyze the effect of large-scale, high-stakes performance funding programs in Ohio and Tennessee. Using a difference-in-differences identification strategy along with a synthetic control approach, we find no evidence that these programs improve key academic outcomes.

Jan 26, 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

Using State-Level Policy Levers to Promote Principal Quality: Lessons from Seven States Partnering with Principal Preparation Programs and Districts

The authors examine how seven states are using state-level policy levers to improve the quality of school principals.

Nov 17, 2020
Project

Education Research at RAND Europe

Researchers at RAND Europe explore how different policies can support learning at every stage of life, helping organizations and policymakers develop more effective education practices that are inclusive and equitable for all.

Sep 2, 2020
Research Brief

How Can State Financial Aid Best Meet the Needs of Low-Income Students? The Wisconsin Case

The author of this brief analyzes the policy design, implementation, and outcomes of the Wisconsin Grant program.

Aug 31, 2020
Report

Need-Based Financial Aid in Wisconsin: State Policy and Student Pathways

RAND researchers analyzed the policy design, implementation, and outcomes of the Wisconsin Grant. This grant and other state programs face similar challenges using need-based grant aid to promote college attainment for low-income residents.

Aug 31, 2020
Report

Career Guidance in Schools: Research with schools and providers of career guidance services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

This report examines the provision of career guidance in schools and colleges in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough region.

Jul 21, 2020
Research Brief

How Can Assistant Principals Be Trained as Instructional Leaders? Insights from the PLUS Program

This research brief summarizes study findings of a school leadership program and offers three recommendations for school districts and school leadership training programs to consider as they strive to improve instructional leadership effectiveness.

Jul 7, 2020
Report

Pathways to Instructional Leadership: Implementation and Outcomes from a Job-Embedded School Leader Training Program

The authors describe the initial implementation and impacts on staff and student outcomes of the Pathway to Leadership in Urban Schools program, which focused on newly hired school assistant principals, in one large urban district over four years.

Jul 7, 2020
Report

2019 American Teacher Panel Civic Education Survey: Technical Documentation

As part of the RAND Corporation's Truth Decay initiative, researchers surveyed public-school social studies teachers about approaches to civic education. This report, one in a series of six, provides technical information about the survey.

Jun 29, 2020
Report

Data Access and Use Among Middle and High School Principals

School principals make countless decisions that could benefit from access to data in electronic data management systems. During the 2018–2019 school year, what kinds of student data did principals have access to through these systems? Were the data disaggregated by student race, ethnicity, and income?

Jun 11, 2020
Research Brief

Supporting Summer Programs: Navigating Federal, State, and Local Program Support Opportunities

This research brief summarizes how policy environment affects school districts' attempts to scale and sustain quality summer programs.

May 12, 2020
Report

Getting Support for Summer Learning: How Federal, State, City, and District Policies Affect Summer Learning Programs

The authors consider how policy environments affect school districts' attempts to scale and sustain quality summer programs. This report, the sixth in a series, is intended to help program leaders navigate local, state, and federal policy contexts.

Apr 13, 2020
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 7, 2020
Commentary

Teens Are Sleep Deprived; Later School Start Times Could Help

Sleep deprivation among American teens is a major public health problem. Teens in school districts with later start times get more sleep and are more likely to show up for school. They do better academically, and show improvements in their mental and physical health.

Mar 4, 2020
Journal Article

The Organizational Landscape of Schools: School Employees' Conceptualizations of Organizations in Their Environment

Based on my analysis, I extend theory on the role of neighborhood organizations in creating overlap and connection between the school and the community and extend work on organizational members' sense-making about the organizational field.

Jan 24, 2020
Commentary

How the 'Ostrich Europe' Scenario Could Help Guide EU Education Policy

A future scenarios approach can help identify different ways in which the future may plausibly unfold. Seeing how policies implemented now play out in the different scenarios can show us what the possible implications of policy decisions could be. This in turn can contribute to evidence-based policy making.

Jan 13, 2020

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