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Educational Leadership

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Educational administration refers to a range of professionals—from supervisors, program administrators, and principals to deans, department heads, and chief academic officers—as well as organizations formed to administer school functions. RAND studies have focused on topics such as private-sector management of public schools and improving educational leadership to accelerate student achievement.

Essay

How Schools Adjusted to Life Under COVID-19

Nov 2, 2020

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.
Report

This School Year Could Be Another Casualty of the Pandemic

Nov 16, 2020

Most U.S. schools are providing either fully remote or hybrid instruction as the pandemic continues to limit students' learning. Students are less prepared for grade-level work and those from vulnerable populations are most at risk of falling behind. Some 80 percent of teachers report burnout.

Explore Educational Administration

Report

Learn Together Surveys: 2020 Technical Documentation and Survey Results

This report provides additional information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the 2020 Learn Together Surveys that were administered to principals and teachers via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels.

Dec 10, 2020
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
Report

COVID-19 and the State of K-12 Schools: Results and Technical Documentation from the Fall 2020 American Educator Panels COVID-19 Surveys

This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and data for the coronavirus disease 2019 surveys that were administered to principals and teachers in fall 2020 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels.

Nov 16, 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
Report

American Instructional Resources Surveys: 2020 Technical Documentation and Survey Results

This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the American Instructional Resources Surveys administered to principals and teachers in spring 2020 via RAND's American Educator Panels.

Sep 24, 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
Blog

Pardee RAND's Faculty Leaders Program: Shaping the Future of Public Policy

To be effective, public policy needs to reflect the aspirations, lives, and perspectives of the people it serves. The Pardee RAND Graduate School seeks to build diversity in public policy by engaging faculty leaders from U.S. colleges and universities committed to serving students of color.

Sep 3, 2020
Report

How Instructional Materials Are Used and Supported in U.S. K–12 Classrooms: Findings from the 2019 American Instructional Resources Survey

New results from the RAND American Instructional Resources Survey, which was fielded to a national sample of public teachers and school leaders in spring 2019, shed light on how teachers use instructional materials in their classroom.

Aug 31, 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

Effects of the Executive Development Program and Aligned Coaching for School Principals in Three U.S. States: Investing in Innovation Study Final Report

In this report, part of a series on professional development for school principals, the authors analyze the effects of a professional development program and paired coaching for middle school principals in three states.

Jul 1, 2020
Report

Taking Stock of Principal Pipelines

To what extent do U.S. school districts view school principals as a key lever for school improvement? Superintendents and senior officials from a national sample of school districts shared their views on principal pipelines and the priority their districts place on them.

Jun 23, 2020
Journal Article

Priming the Leadership Pipeline: School Performance and Climate Under an Urban School Leadership Residency Program

This study examines school climate and student achievement trends under an ambitious school leadership residency program in an urban school district.

Jun 16, 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
Multimedia

How Schools Can Support Students During COVID-19

Melanie Zaber, associate economist with the RAND Corporation, offers insights into how education leaders and policymakers can support students during COVID-19.

Jun 10, 2020
Commentary

How COVID-19 Affected America's Schools

RAND surveyed teachers and principals to gauge how the pandemic has affected schooling, what supports these educators need, and how they are thinking about the next school year.

May 26, 2020

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RAND Topic:
Educational Administration

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