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Educational Leadership

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Commentary
Five Charts That Tell Us About the State of Public Education Right Now
To monitor education trends, RAND fields more than a dozen surveys per year to teachers, principals, and superintendents. Five charts highlight findings across different areas—staff turnover, teacher well-being, guns in schools, quality of instruction, and politics in schools—that say a lot about the state of American public education.
Aug 28, 2023
Essay
A Four-Day School Week? Here Are the Costs and Benefits
Hundreds of small school districts across America have cut one day a week from their calendars. A shorter school week helps them compete for teachers and reduce costs. Teachers and parents love it. But is it really in the best interests of students?
Aug 31, 2023

Explore Education Administration

Report
Improving Instructor Hiring and Development at the Emergency Management Institute
The Emergency Management Institute is revising how it secures qualified, effective instructors. Researchers analyzed how instructors are hired and developed, pinpointed strengths and challenges, and identified best practices.
Nov 15, 2023
Report
How Can K–12 Principals Support Student Success and Well-Being? Interviews with Parents to Support Equitable and Culturally Responsive Leadership
This report presents insights from parents about ways principals can support students' academic success and well-being and actions principals can take that align with national standards for equitable and culturally responsive school leadership.
Sep 28, 2023
Report
State Curriculum Reforms and Their Potential Contribution to Instructional System Coherence: A Case Study of Rhode Island and Tennessee
RAND researchers investigate how English language arts curriculum reforms in Rhode Island and Tennessee might be related to the adoption and use of standards-aligned curriculum materials and teachers’ perceptions of instructional system coherence.
Sep 13, 2023
Brochure
The American Educator Panels Pricing Sheet: Taking the Pulse of America's Educators
This pricing guide describes the American Educator Panels and provides costs for the various research options available.
Aug 31, 2023
Report
The Role of Benchmark Assessments in Coherent Instructional Systems: Findings from the 2022 American Instructional Resources Survey
Researchers draw on the American Instructional Resources Survey to examine the prevalence of benchmark assessments and explore educators' perceptions about the role that benchmark assessments play in their schools' instructional systems.
Aug 23, 2023
Commentary
Partnerships with Parents Are Key to Solving Political Polarization in Schools
Parental involvement has become a flashpoint in the public debate over what instructional content is appropriate for school settings. School system leaders should develop a two-pronged approach on how to respond when educators encounter conflicts with parents and families: a proactive strategy to build trust and engage parents and a reactive strategy to manage conflicts when they arise.
Aug 15, 2023
Report
What Do Teachers of Color Think Contributes to a Sense of Belonging?
When asked how their school cultivates a sense of belonging, a majority of teachers of color described efforts to recognize and celebrate race or educate the school community about race and culture. They also cited school climate and demographics, and relationships with colleagues.
Aug 15, 2023
Visualization
American School District Panel Interactive Survey Results Tool: Spring 2023 Survey Results
This tool allows users to compare school district leaders' responses to spring 2023 American School District Panel survey. Charts display results for all respondents and by locale, student race and ethnicity, and district poverty level.
Jul 12, 2023
Report
The Top Reason School Superintendents Are Stressed? Politics.
Nearly 80 percent of superintendents reported that their jobs were “often” or “always” stressful. And they most commonly cited the intrusion of political issues or opinions into schooling as a source of that stress.
Jul 12, 2023
Journal Article
Survey: Principals Say They Need Better-Trained Teachers and More Resources to Address Student Misbehavior
Educators have long struggled to reduce student misbehavior—a challenge that has become more acute since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight two things principals say they need to reduce misbehavior: better teacher prep and resources.
Jun 20, 2023
Journal Article
Survey: What Purpose Do Suspensions Serve? Principals Don't Seem Quite Sure
Efforts to encourage principals to limit use of excessively punitive disciplinary practices have been underway for more than a decade and yet suspension rates remain high. We sought to learn more about principals' beliefs about school discipline.
Jun 20, 2023
Blog
Ukraine's Recovery, Mental Health First Aid, School Staffing: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the trade-offs of Ukraine's reconstruction, the effects of a Mental Health First Aid training program, school staffing challenges, and more.
May 5, 2023
Report
Principals' Views on School Staffing Shortages
During the surge of the COVID-19 omicron variant in spring 2022, most principals struggled to keep classrooms staffed. They said a lack of substitute teachers was the main reason for the shortages. And many reported that hiring had become more difficult since the previous school year.
May 3, 2023
Commentary
The Four-Day School Week: Are the Pros Worth the Cons?
The past two decades have seen an explosion in the adoption of the four-day school week. Against this growing trend, however, there is increasing evidence that, by and large, a four-day school week causes student achievement to suffer.
Apr 6, 2023
Research Brief
How Community Colleges Can Support Student Mental Health Needs
This report is a descriptive study of eight community colleges at the forefront of implementing multilevel approaches to support student mental health, as well as key facilitators for and barriers to their success.
Apr 5, 2023
Report
Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Community College Students
This report is a descriptive study of eight community colleges at the forefront of implementing multilevel approaches to support student mental health and key facilitators for and barriers to their success.
Apr 5, 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
The Coherent Instructional Systems toolkit is intended to help district and school leaders—in teams with teachers and other instructional staff—investigate and reflect upon the extent of coherence within their instructional systems, with the goal of improving coherence.
Mar 30, 2023

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RAND Topic:
Education Administration

Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor

Researcher Spotlight

Rebecca Herman

Senior Policy Researcher

Rebecca (Becki) Herman (she/her) is a senior policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She specializes in conducting and evaluating research on school leadership, comprehensive school reform, positive behavioral interventions, and related…
Kate Kennedy

Associate Policy Researcher

Kate Kennedy (she/her) is an associate policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Kennedy is a K–12 education policy and leadership scholar, with expertise in organizational behavior, social-emotional well-being, school districts, and…

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