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Educational Technology

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Educational technology refers not only to the hardware and software used in an educational setting, but how technological resources are used to support teaching and learning. RAND researchers form multidisciplinary teams to field rigorous studies of educational technology that provide actionable information to educators, policymakers, and product developers.

Commentary

School District Leaders Indicate Online Instruction Will Outlast COVID-19. Here's What to Consider

Jan 27, 2021

Remote K–12 learning at scale is an unprecedented challenge for everyone involved. It can and would improve dramatically if educators, government, and philanthropy treated it as a work in progress, featuring evidence-based development of quality online curricula, continuous improvement, and engagement of teachers.
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 Technology

Journal Article

A Fairness Evaluation of Automated Methods for Scoring Text Evidence Usage in Writing

We compare three types of Automated Essay Scoring models with respect to algorithmic fairness. Our results indicate that different models exhibit different types of biases, spanning students' gender, race, and socioeconomic status.

Jan 12, 2022
Report

The Rise of Standards-Aligned Instructional Materials for U.S. K–12 Mathematics and English Language Arts Instruction: Findings from the 2021 American Instructional Resources Survey

The authors examine the use of standards-aligned curriculum materials for kindergarten through 12th grade mathematics and English language arts instruction among public school teachers across the United States.

Oct 26, 2021
Journal Article

Accelerated Reader: Evaluation Report and Project Addendum

Accelerated Reader (AR), developed by Renaissance Learning, is a digital whole-class reading management and monitoring programme that aims to foster independent reading among primary and secondary pupils.

Jul 28, 2021
Blog

Pandemic-Era Parties, China's Global Influence, Reducing Infant Mortality: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on assessing the risk of small gatherings during the pandemic, China's ability to exert influence around the world, using big data to help reduce infant mortality, and more.

Jul 2, 2021
Commentary

The Remote Learning Paradox: Some Want to Keep It as an Option Even Though Instruction Suffered

Despite remote learning not going particularly well during the pandemic, about one-third of U.S. schools are keeping it as an option. Is remote learning a pandemic blip or a permanent feature of public education moving ahead?

Jun 24, 2021
News Release

Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply

Nearly one in four teachers may leave their job by the end of the current (2020–21) school year, compared with one in six who were likely to leave prior to the pandemic. Teachers who identified as Black or African American were particularly likely to consider leaving.

Jun 15, 2021
Report

Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply

Nearly one in four teachers overall, and almost half of Black teachers in particular, said that they were likely to leave their jobs by the end of the 2020–21 school year. That's compared to one in six before the pandemic. They reported frequent stress and symptoms of depression more than the general population.

Jun 15, 2021
Report

COVID-19 and the State of K–12 Schools: Results and Technical Documentation from the Spring 2021 American Educator Panels COVID-19 Surveys

The authors provide technical information about the sample and survey instrument, along with resultant descriptive data, for the COVID-19 surveys administered to principals and teachers via RAND's American Educator Panels in spring 2021.

May 27, 2021
Report

Has COVID-19 Led to Divergent and Inequitable Pathways in Education?

Remote schooling is associated with fewer instructional opportunities and potentially poorer student outcomes compared with in-person schooling. Nevertheless, many schools will continue to offer a remote option after the pandemic has passed.

May 27, 2021
News Release

Rural School Districts Swifter to Return to In-Person Instruction Than Urban Districts

About 42% of rural school districts in the United States offered fully in-person instruction as of February, compared with only 17% for urban districts. The opposite pattern held for fully remote learning: 29% of urban districts offered fully remote instruction compared with 10% of rural districts and 18% of suburban districts.

May 11, 2021
Visualization

American School District Panel Winter 2021 COVID-19 Survey

A total of 434 district leaders from school districts and charter management organizations (CMOs) took the second survey of the American School District Panel between January 21 and March 5, 2021. This tool presents weighted survey results that are nationally representative of school districts in the United States.

May 11, 2021
Report

Urban and Rural Districts Show Strong Divide During the Pandemic

As of February 2021, only 17 percent of urban school districts—compared with 42 percent of rural districts—were offering fully in-person instruction. What are the implications of this disparity?

May 11, 2021
Report

Did Experience with Digital Instructional Materials Help Teachers Implement Remote Learning During COVID-19?

Understanding how teachers used digital materials leading up to the pandemic can shed light on how prepared they were to pivot to virtual learning. Where are some areas in which additional supports could be helpful in using digital materials for both virtual and in-person instruction?

May 4, 2021
Commentary

The Importance of Gathering Evidence of Edtech Impact

Given the increased reliance on technology to support learning, now may be a good time for educational technology companies to start thinking more seriously about the data they collect and how they use it.

Apr 27, 2021
Journal Article

Effective Game-Based Training for Police Officer Decision-Making: Linking Missions, Skills, and Virtual Content

This paper reports the result of a two-year pilot study that developed a framework for implementing low-cost, game-based, virtual reality technology for training police officers to improve their decision-making under stress.

Mar 12, 2021
News Release

Stress Was Leading Reason Teachers Quit Before Pandemic, and COVID-19 Has Made Matters Worse

Stress was the most common reason teachers cited for leaving the profession before and during the pandemic. Three of four former teachers said work was often or always stressful in the most recent year in which they taught in a public school.

Feb 22, 2021
Report

Stress Topped the Reasons Why Teachers Quit, Even Before COVID-19

Stress was the most common reason teachers cited for leaving the profession, both before and during the pandemic. Most former teachers went on to take jobs for less or equal pay, with many taking jobs with no health insurance or retirement benefits.

Feb 22, 2021
Journal Article

Independent Analysis of the Relationship Between Sparx Maths and Maths Outcomes: Key Findings and Technical Report

This research project is an independent evaluation of Sparx Maths and EdTech programme, aiming to improve mathematics outcomes for secondary school pupils.

Feb 16, 2021
Journal Article

Annotation and Classification of Evidence and Reasoning Revisions in Argumentative Writing

In this study, we take a step towards advancing automated revision analysis capabilities.

Feb 3, 2021
Journal Article

Changing College Choices with Personalized Admissions Information at Scale: Evidence on Naviance

This paper shows how the technology Naviance, which provides low-cost personalized college admissions information to more than 40% of high schoolers, influences college choices.

Feb 3, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Educational Technology

Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor