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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.

Report
Leveraging Technology to Support Prisoner Reentry
How can technology help ease the transition from jails or prisons back into the community—and ensure better outcomes for individuals who have been incarcerated?
May 3, 2022
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

Explore Educational Technology

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
Report
Teachers' Use of New Instructional Materials
Introducing new instructional materials costs teachers time, effort, and sometimes their own money. About half of English language arts and mathematics teachers used at least one new material a week over the past three years. How can districts support them in selecting and using materials effectively?
Nov 15, 2022
Research Brief
Contributions to Research on Automated Writing Scoring and Feedback Systems
This brief summarizes research by experts at the RAND Corporation and the University of Pittsburgh to advance automated writing scoring and feedback systems for elementary school student writers.
Jun 22, 2022
Commentary
Beware the Allure of Training Technology
In addition to focusing on acquiring technology that helps retain a competitive advantage, the U.S. Department of Defense could also focus on codifying processes that align technology with user needs and that adapt as technology, military operations, and needs change. Considering context when planning the development and use of training technology could be crucial.
May 18, 2022
Journal Article
Building a Validity Argument for an Automated Writing Evaluation System (eRevise) as a Formative Assessment
We present a validity argument for an AWE system—termed eRevise —that targets elementary students' text-based argumentative writing skills, specifically their ability to use text evidence.
May 4, 2022
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 Teachers
Many states and education organizations have been pushing for greater use of standards-aligned curriculum, especially in recent years. What proportion of U.S. K–12 public teachers were using standards-aligned curriculum materials for their mathematics and English language arts instruction during the 2020–2021 school year?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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RAND Topic:
Educational Technology

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Courtney Ann Kase

Policy Analyst

Courtney Ann Kase is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. She has experience in program evaluation, qualitative research, and project management. Kase is currently working on evaluation of community-based behavioral health centers' mental health and physical health service integration under…
Michael G. Shanley

Senior Policy Researcher

Michael Shanley is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation working on training, education and veteran employment issues. With regards to training and education, his recent research addresses distributed learning (DL), the cost of training, training effectiveness, and educational and…

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