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Elementary Education

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Elementary education comprises the period from when a student enters school, generally around the age of 5 or 6, until the student moves on to middle or secondary school, around the age of 12 or 13. RAND research in the area includes school reform, the role and effectiveness of teachers and school administration, and the increasing use of private-sector school management.

Research Brief

Benefits and Drawbacks of the Four-Day School Week

Oct 7, 2021

A four-day school week is becoming more common, especially in states with large rural areas. Champions of the shorter week contend that it saves money, improves student attendance, and helps recruit and retain teachers to rural districts. But what does the evidence say?
Research Brief

Surges in Undocumented and Asylum-Seeking Children Prompt Need for Better K–12 Policies

Sep 30, 2021

Growing numbers of children from Central America and Mexico are arriving in the United States. As of March 2020, 321,000 undocumented and asylum-seeking children were enrolled in public schools. How are the schools managing, and what could be done to help them better prepare to assist these students?

Explore Elementary Education

Report

Does Four Equal Five? Implementation and Outcomes of the Four-Day School Week

The authors provide information on the implementation and outcomes of the four-day school week using quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources, including surveys of parents and students in 36 districts in three states.

Oct 7, 2021
News Release

Surges in Undocumented and Asylum-Seeking Children Prompt Need for Better K–12 Policies

491,000 children from Mexico and the Northern Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador) arrived in the United States between fiscal years 2017 and 2019 and remained with unresolved immigration statuses. Of these, 321,000 were enrolled in U.S. K–12 public schools as of March 2020. About 75% settled in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana.

Sep 30, 2021
Report

Educating Newcomers: K–12 Public Schooling for Undocumented and Asylum-Seeking Children in the United States

This report models numbers of undocumented and asylum-seeking children crossing the U.S. southwest border, reviews the federal and state policy landscapes for their education, and provides case studies of how schools are managing education for them.

Sep 30, 2021
Report

Expanding Charter School Capacity: The Case of Propel Montour

Researchers examine the expansion of Propel Schools, a small, regional charter school network in southwestern Pennsylvania, to describe the academic and behavioral experiences of continuing and expansion students from fall 2017 to spring 2020.

Sep 29, 2021
News Release

Parents Remain Concerned About Safety of In-Person Instruction

A gap remains between white parents and Black and Hispanic parents in their preferences for in-person schooling, but it has narrowed since May. The RAND Corporation survey, funded by The Rockefeller Foundation, details parents' responses concerning school hesitancy and preferences for COVID-19 safety practices in U.S. schools in fall 2021.

Aug 18, 2021
Report

How Concerned Are Parents About the Safety of In-Person Instruction?

A RAND survey details parents' responses concerning school hesitancy and preferences for COVID-19 safety practices in U.S. schools. RAND fielded the survey July 16–29, just as the delta variant greatly increased the number of cases nationwide.

Aug 18, 2021
Research Brief

Supporting Principals to Lead on the Selection and Use of Instructional Materials in Classrooms

This brief discusses findings from several RAND reports on principals' roles with respect to instructional materials. Recommendations describe how stakeholders can prepare and support principals to lead in selecting and using instructional materials.

Jul 19, 2021
Blog

China's Ambitions, Origins of the Coronavirus, Income Inequality: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on China’s quest for global primacy, understanding the coronavirus origin story, how parents feel about sending their children back to school, and more.

Jun 11, 2021
Report

What Parents Think About Kids Returning to Classrooms

As of May 2021, 84 percent of parents surveyed plan to send their children to school in person in the fall. Black and Hispanic parents are the most hesitant. Two-thirds of parents want to keep COVID-19 school safety measures in place, but only 52 percent plan to have their kids vaccinated.

Jun 10, 2021
Report

Changing the Subject: K–12 Teachers' Use of and Access to Science-Specific Instructional Materials, Feedback, and Professional Learning

In this Data Note, researchers use the 2020 American Instructional Resources Survey to examine how teachers' science instruction is supported and whether supports differ from those that teachers reported for English language arts and math.

Apr 21, 2021
Blog

COVID-19 Testing in Schools, Family Caregivers, U.S. Entrepreneurship: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on COVID-19 testing in schools, giving a voice to family caregivers, preparing for daylight saving time, and more.

Mar 12, 2021
News Release

COVID-19 Testing in Schools Complex But Doable, Worth the Effort

COVID-19 testing can be effectively integrated into K–12 schools' pandemic response plans, helping families and staff feel more comfortable with in-person instruction.

Mar 9, 2021
Report

COVID-19 Testing in Schools Is Complex but Doable

COVID-19 testing can be effectively integrated into K–12 schools' pandemic response plans. And it helps families and staff feel more comfortable with in-person instruction. Insights from early adopters of COVID-19 testing in fall 2020 can help schools reopen safely.

Mar 9, 2021
Report

Teachers' Lesson Modifications for Students with Disabilities: Findings from the 2020 American Instructional Resources Survey

In this Data Note, researchers explore teachers' reports of how much and in what ways they modify their lessons to support students with disabilities.

Feb 23, 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
Commentary

Lost Learning and the Costs of COVID-19

President Biden's plan calls for $130 billion to help schools safely reopen and identifies summer school or other supports to help students compensate for lost learning time as permissible uses of this funding. Recent RAND research can shed light on how Congress might consider divvying up these funds to support students over the next year.

Feb 10, 2021
Report

How to Support Social and Emotional Learning in School and Out of School

Do children benefit when schools and out-of-school time programs partner to improve and align social and emotional learning (SEL)? Lessons from six communities that made such efforts can help school districts and out-of-school time providers implement their own SEL programs.

Oct 20, 2020

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RAND Topic:
Elementary Education

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