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Elementary Education

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.

Essay

Investing in Principals Helps Students Succeed

Hiring good principals is one of the most important things a district can do for its students, second only to hiring good teachers. Students whose schools participated in a principal pipeline initiative outperformed their peers by six percentage points on reading tests and nearly three points in math.

Jul 5, 2019
Report

Do Educators Have What They Need to Teach Students with Disabilities?

To serve students with high-incidence disabilities, teachers need a supportive school culture, collaboration and planning time, resources and training, access to data, and tools for using data. Survey data sheds light on the extent to which these supports are available to general and special educators in U.S. schools.

Jun 27, 2019
Multimedia

Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable, and Effective Way to Improve Schools

A recent RAND report found that implementing “principal pipelines”—a strategic approach to the hiring, preparation, evaluation, and support of school leaders—can improve schools. In this congressional briefing, Susan Gates discusses the feasibility, effectiveness, and affordability of principal pipelines.

Jun 17, 2019
Report

Report

Raising the Bar for K–12 Academics: Early Signals on How Louisiana's Education Policy Strategies Are Working for Schools, Teachers, and Students

This report, part of a four-part series on the implementation and outcomes of Louisiana's education initiatives, focuses on Louisiana's strategies to support and improve K-12 academics.

Jun 11, 2019
Report

Report

Raising the Bar for Teacher Preparation: Early Signals on How Louisiana's Education Policy Strategies Are Working Across the State

This report, part of a four-part series on the implementation and outcomes of Louisiana's education initiatives, focuses on the state's strategies for K-12 teacher preparation.

Jun 11, 2019
Research Brief

Support for Social and Emotional Learning Is Widespread

Most U.S. educators believe that social and emotional learning (SEL) improves student outcomes and school climate. They agree that students should develop and apply skills like managing emotions and setting and achieving positive goals. But teachers tend to assign greater importance to SEL skills than principals.

May 30, 2019
Report

Teacher and Principal Perspectives on Social and Emotional Learning in America's Schools: Findings from the American Educator Panels

This report presents findings from surveys of nationally representative samples of teachers and principals who responded to questions addressing their beliefs about social and emotional learning in schools and the practices they implemented.

May 30, 2019
Research Brief

How Teacher Effectiveness Spills Over into Other Classrooms

Teachers' effectiveness ripples out beyond their own students and affects the experiences of their pupils' future peers. Ignoring these "spillover" effects underestimates a teacher's value by at least 30 percent.

May 28, 2019
News Release

News Release

Principal Pipelines Benefit Students, Reduce Principal Turnover

Districts can improve schools—including boosting student achievement in reading and math—by better preparing, selecting, evaluating, and supporting principals.

Apr 8, 2019
Report

Principal Pipelines Benefit Students and Reduce Principal Turnover

Six urban districts implemented principal pipelines, a strategic approach to the hiring, preparation, evaluation, and support of school leaders. The efforts were feasible, affordable, and effective. The schools not only outperformed comparison schools in both math and reading, but they also improved principal retention.

Apr 8, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Text-Based Writing in Elementary Classrooms: Teachers' Conceptions and Practice

In the present study, we investigate how teachers conceptualize text-based writing and how these conceptions influence the writing tasks they assign.

Feb 12, 2019
Commentary

The Impact of Restorative Practices

A recent RAND report focuses on estimates of the impact of restorative practices on comprehensive outcome measures for all students. The report defines these measures in seven outcome domains and leads with the impact on suspensions. It estimates the impact on 50 secondary measures and on the seven primary measures for numerous student subgroups defined by race, income, special needs and English language learner status.

Jan 17, 2019
Research Brief

Restorative Practices Help Reduce Student Suspensions

Restorative practices—inclusive and non-punitive ways to respond to conflict and build community—have been successful in reducing student suspensions in the Pittsburgh Public Schools district.

Dec 27, 2018
Report

Report

Can Restorative Practices Improve School Climate and Curb Suspensions? An Evaluation of the Impact of Restorative Practices in a Mid-Sized Urban School District

This study of Pittsburgh Public Schools' implementation of restorative practices represents one of the first randomized controlled trials of the effects of restorative practices on classroom and school climates and suspension rates.

Dec 27, 2018
Research Brief

Research Brief

The Big Lift Preschool, Two Years In: What Have We Learned So Far?

The Big Lift preschool-third-grade initiative aims to boost children's reading proficiency. This second in a series of descriptive analyses shares follow-up data on 2016-2017 kindergarten class participants and initial data on 2017-2018 participants.

Dec 12, 2018
Report

Report

DoD STARBASE: Improved Measures for Participation, Outreach, and Impact

The Department of Defense's STARBASE program offers a curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for students in underserved areas of the United States. This study focuses on the students served and STARBASE's outreach efforts.

Oct 30, 2018
Report

Report

The Big Lift Descriptive Analyses: Kindergarten Readiness and Elementary School Reading Outcomes for the 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 Kindergarten Classes

The Big Lift initiative aims to boost children's reading proficiency in San Mateo County, California. This second in a series of descriptive analyses shares follow-up data on the 2016-2017 kindergarten class and initial data for the 2017-2018 class.

Oct 10, 2018
Research Brief

Raising the Bar for Student Outcomes in Louisiana

Historically, Louisiana's education system has ranked near the bottom nationwide. However, early evidence suggests that the state's reform efforts may be helping to reverse this trend. What can other states learn from Louisiana as they examine their respective education policies and practices?

Aug 3, 2018
Research Brief

How Does Repeating a Grade Impact High School Persistence and Behavior?

New York City grade retention policies had little influence on student misbehavior and absenteeism. But retained students averaged fewer high school credits. Retention in earlier grades appears less likely to produce disadvantageous outcomes.

Jul 30, 2018
Report

Louisiana's Strategies for Improving Student Outcomes

Louisiana has received attention for some of its new education policies and promising early results. Its strategies for improving education quality and student outcomes offer lessons for schools nationwide.

Jun 28, 2018

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RAND Topic:
Elementary Education

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Elaine Lin Wang

Policy Researcher

Elaine Lin Wang is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on the measurement of the quality of literacy instruction and learning, and teachers' and principals' sensemaking of policy initiatives and how that influences their practice. She specializes in using…
Laura S. Hamilton

Senior Behavioral Scientist, Distinguished Chair in Learning and Assessment, Director, Center for Social and Emotional Learning Research

Laura Hamilton is a senior behavioral scientist and distinguished chair in learning and assessment at the RAND Corporation. She directs the RAND Center for Social and Emotional Learning Research and co-directs the American Educator Panels, RAND’s nationally representative survey panels of…

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