SHARE PRINT E-MAIL Youth of color represent over half of the school-aged population (kindergarten through twelfth grade) in public schools in the United States. This creates a need for evidence-driven approaches that address the pervasive Black-White achievement gap. A new longitudinal study shows that African American youth who receive positive messages about their racial group in school achieve
When the emerging COVID-19 pandemic caused most U.S. schools to close and transition to distance learning last spring, many parents were forced into new roles as proxy educators for their children. A study published today in Educational Researcher , a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association, finds that roughly 51 percent of all parents surveyed in March and April ha
RAND CORPORATION Research News SHARE PRINT E-MAIL About two in 10 U.S. school districts have already adopted, plan to adopt or are considering adopting virtual schools after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The survey of district leaders indicates that virtual schooling was the innovative practice that most district leaders anticipated would continue, c
A new report finds that expanding the foundational federal aid program’s eligibility criteria to encourage more short-term occupational training did improve postsecondary enrollment and completion among low-income students. The Effects of Expanding Pell Grant Eligibility for Short Occupational Training Programs: Results from the Experimental Sites Initiative presents findings from a study of two
This study estimates the longer-run effects of attending an effective high school (one that improves a combination of test scores, survey measures of socio-emotional development and behaviors in 9th-grade) for students who are more versus less educationally advantaged (i.e., likely to attain more years of education based on 8th-grade characteristics). All students benefit from attending effective
Racial gaps in teacher performance ratings have emerged nationwide across newly implemented educator evaluation systems. Using Chicago Public Schools data, this study quantifies the magnitude of the race gap in teachers’ classroom observation scores, examine its determinants, and describe the potential implications for teacher diversity. Between-school differences explain most of the race gap and
What role does schooling play in the development of racial/ethnic inequalities in academic skills? Seasonal learning studies, which allow researchers to compare the growth of achievement gaps when school is in versus out of session, provide important evidence regarding whether schools reduce, reproduce, or exacerbate educational inequalities. Most studies that have compared the growth of achievem
The use of digital devices among very young children is quickly spreading, although the effects of screen time on emotional and cognitive functioning are still debated. I n a sample of N = 422 children and their mothers, this 4-year longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that the use of digital devices as smartphones and tablets at 4 years of age is related to later dysregulation sym
The COVID-19 pandemic has both illuminated and magnified the persistent disparities between different races and income groups in the United States. In education, attention has largely focused on the achievement gap, which is widening because of the pandemic. But to address the achievement gap,