Building and Sustaining Innovative High Schools: Findings from the Opportunity by Design Study

Building and Sustaining Innovative High Schools: Findings from the Opportunity by Design Study. RAND Corporation. Elizabeth D. Steiner et al. December 17, 2020

The Carnegie Corporation of New York’s (CCNY) Opportunity by Design (ObD) initiative provided support for 16 small schools of choice in seven large, urban districts across the United States to adopt a set of design principles intended to ensure students are prepared for college and careers. CCNY engaged the RAND Corporation in 2014 to conduct a comprehensive study of the ObD initiative. This final report summarizes implementation and outcomes findings from this five-year study and is intended to provide lessons and implementation guidance for the field.

The authors estimate the effects of the ObD initiative on student academic, behavioral, and college-readiness outcomes and describe implementation of innovative instructional practices (personalization of learning, mastery-based instruction, and positive youth development) in the final year of the initiative. Enablers of implementation included alignment of school and district grading policies in some districts and autonomy from district curriculum and professional development (PD) requirements. Barriers to implementation in ObD schools included limited district support for selecting or developing curriculum and PD materials and inflexible district policies.

The study compared ObD teachers’ instructional practices to those of high school teachers nationally. ObD teachers reported more extensive use of instructional practices related to mastery-based learning, personalization, and positive youth development.This research did not find much evidence that ObD’s principles-based design process and supports led to more effective schools, but limitations of the study design and available data may not have adequately captured ObD’s effects. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 78 pages].

Media Use and Literacy in Schools: Civic Development in the Era of Truth Decay

Media Use and Literacy in Schools: Civic Development in the Era of Truth Decay. RAND Corporation. Laura S. Hamilton, Julia H. Kaufman, Lynn Hu. June 29, 2020.

Public schools that serve kindergarteners through 12th graders can play a key role in combating Truth Decay by supporting students’ civic development and engagement. Media literacy instruction is one way that schools can do this. Assessments of American students’ media literacy capabilities have shown that large majorities lack the knowledge and skills needed to interpret media accurately. This Data Note examines public-school social studies teachers’ reports regarding how they and their schools promote media literacy and the appropriate use of media by students. It also summarizes teachers’ perceptions of challenges associated with media literacy and use. This Data Note is intended to provide a broad, nationally representative view of how social studies teachers and schools reported addressing (or planning to address) media literacy and media use in fall 2019. These data can help policymakers and education leaders understand how the nation’s schools are addressing these topics, the extent to which these practices vary across different types of schools, and the supports that teachers might need in order to provide effective instruction in this area. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 8 pages].

Teaching and Leading Through a Pandemic: Key Findings from the American Educator Panels Spring 2020 COVID-19 Surveys

Teaching and Leading Through a Pandemic: Key Findings from the American Educator Panels Spring 2020 COVID-19 Surveys. RAND Corporation. Laura S. Hamilton, Julia H. Kaufman, Melissa Diliberti. June 23, 2020.

Educators and students in schools across the United States have faced sweeping, unprecedented changes to teaching and learning because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which shuttered school buildings in spring 2020. This Data Note presents selected results on several aspects of schooling, including both teachers’ and principals’ perspectives, and it examines inequities in approaches and resources for delivering distance learning across schools serving different student populations. Drawing on the RAND Corporation’s American Educator Panels, researchers surveyed nationally representative samples of K–12 public school teachers and principals in late April and early May 2020 to document how they delivered instruction and other services, what supports and resources they needed, and their expected priorities and plans for the 2020–2021 school year. Researchers found that educators shifted quickly to distance learning and provided a variety of supports, but they indicated needing additional resources. These resources included access to technology and devices for students, teacher training in remote instruction, strategies for motivating students, ways to address loss of students’ hands-on learning opportunities, and strategies to support students’ social and emotional learning. Many teachers indicated that they did not receive adequate support for students with disabilities and homeless students, among other groups. Researchers also identified disparities among the kinds of instruction and other resources provided in schools serving different student populations, which suggests that the pandemic will cause existing inequalities to increase. Principals anticipated prioritizing emergency preparedness, student mental health, and recovering from the learning gaps caused by the pandemic. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 16 pages].