Research Priorities

Education Technology and Personalized Learning
Thousands of education technology products have been developed, yet relatively few have proved to meaningfully improve student outcomes. RAND seeks to identify the most promising tools and approaches, measure their effects, and use those findings to guide policies, implementation strategies, and more.
Workforce Development
Technology, globalization, and demographic changes have altered what employers need from workers and what workers can expect from employers. RAND is working with education and training stakeholders to take a systems-levels approach to examining education, workforce development, and employment.
Postsecondary Education
RAND explores policy solutions that address student needs, funding challenges, and how to ensure postsecondary graduates are properly trained for the 21st-century workforce.
Labor Markets
Productive labor markets are the backbone of strong communities. For more than two decades, RAND Education and Labor researchers have conducted studies related to whether labor markets are functioning efficiently, and how they can be enhanced to provide opportunities for all.
Early Childhood Education
The importance of early childhood education is documented, but evaluating it is a difficult task. RAND explores a wide range of issues to help decisionmakers better understand how to measure quality, effective professional development for educators, overall costs vs. benefits, and more.
K–12 Educator Effectiveness
Research suggests that, although many factors contribute to student performance, teachers matter most. But what makes teachers effective in the classroom? And how can school leaders measure effectiveness? RAND conducts research on these questions to help inform this ongoing policy debate.
K–12 Accountability & Assessments
RAND explores the effects of standards-based accountability policies, including testing, but also those of non-academic competencies like social and emotional learning, occupational skills, and more. With a better understanding of the outcomes of such policies, decisionmakers may be able to make improvements.
Out-of-School Time
To help understand how time spent outside of the classroom impacts students, RAND experts evaluate after-school programs and summer learning programs, investigate the impact of expanded learning time, and explore whether students are losing ground in the summer.
Financial Decisionmaking
RAND helps people understand how to make better financial decisions and assists policymakers develop better financial decisionmaking tools and resources.