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Education Administration

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Report
Superintendents Have High Job Satisfaction and Normal Turnover Rates
Although 95 percent of superintendents agreed that their job has gotten harder over the past decade, 85 percent of them were satisfied with their job as of spring 2022. The rate of those planning to leave their positions is on par with prepandemic levels.
Jul 12, 2022
Research Brief
Benefits and Drawbacks of the Four-Day School Week
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?
Oct 7, 2021

Explore Education Administration

Journal Article
Survey: Principals Say They Need Better-Trained Teachers and More Resources to Address Student Misbehavior
Educators have long struggled to reduce student misbehavior—a challenge that has become more acute since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight two things principals say they need to reduce misbehavior: better teacher prep and resources.
Jun 20, 2023
Journal Article
Survey: What Purpose Do Suspensions Serve? Principals Don't Seem Quite Sure
Efforts to encourage principals to limit use of excessively punitive disciplinary practices have been underway for more than a decade and yet suspension rates remain high. We sought to learn more about principals' beliefs about school discipline.
Jun 20, 2023
Brochure
The American Educator Panels Pricing Sheet: Taking the Pulse of America's Educators
This pricing guide describes the American Educator Panels and provides costs for the various research options available.
Jun 16, 2023
Blog
Ukraine's Recovery, Mental Health First Aid, School Staffing: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the trade-offs of Ukraine's reconstruction, the effects of a Mental Health First Aid training program, school staffing challenges, and more.
May 5, 2023
Report
Principals' Views on School Staffing Shortages
During the surge of the COVID-19 omicron variant in spring 2022, most principals struggled to keep classrooms staffed. They said a lack of substitute teachers was the main reason for the shortages. And many reported that hiring had become more difficult since the previous school year.
May 3, 2023
Commentary
The Four-Day School Week: Are the Pros Worth the Cons?
The past two decades have seen an explosion in the adoption of the four-day school week. Against this growing trend, however, there is increasing evidence that, by and large, a four-day school week causes student achievement to suffer.
Apr 6, 2023
Research Brief
How Community Colleges Can Support Student Mental Health Needs
This report is a descriptive study of eight community colleges at the forefront of implementing multilevel approaches to support student mental health, as well as key facilitators for and barriers to their success.
Apr 5, 2023
Report
Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Community College Students
This report is a descriptive study of eight community colleges at the forefront of implementing multilevel approaches to support student mental health and key facilitators for and barriers to their success.
Apr 5, 2023
Report
Coherence in English Language Arts and Mathematics Instructional Systems Across the United States
Using survey responses from a nationally representative sample of public school kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) English language arts and math teachers, RAND researchers examine teachers' perceptions of instructional system coherence.
Mar 30, 2023
Tool
The Improving Instructional System Coherence Toolkit: A Resource for K–12 Districts and Schools
This toolkit, along with an accompanying workbook and slide deck, is intended to help district and school leaders investigate and reflect on the extent to which coherence is present in their instructional systems.
Mar 30, 2023
Journal Article
Teacher Pensions: An Overview
In this special issue of Educational Researcher, we present research on a variety of policy issues surrounding teacher pensions.
Mar 8, 2023
News Release
Teacher Supports, Guidance for Elementary Social Studies Education Vary Widely Across United States
The basic infrastructure to support elementary (grades K–5) social studies instruction—academic standards, accountability requirements, assessment programs—is inadequate in many states. Even where state-level infrastructure to guide teachers' instruction is in place, its comprehensiveness and quality vary greatly.
Mar 7, 2023
Report
Support for Elementary Social Studies Education Varies Widely Across States
Over the past few decades, U.S. schools have increasingly sidelined students' civic development as one of their priorities. The infrastructure to support grades K–5 social studies instruction—academic standards, accountability requirements, assessment programs—is often missing or inadequate.
Mar 7, 2023
Report
Educator Turnover and How Districts Are Addressing It
Teacher turnover rose to 10 percent nationally at the end of the 2021–2022 school year. Principal turnover also increased, reaching 16 percent going into the 2022–2023 school year. How are states and districts responding to these staff shortages?
Feb 16, 2023
Report
Andover's Teaching and Departmental Reviews: Findings and Recommendations
This report offers recommendations for how Phillips Academy Andover, an independent boarding school in Massachusetts, can update its processes for departmental review and teacher review to develop a more coherent instructional system.
Jan 31, 2023
Report
American Instructional Resources Surveys: 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results
This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instruments, and resultant data for the American Instructional Resources Surveys that were administered to principals and teachers in spring 2022 via RAND's American Educator Panels.
Nov 15, 2022
Report
Learn Together Surveys: 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results
This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the 2022 Learn Together Surveys that were administered to K-12 principals and teachers in March 2022 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels.
Nov 3, 2022
Report
Strategies to Diversify the K–12 Teacher Workforce
All students—especially those of color—benefit academically and socially from having teachers who are people of color. Ways to recruit and retain more diverse teachers include lowering the cost of becoming a teacher, increasing the diversity of the applicant pool, and building positive collegial relationships and inclusive school environments.
Sep 19, 2022
Periodical
RAND Review: September-October 2022
The cover story is a profile of RAND's new president and CEO. Other features explore how teachers and principals have been faring in the COVID era and how to improve media literacy among middle schoolers.
Sep 8, 2022
Essay
How Educators Are Faring in the COVID Era
Teachers and principals are twice as likely as other workers to experience frequent job-related stress. They report higher rates of depression and burnout, and much lower rates of resilience. What can school districts do to better support them?
Aug 25, 2022

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RAND Topic:
Education Administration

Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor

Researcher Spotlight

Elizabeth D. Steiner

Policy Researcher

Elizabeth D. Steiner (she/her) is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation with expertise in education policy, policy analysis, program evaluation, and qualitative methods and analysis. She is also a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty. Steiner's research is focused on ways to…
Rebecca Herman

Senior Policy Researcher

Rebecca (Becki) Herman (she/her) is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She specializes in conducting and evaluating research on school leadership, comprehensive school reform, positive behavioral interventions, and related school, district, and higher education initiatives.…

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