School principals are critical to students' academic achievement, second only to teachers. They are the primary agents of change in their schools, fostering supportive learning environments that enhance student learning and teacher effectiveness. Moreover, they often design and oversee the initiatives and hiring to sustain the positive changes…

The number of jobs in computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) is projected to grow rapidly in the United States over the next decade as the demand for workers expands and current CS and IT workers retire. Against the larger backdrop of growth in CS and IT employment and wages nationally, Ohio is looking for ways to grow and diversify…

This is the technical appendix to a report that offers early lessons from an initiative focused on social and emotional learning (SEL) in elementary schools and out-of-school time (OST) programs. In 2016, in an effort to gain knowledge about how to help children develop SEL skills, The Wallace Foundation launched a six-year project called the…

Out-of-school-time (OST) programs have long focused on children's social and emotional development as part of their mission of building a culture of connectedness and positive relationships between youth and adults. Research demonstrates that high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are associated with positive…

More than ever, schools across the United States and around the globe are embracing social and emotional learning (SEL) to assist students in adopting these skills and many other interpersonal (e.g., teamwork, leadership) and intrapersonal (e.g., self-regulation, resilience) capabilities. This dedication to SEL is well supported by research.…

In any K-12 classroom in America, chances are that at least one student is dealing directly with bullying, harassment, or another type of emotional or physical violence. What can teachers, principals, and school district leaders do to improve safety at their schools? There is some evidence that improving the social and emotional skills of both…

This stand-alone appendix discusses additional context and findings from a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the science- and technology-focused (STF) workforce ecosystem in the seven-county Pittsburgh region. It augments a report focused on the demand for and supply of STF workers, training pipelines, anticipated growth, unique regional…

States play a role in fostering an environment that develops and supports effective school leaders. Prior research has highlighted opportunities to enhance state involvement in supporting school leadership through a range of policy levers, especially by promoting improvements to principal preparation (Manna, 2015; Davis, 2016). The Wallace…

Innovators are exploring new designs for the primary and secondary education system under the umbrella of personalized learning, but consensus is lacking on a precise definition of personalized learning or on which component practices are essential. Practitioners and policymakers seeking to implement personalized learning are creating custom…

The Office of Workforce Development (OWD) in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, implemented Career Pathways, an innovative program designed to increase the local talent pool and help lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for work in growing fields. RAND Corporation researchers evaluated…

TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) is committed to ending educational inequities by promoting the recruitment, training, and retention of high-quality teachers and school leaders. The U.S. Department of Education's Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant has funded TNTP to implement the Teacher Effectiveness and Certification…

The RAND Corporation works throughout the Middle East to analyze complex policy problems and help policymakers create enduring solutions. RAND's work in the Middle East focuses on the issues that drive economic development. This brief report provides an overview of RAND's impact in the Middle East in the areas of supporting youth, health and…

Research shows low-income students suffer disproportionate learning loss over the summer and because those losses accumulate over time, they contribute substantially to the achievement gap between low- and higher-income children. The Wallace Foundation is funding a five-year demonstration project to examine whether summer learning programs can…

Providers of early childhood education (ECE) are well positioned to help ensure that technology is used effectively in ECE settings. Indeed, the successful integration of technology into ECE depends on providers who have the ability to curate the most appropriate devices and content, "facilitate" effective patterns of use, guide families…

This testimony was presented before the Committe of the Whole Council of the District of Columbia on February 16, 2012. Experts in child development have long known that the earliest years of a child's life are a critical period of development across a range of domains: physical, socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive (Shonkoff and Phillips,…