Every year, RAND fields more than a dozen surveys of teachers, principals, and superintendents across the United States. Their responses—and our researchers' analysis of those responses—reveal key insights about challenges facing both educators and students.
As millions of kids head back to the classroom this fall, here are five trends shaping public education in America:
Educator turnover has increased nationally. This comes after turnover held steady in the school year immediately following the onset of the pandemic.
Far more teachers experience frequent job-related stress when compared with other working adults.
It's become more common for math teachers to skip over content that is part of their state's standards.
State restrictions on classroom discussions of politicized issues, such as race- and gender-related topics, are affecting how teachers do their jobs.
Teachers are divided about whether arming themselves would make schools safer. Fifty-four percent think that teachers carrying guns would make schools less safe, while 20 percent believe it would increase school safety.
If China were to invade Taiwan, U.S. and allied forces would likely struggle to defend the island—partly because of Beijing's wide array of sensors and weapon systems. Experts from RAND and the Special Competitive Studies Project recently took a new approach to understand the potential China-Taiwan invasion scenario, involving Silicon Valley technologists in a unique series of wargames. Ultimately, these games led to 17 tech-based solutions that can support a U.S. advantage in the Indo-Pacific. Read more »
A new RAND study finds that spending on mental health services among Americans with private health insurance has risen by more than half since the beginning of the pandemic. This increase has continued even as telehealth use has plateaued. According to RAND's Jonathan Cantor, the lead author of the study, if this surge in utilization drives higher health care spending, then insurers might start pushing back. For example, insurers may look for ways to curb costs, leading to less flexibility for consumers to use virtual mental health services. Read more »
RAND Recommends
RAND's Dara Massicot spoke to the New York Times following Russian reports of Yevgeny Prigozhin's death. The former Wagner Group leader “developed a kind of main character syndrome,” she said. “And in Russia, there is only one main character. He sits in the Kremlin.”
You already get the latest insights from RAND in your inbox. Why not your earbuds? Policy Currents is available as a weekly podcast. New episodes every Friday.
