Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** Feb. 4, 2025
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Exploring Options to Prevent School Violence
Violent incidents at American K-12 schools have been on the rise in recent years. A new RAND study establishes an inventory of tools that can help schools and school districts assess and respond to concerning student behavior that might lead to violence.
The authors emphasize the benefits of interventions that address the underlying causes of problematic student behavior. They also stress the need for a broad set of tools, including options that are tailored to students' circumstances and the school environment. Sound data collection and monitoring are key as well.
These findings may be valuable to all involved in addressing problematic student behavior, including educators, social service providers, and law enforcement officials. With improved tools at their disposal, decisionmakers may be better equipped to improve student behavior outcomes, prevent violence in schools, and protect students, teachers, and the wider community.
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Underperforming Software and IT in DoD
Evidence suggests that IT infrastructure and software throughout the U.S. Department of Defense are plagued by poor performance. But there has not been a comprehensive effort to measure how significant these problems truly are or how they affect the department's operational needs, workforce productivity, and mission readiness. A new RAND study quantifies the impacts of underperforming software and IT and provides recommendations for how to address this issue. The authors' conservative estimate of the cost in lost productivity is $2.5 billion for fiscal year 2023.
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Factors Shaping the Future of China's Military
China is experiencing rapid demographic change as young people are making up an ever-smaller share of the population. At the same time, China seeks to modernize the People's Liberation Army, or PLA. A new RAND report considers these two trends together, assessing how demographic changes could affect the PLA and China's broader society. Overall, the authors conclude that a demographic shift in China does not portend a crisis for its military. However, if the PLA cannot access the types of recruits it needs to build the military that Beijing envisions, then it may need to rethink its goals and assumptions about modernization.
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** RAND Recommends
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- Recent RAND research examines how a rapidly changing U.S. housing market may affect the Basic Allowance for Housing for military personnel.
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- Escalating tensions between China and Taiwan have forced the Philippines to intensify its focus on a potential cross-strait conflict, writes RAND's Derek Grossman in Foreign Policy.
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- A RAND analysis looks at five cities' experiences with drought and provides lessons on how to avoid a water supply crisis through proactive policies and planning.
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** Events
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Improving Transition Support for Those Leaving the Military
Thursday, February 20, 2025 (Online)
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Policy Lab: AI Risks and Benefits in Clinical Care
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 (Online)
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