Recent, widely publicized incidents of misinformation and disinformation underscore the need to equip Americans with the knowledge and skills required to navigate a changing media landscape. A key approach to accomplishing this involves education. A survey administered to public school teachers focused on the kinds of media literacy (ML)…

Media literacy (ML) education has emerged as a promising approach to slowing the spread of "Truth Decay," described as the diminishing role that facts, data, and analysis play in political and civil discourse. Several factors contribute to Truth Decay, including a rapidly evolving information ecosystem and overburdened educational…

This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the 2019 Learn Together Surveys (LTS) that were administered to principals and teachers in March 2019 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels (AEP). It includes a full set of basic frequency tables for each survey. The LTS focus on several…

This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the 2020 Learn Together Surveys (LTS) that were administered to principals and teachers in March 2020 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels. It includes a full set of basic frequency tables for each survey. The LTS focus on several topics,…

RAND researchers present results from a spring 2019 survey of a nationally representative sample of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) public school teachers about their approaches to supporting students' social and emotional learning (SEL) and the factors that might influence those approaches. The authors explore teachers' SEL practices,…

Public schools that serve kindergarteners through 12th graders can play a key role in combating Truth Decay by supporting students' civic development and engagement. Teachers' instructional materials provide one window into civic education in schools. Research in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) for students in kindergarten through 12th…

In 2016, in an effort to gain knowledge about how to help children develop social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, The Wallace Foundation launched a six-year project called the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative (PSELI). The goals of PSELI are for students to experience reinforcing messages about SEL both in school and…

The emergence of COVID-19 in the United States in spring 2020 forced nearly all U.S. schools to transition rapidly to remote learning. However, a minority of U.S. public schools were prepared for a crisis on the level of COVID-19. Using responses to the American Educator Panels, RAND researchers investigate how schools' pre-pandemic planning…

Educators and students in schools across the United States have faced sweeping, unprecedented changes to teaching and learning as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which shuttered school buildings in spring 2020. This Data Note offers teachers' and principals' perspectives on some of those changes and presents their…

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 spring 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to an unprecedented and sweeping shift in the landscape of public schooling in the United States. Beginning in March, schools across the country closed their doors and adopted remote learning supports that varied in degree and type. In May 2020, researchers from the RAND…

High school social studies teachers play an important role in fostering the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students need to thrive after graduation. These efforts can also help counter Truth Decay--the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. Although several factors, such as state standards and assessments,…

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…

Teachers and school leaders frequently make decisions about which strategies will best support students who struggle academically or behaviorally, but evidence-based information about the quality of these strategies is not always available. Resources as the What Works Clearinghouse and the Regional Education Laboratories can help educators…

This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveys that were administered to principals and teachers via RAND's American Educator Panels (AEP) in spring 2020. The AEP COVID-19 surveys focused on how teachers and school leaders navigated the…