Research Publications

Pediatric Dental Surgeries in Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism Paid by Means of Medicaid

Children with intellectual disabilities or autism were less likely to receive Medicaid-covered dental surgeries at lower-cost ambulatory surgery centers than hospital outpatient departments.

Katherine M. Rancaño, Ashley M. Kranz

Evaluation of the Networks for School Improvement Initiative—How Network Hubs Develop and Support Continuous Improvement Networks: Final Report

In this report, the authors examine how intermediary organizations developed and supported 25 networks of schools using continuous improvement approaches to improve educational outcomes for students who are Black, Latino, or experiencing poverty.

Susan Bush-Mecenas, Rebecca Herman, Karen Christianson, Stephani L. Wrabel, Peter Nguyen, Sarah Zelazny, Tiffany Berglund, Pierrce Holmes, Isaiah Simmons, Nazia Wolters, Samantha E. DiNicola, Laura Assanmal Peláez, R. L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy

Evaluation of the Networks for School Improvement Initiative—How Network Hubs Develop and Support Continuous Improvement Networks: Data Sources and Methodology

The authors review the data and methods used to examine how intermediaries developed and supported 25 school networks using continuous improvement approaches to improve educational outcomes for students who are Black, Latino, or experiencing poverty.

Stephani L. Wrabel, Samantha E. DiNicola, Tiffany Berglund, Jonathan Schweig

Evaluation of Networks for School Improvement: Impacts, Implementation, and Lessons for Network-Based Continuous Improvement

This brief summarizes the results of a network-based continuous improvement initiative to increase the proportion of students who are Black, Latino, or experiencing poverty and are on track for high school graduation and college enrollment.

Dental Surgeries in Hospitals and Surgery Centers for Children With Developmental Disabilities

A Medicaid data analysis found that children with autism or intellectual disabilities receiving dental surgery at ambulatory surgery centers had shorter wait times, lower costs, and no increase in adverse outcomes compared to hospital settings.

Katherine M. Rancaño, Xiaoxi Zhao, Elizabeth L. Munnich, Christopher M. Whaley, Jessica Y. Lee, Ashley M. Kranz

Examining the Impact of Total Sleep Duration on Daily Affect Among Short-Sleeping Adolescents: An Experimental Study

This study examined whether increasing sleep duration was associated with changes in daily affect, specifically, increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect, among short-sleeping adolescents.

Avah Mousavi, Ariel B. Neikrug, Dean W. Beebe, Uma Rao, Jessica L. Borelli, Kate Kuhlman

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2024–2025

The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people ages 16 to 18 who risk not completing a high school credential. This report, the tenth in a series of annual updates, covers the program and the participants who entered during 2024.

Jennie W. Wenger, Stephani L. Wrabel, Linda Cottrell

Gaza’s Reconstruction Must Begin With Its Youth: A Better Future for Palestine Depends on Psychological Recovery

The Israeli‑Palestinian crisis shows that violence and human development are inseparable. Rebuilding trust and treating mental health must precede diplomacy for any durable peace.

Rita T. Karam

The Changing Landscape of School-Based Health Centers and Other School-Based Clinics in California, 2011-2023

This study describes California school-based health centers and other school-based clinics and identifies school characteristics associated with access.

Katherine M. Rancaño, Ashley M. Kranz, Jessica Richard, Catria Gadwah-Meaden, Christine Mulhern, Laura J. Faherty

Policy Actors’ Perspectives on Improving Federal Grants to Promote the Implementation Success of Evidence-Based Behavioral Health Practices

To understand EBP reach through federal grant mechanisms, we conducted a series of focus groups with relevant federal and state policy actors to gather their perspectives on how to improve federal grants to support EBP implementation.

Blanche Wright, Grace M. Hindmarch, Jin Kim, Sarah B. Hunter, Danielle Schlang, George Timmins, Gregory Aarons, Jonathan Purtle, Alex R. Dopp

US Child Mental Health Care Need, Unmet Needs, and Difficulty Accessing Services

We used nationally representative data to quantify household-level receipt of and difficulty accessing mental health treatment for children.

Alyssa L. Halbisen, Joshua Breslau, Jonathan H. Cantor, Ryan K. McBain, Aaron Kofner, Mir M. Ali, Fang Zhang, Bradley D. Stein, Hao Yu

Back-to-Basics Hospital-Wide Training Improves Inpatient Pediatric Care Experiences

We examined whether a hospital-wide Back-to-Basics training for clinical and nonclinical providers that focused on communication behaviors and safety protocols improved inpatient pediatric care experiences.

Denise D. Quigley, Maria Panayotou, Mary Ellen Slaughter

'We Just Want to See People Like Us': Lessons Learned on Engaging Youth Advisory Groups for Public Health Awareness Efforts

This study evaluates a statewide youth and young adult council established as part of a public health initiative addressing adverse childhood experiences.

Gabriela Alvarado, Stacey Yi, Alejandro Roa Contreras, Sarah Ismail, Anda Kuo, Setareh Harsamizadeh Tehrani, Gabriela Escobar, Nicole K. Eberhart

Analysis of West Virginia’s State School Aid Funding Formula: Recommendations to Enhance Adequacy, Fairness, and Efficiency of State Funding for Education

This report, prepared for the West Virginia House of Delegates, is intended to provide an independent, holistic assessment of the state’s school aid funding formula and to identify opportunities for improvements in the state’s funding strategy.

Benjamin K. Master, Brian Phillips, Ben Senator, Nathan Remillard, Luke Muggy, Srikant Kumar Sahoo

Assessing the Impact of Grade Retention: A Cautionary Tale of Exclusion Restriction Violations

Reading improvements among flagged students result from added help rather than retention, exposing flaws in RD analyses and emphasizing careful evaluation of policy effects.

Jordy Berne, Brian A. Jacob, Christina Weiland, Katharine Strunk

Evaluation of Texas's Student Success Acceleration Program 2.0: Interim Report

This report presents an overview of the design of the Student Success Acceleration Program 2.0 and key themes from national and state research on student success, documenting the 33 projects funded across Texas colleges and universities.

Isaiah Simmons, Jason C. Lee, Jenna W. Kramer, Peter Nguyen, Min Jung Kim

School-entry Vaccine Exemptions in Maine Before and After Public Law 154, 2018-2023

We examined how this policy change affected vaccine exemption rates and clustering in kindergartens.

Ashley Gromis, Laura J. Faherty

Clarity and Consistency in Government-Funded Implementation Strategies Associated with Greater Evidence-Based Practice Reach: A Mixed-Method Comparative Case Study

Our mixed-method comparative case study advances policy-focused implementation research related to EBP financing strategies, demonstrating how examination of large-scale real-world funding initiatives can produce generalizable lessons.

Matthew Lee, Sarah B. Hunter, Baji Tumendemberel, Mekdes Shiferaw, Mark D. Godley, Jonathan Purtle, Gregory Aarons, Alex R. Dopp

Differential Eating Disorder Symptom Trajectories Across the Perinatal Period and Associated Psychosocial Factors

The current study aimed to explore eating disorder symptom trajectories and their psychosocial correlates during pregnancy and the first postpartum year using person-centered statistical approaches.

Caroline Christian, Lydia B. Brown, Christine C. Call, Shannon D. Donofry, Zoe Bridges-Curry, Marquis S. Hawkins, Michele D. Levine

Evaluation of the Peaceful Connections Violence Prevention Program: Local Evaluation Report

The authors share their findings of their evaluation of the Boys & Girls Clubs' Peaceful Connections program in Los Angeles County, and they include recommendations for improving both the program and evaluation efforts going forward.

Mallika Bhandarkar, Stephanie Brooks Holliday, Kami Ehrich, Alexandra Bilder, Elizabeth Marsolais

Minimal Progress Toward Sustainment: 10-Year Replication of Substance Use EBP Sustainment Trajectories and Associations with Implementation Characteristics

Our findings suggest that work over the past decade promoting sustainment of evidence-based practices for youth substance use may not have produced measurable impacts.

Alex R. Dopp, Michelle Bongard, Bing Han, Grace M. Hindmarch, Mekdes Shiferaw, Sapna J. Mendon-Plasek, Baji Tumendemberel, George Timmins, Kendal Reeder, Philip Pantoja, Danielle Schlang, Lora L. Passetti, Mark D. Godley, Sarah B. Hunter

Pre-K Teachers Are Optimistic About Educational Technology, Though Current Use Varies Widely: Findings from the American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey

This report describes educational technology usage by public school pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers. Findings cover the technologies pre-K teachers use, how often they use them, and teachers' attitudes toward educational technology.

Jordy Berne, Christopher Joseph Doss, Anna Shapiro

Pre-K Teacher Pay, Benefits, and Intentions to Leave in 2025: Findings from the American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey

The authors describe the status of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers’ pay, benefits, and intentions to leave their jobs based on survey results from a nationally representative sample of pre-K teachers in U.S. public schools.

Jordy Berne, Christopher Joseph Doss, Anna Shapiro

Professional Learning Opportunities for Public School–Based Pre-K Teachers: Findings from the Spring 2025 American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey

This report describes professional learning (PL) experiences of pre-kindergarten teachers, such as whether teachers received PL on various topics, the types of additional PL they need, the forms of PL they find useful, and barriers to accessing PL.

Ashley Woo, Jill S. Cannon, Christopher Joseph Doss, Anna Shapiro, Elizabeth D. Steiner

How Public School–Based Pre-K Teachers Use and Combine Instructional Materials: Findings from the American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey

Instructional materials are a crucial aspect of quality early childhood education. This report presents a national picture of how public school–based pre-kindergarten teachers used and combined instructional materials during the 2024–2025 school year.

Ashley Woo, Christopher Joseph Doss, Anna Shapiro, Elizabeth D. Steiner

Education and Violence: A Policy and Practice Review of England and Wales

The primary aim of this study is to identify what needs to change at the policy and system levels to empower more education settings to reduce violence.

Ana FitzSimons, Natalie Picken, Emily MacLeod, Annalena Wolcke, Shann Corbett, Teresa Turkheimer, Dave Thomson, Christopher Taylor

Assessment of Military Child Development Program Staffing: Initial Findings Regarding the Workforce

The U.S. Department of War’s Child Development Program has struggled to meet the demand for child care. To understand this issue, RAND researchers assessed factors related to staff recruitment, training, development, compensation, and retention.

Lynn A. Karoly, Laura Werber, Laura Bellows, Jonah Kushner, Ashley Woo, Jonas Kempf

Evaluation of the 'SAFE' (Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed) Taskforces

This independent evaluation of the SAFE Taskforces programme seeks to contribute to the evidence base on what works to tackle youth violence.

Ana FitzSimons, Emma Disley, Veruska Oppedisano, Richard Dorsett, Dave Thomson

Extension Evaluation of the 'SAFE' (Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed) Taskforces

This extension evaluation seeks to provide added value by estimating longer term causal effects of SAFE on the pupils and LAs that participated in the programme during the initial pilot period.

Ana FitzSimons, Martha Aitken, Veruska Oppedisano, Richard Dorsett, Dave Thomson

The Role of Services in Children's Identity Formation, and How This Influences Children's Involvement in Violence in England

This research report investigates the role of services in shaping children’s identity formation, and how these identity-forming experiences in turn influence children’s involvement in violence in England.

Ana FitzSimons, Emily MacLeod, Teresa Turkheimer, Annalena Wolcke, Julie Harris, Charlotte Woodhead, Cristina Preece

Sustaining Strong Rural Partnerships and Interventions to Serve Student and Regional Workforce Development Needs

In this report, the authors examine the evolution of the Tristate Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Consortium from 2017 to 2025 and highlight how regional partnerships can tackle workforce and economic development challenges in rural regions.

Rita T. Karam, Marwa AlFakhri, Melanie A. Zaber, Elaine W. Leigh

A Maturity Model for Regional Collaboration: Strengthening Partnerships Among Colleges, Workforce Development Boards, and Employers to Meet Regional Needs

The authors developed a partnership maturity model to foster more-robust and sustainable regional collaborations. Although derived from a rural context, the model is generalizable to inform partnership development in a variety of settings.

Rita T. Karam, Marwa AlFakhri, Melanie A. Zaber, Elaine W. Leigh

Building the Teacher Pipeline: An Evaluation of the Propel Teacher Residency Program

This report describes the Propel Teacher Residency Program and summarizes higher early career retention and small gains in student course grades for alumni compared with similar new teachers, providing evidence to inform the program's design.

Amy Mahler, Matthew B. Forbes, Lucas Greer, Elizabeth D. Steiner

Use of Generative AI for Mental Health Advice Among US Adolescents and Young Adults

We report results from the first nationally representative survey of US adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 21 years examining the prevalence, frequency, and perceived helpfulness of advice from generative AI when feeling sad, angry, or nervous.

Ryan K. McBain, Robert Bozick, Melissa Kay Diliberti, Li Ang Zhang, Fang Zhang, Alyssa L. Halbisen, Aaron Kofner, Benjamin Rader, Joshua Breslau, Bradley D. Stein, Ateev Mehrotra, Lori Uscher-Pines, Jonathan H. Cantor, Hao Yu

A Policy Scan on Plans of Safe Care for Infants With Prenatal Substance Exposure Available to Purchase

This study documents the status and contents of states' plan of safe care policies.

Margaret Lloyd Sieger, Barbara Andraka-Christou, Sarah F. Loch, Bradley D. Stein, Kathryn E. Bouskill, Stephen W. Patrick

The Limited Presence of Male Mentors in the Lives of Boys and Young Men

New survey data indicate that one in three boys and young men does not have an adult male he can turn to for help with his schoolwork and relationships.

Robert Bozick, Jennie W. Wenger

The value of British Sign Language: An economic analysis

This report assessed the lifetime costs and benefits of early access to British Sign Language (BSL) for deaf children. Results showed each £1 invested yielded over £2, highlighting BSL’s value in preventing language deprivation and boosting inclusion.

Marco Hafner, Daniel Lee, Katie Sykes, Erez Yerushalmi

Medicaid Payments and Outcomes for Pediatric Dental Surgical Procedures by Site of Care

In this cross-sectional study of pediatric surgical procedures for dental caries paid by Medicaid, procedures performed in ASCs were less costly and had lower rates of adverse events compared with those performed in HOPDs.

Ashley M. Kranz, Xiaoxi Zhao, Elizabeth L. Munnich, Jessica Y. Lee, Christopher M. Whaley

Factorial Vignettes Describe Suspected Early Onset Sepsis Practice Variation in a Multicenter NICU Antibiotic Stewardship Collaborative

This article describes provider practice preferences for term infants with suspected early-onset sepsis and preference change over time during a multicenter antibiotic stewardship collaborative.

Neha S. Joshi, Kenneth M. Zangwill, Henry C. Lee, Peter Mendel, Chau Pham, Megan S. Schuler, Nabeel Qureshi, Natalie Chapkis, Allison Henry, Kurlen S. E. Payton

Evaluation of “Live Beyond”: A Public Awareness Campaign to Address Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress in California

Adverse childhood experiences are potentially traumatic events that occur before the age of 18. Authors evaluated a campaign called Live Beyond and report their findings on campaign outcomes for California youth and caregivers.

Graham DiGuiseppi, Dana Schultz, Rebecca L. Collins, Elizabeth Roth, Nicole K. Eberhart

Early Success for California’s “Live Beyond” Adverse Childhood Experiences Public Awareness Campaign

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur before age 18. This brief describes evaluation of a California campaign to address ACEs called Live Beyond and summarizes a report of findings on campaign development and outcomes.

Graham DiGuiseppi, Dana Schultz, Rebecca L. Collins, Elizabeth Roth, Nicole K. Eberhart, David M. Adamson

A Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Two Brief Interventions Focused on Social and Cultural Connectedness to Reduce Risk for Suicide and Substance Misuse in Young Alaska Native People

The purpose of this paper is to outline development and evaluation methodology for a comparative effectiveness trial of two virtual, culturally grounded, brief interventions to address suicide prevention among Alaska Native young people.

Stacy Rasmus, Elizabeth J. D'Amico, James Allen, Cynthia Nation, Simeon John, Victor Joseph, Anthony Rodriguez, Gabriela Alvarado, Allyson D. Gittens, Alina I. Palimaru, Ryan Andrew Brown, David P. Kennedy, Michael J. Woodward, Jennifer L. Parker, Keisha McDonald

Insurance Denials for Fluoride Varnish and Well-Child Visits

We used all-payer claims data (APCD) to examine claim denials for fluoride varnish applications and well-child medical visits (WCVs) for Medicaid and private insurers in Massachusetts.

Ashley M. Kranz, Yuji Mizushima, Annie Chen, Kun Li, Andrew W. Dick, Kimberley Geissler

How to Provide Quality Opportunities for Young People in the Summer Months

This paper summarizes knowledge about kindergarten through grade 12 summer programs in the United States. The authors discuss the implications of summer programs for practice, policy, and funding to help communities effectively leverage summertime.

Catherine H. Augustine, Jennifer Sloan McCombs

Trends in Focus 2025

Prepared for the 2025 RAND Europe Foresight Forum, this inaugural ‘Trends in Focus’ report highlights nine important yet often overlooked trends organised into three thematic clusters that are shaping the United Kingdom and Europe more broadly.

Erik Silfversten, Artur Honich, Zsofia Wolford, Fook Nederveen

American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey: Spring 2025 Technical Documentation and Survey Results

This technical report includes descriptions of the data, samples, and methodology for the spring 2025 Pre-Kindergarten Teacher Survey, including survey results.

David Grant, Phoebe Rose Levine, Anna Shapiro, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo, Jill S. Cannon, Christopher Joseph Doss, Lynn A. Karoly, Emma B. Kassan

American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey: Fall 2024 Technical Documentation and Survey Results

This technical report includes descriptions of the data, samples, and methodology for the fall 2024 Pre-Kindergarten Teacher Survey, including survey results.

David Grant, Phoebe Rose Levine, Anna Shapiro, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo, Jill S. Cannon, Christopher Joseph Doss, Lynn A. Karoly, Emma B. Kassan

Aligning Policy to Support the Use of Evidence-Based Practices Equitably and at Scale in Youth Substance Use Services: Proceedings from a Roundtable at the 2025 Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery

The use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) plays an important role in delivering high-quality substance use services that improve youth outcomes. During a 2025 roundtable, policy actors discussed how to implement EBPs through state service systems.

Alex R. Dopp, Lora L. Passetti, Robert M. Vincent, Christin M. L. Bair, Karen Day, Marc de Giere, Shelly Weizman, Sarah B. Hunter

Coding Readiness Assessment: A Measure of Computational Thinking for Preschoolers

The Coding Readiness Assessment reliably measures coding and computational thinking skills in preschoolers, showing age-related score increases and effective impulsivity controls in a large Head Start study.

Emily Relkin, Christopher Joseph Doss, Victoria L. Jones, John F. Pane

Teachers' Reports of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medication Changes During Stimulant Shortages: National Survey Results

This study reports results from a nationally representative survey to understand teachers' perceptions of how the stimulant shortage affected medication use by students with ADHD, which could affect their academic performance.

Bradley D. Stein, Amy Mahler, Rosanna Smart

Introduction to a Special Series on Youth Suicide

This special series on youth suicide brings together cutting-edge research from a range of disciplines, using a range of methods.

Lynsay Ayer, Daniel P. Dickstein

Effects of a Faith-Based Obesity Intervention on African American and Latino Adults' Children

This study is one of the first to assess the effects of a faith-based multilevel obesity intervention on adult participants' children.

Lilian Perez, Karen Rocío Flórez, Rachana Seelam, Malcolm V. Williams, Kathryn Pitkin Derose