Purpose: Instructional system coherence plays an important role in sustaining high-quality learning environments. Though it is acknowledged that instructional systems are dynamic and relational, most research quantifies coherence in terms of its overall presence (or absence) in the learning environment. In this study, we investigate whether a network-based approach that accounts for the relational nature of system coherence can yield new insights into teachers' perceptions of instructional systems. Methods: We analyzed survey data from a multistate sample of K-12 English language arts (ELA) teachers using methods adapted from network analysis. These methods allow us to visualize coherence more holistically by illustrating the ties between different components of teachers' instructional systems that give them messages about what and how to teach. Findings: We found that teachers perceived relatively high levels of instructional system coherence, though there was disagreement among teachers within schools. We found structural differences in how coherence is perceived and identified five main profiles of instructional system coherence. When we relate these profiles to contextual conditions hypothesized to be associated with coherence, we find that several profiles associate similarly with preconditions. Implications: Our findings illustrate ways that relational measures of instructional system coherence can characterize not only how many instructional system components are perceived to be similar or reinforcing but also which components may have strongly reinforcing relationships, and which may have weaker or conflicting relationships. Such insights could lead to the formulation of new theories of how coherence influences teaching and learning and may inform school improvement strategies.

I n the wake of the protests against and attention to racial injustice sparked by the murders of George Floyd and others, there has been a renewed call for the education system to address systemic racism and racial inequities (Gewertz, 2020). At the same time, many states have started passing or considering laws purporting to ban critical race theory from schools by restricting some discussions of racism, sexism, and bias within their classrooms (Ray and Gibbons, 2021). Advocates of these bans state that addressing these topics in the classroom is inappropriate; results in the indoctrination of students; and takes time away from academic instruction in reading, mathematics, and other core subjects (Aldrich, 2021). As of January 2022, 36 states have taken some action toward proposing or passing such restrictive bans, and 14 of those states have passed the bans through legislation or some other means, such as the adoption of a rule or resolution by their state board of education (“Map: Where Critical Race Theory Is Under Attack,” 2021). At the same time, a large body of research demonstrates that teaching students explicitly about issues of identity, diversity, equity, and bias—sometimes referred to as anti-bias education—can lead to positive academic, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes. One study found that a more positive sense of racial identity among African American adolescents was associated with greater engagement with schooling and with indicators of educational attainment, including attendance, high school completion, and college attendance (Chavous et al., 2003). Another study found that, among academically at-risk students, participation in an ethnic studies course (one example of a culturally relevant pedagogiC O R P O R A T I O N Research Report

The “twin pandemics” of racial injustice and COVID-19 have underscored the importance of promoting civic knowledge, skills, dispositions, and engagement among the nation’s young people. Although some evidence has demonstrated that civic-learning opportunities are inequitably distributed across U.S. schools and communities, we currently have limited data that could help inform efforts to promote more equitable access to these opportunities. In this article, we draw on a recent National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report on equity indicators to explore the potential value of a large-scale system of such indicators for civic learning. We highlight the need for indicators of both opportunities to learn and of learning outcomes. We describe key features of this system, propose some example indicators, and discuss a research agenda that could contribute to the development of high-quality measures of equity in civic learning.

School principals are facing greater challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic than they have ever faced, which has implications for whether they can conduct their work productively and remain in their jobs over the long term. This article draws on a unique, nationally representative, longitudinal panel of K–12 public school principals across the United States to examine principals’ self-reported resource needs and job demands during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as how those resource needs and demands are related to principals’ dissatisfaction and their intention to leave their job. Although principals’ reported resource needs (which increased over time) and teacher shortages were consistently related to dissatisfaction and intention to leave, various other job demands were predictors of dissatisfaction but not the intention to leave. These results have several implications for supporting and retaining principals as well as the teachers they serve.

Background and Approach Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools across the United States are struggling to remain open for in-person instruction.Inequities in academic outcomes are widening, with the most disastrous potential outcomes for students in higher-poverty schools and those who are learning remotely.1 Children's social-emotional health has been profoundly affected, and teacher morale is suffering.2 In a RAND Corporation survey of nearly 1,000 former public school teachers, almost half of those who left public school teaching early during the pandemic did so specifically because of COVID-19.3These impacts of the pandemic will have negative consequences for decades to come.Research to date suggests that in-person instruction, when coupled with appropriate mitigation strategies, is not a major contributor to COVID-19 transmission in communities. 4Nevertheless, some degree of transmission in school settings does

In this report — the first report to share findings from the spring 2021 American Instructional Resources Survey — the authors discuss kindergarten through 12th grade public teachers' use of standards-aligned curriculum materials for mathematics and English language arts instruction from school years 2018–2019 to 2020–2021. They also examine whether curriculum materials that teachers used were available in digital form for the 2020–2021 school year.

By U.S. law, states must provide education to all children, regardless of immigration status. But policymakers lack information needed to support the education of undocumented and asylum-seeking children, whose numbers have been growing. This report models the numbers of such children by state, reviews the federal and state policy landscapes for their education, and provides case studies of how schools are managing education for them.

In this report, the authors use survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how middle and high school English language arts and mathematics teachers use and perceive their instructional materials in terms of their engagement, challenge, and usability. In addition, the authors use interview data to understand teachers' perceptions about what makes instructional materials engaging, appropriately challenging, and usable.

This Data Note provides a picture of students' learning experiences in kindergarten through grade 12 schools that have adopted a variety of operational models (e.g., fully in-person, hybrid, fully remote) during the 2020–2021 school year. Our findings provide evidence that students are on sharply different learning pathways depending on whether their schools have been mostly remote or mostly in-person for the majority of this school year.

This brief discusses findings from several RAND reports on principals' roles with respect to instructional materials. Recommendations describe how stakeholders can prepare and support principals to lead in selecting and using instructional materials.

Findings discuss issues affecting teacher wellbeing during the pandemic, including higher workloads and increased teacher burnout.

What kinds of instructional materials are K–12 teachers using for mathematics and English language arts instruction? Experts from the RAND Corporation and EdReports share new data from a national teacher survey during this one-hour webinar. They discuss some of the factors that may be leading to increases in use of standards-aligned instructional materials across the United States.

The authors examine what school leaders regard as the key dimensions of quality instructional materials and describe the role school leaders play in guiding the selection and use of instructional materials. School leaders involve teachers in the selection of instructional materials, create buy-in for district-recommended or -required curriculum, and provide guidance that balances teacher autonomy and the fidelity of curriculum implementation.