The present study explores the causal link between school climate, school violence, and a school's general academic performance over time using a school-level, cross-lagged panel autoregressive modeling design. We hypothesized that reductions in school violence and climate improvement would lead to schools' overall improved academic performance. School-level secondary analysis of the California Healthy Kids Survey was conducted at three points in time. Findings offer credible evidence that a school's overall improvement in academic performance is a central causal factor in reducing violence and enhancing a school's climate. In the discussion, we suggest that when strong efforts to improve academics are taken, schools may tend to include issues of climate and victimization as part of those academic reform efforts.

Limited Print and Electronic Distribution RightsThis document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.html.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2133Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND CorporationR® is a registered trademark.iii PrefaceThe reauthorization of the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act, referred to as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), emphasizes evidence-based interventions while giving states and districts new flexibility on the use of federal funds, including funds that could be used to support social and emotional learning (SEL).The RAND Corporation reviewed recent evidence on U.S.-based SEL interventions for K-12 students to better inform the use of SEL interventions under ESSA. This report discusses the opportunities for supporting SEL under ESSA, the standards of evidence under ESSA, and SEL interventions that should be eligible for federal funds through ESSA. Federal, state, and district education policymakers can use this report to identify relevant, evidence-based SEL interventions that meet their local needs.This research was conducted in RAND Education (a division of the RAND Corporation) and commissioned by The Wallace Foundation. The Wallace Foundation is committed to supporting programs and practices that help children and young people develop the social and emotional skills they need for success, and to commissioning research that contributes credible, useful evidence to the field. SummaryAmong educators and researchers, there is growing acknowledgement that student success depends not only on achievement in core academic subjects but also on learning a broader range of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies. Efforts to develop these competencies are often described using the phrase social and emotional learning (SEL). Although the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislation does not explicitly mention SEL, educators and policymakers can leverage funding offered under ESSA to support evidence-based programming that is related to SEL and ...

Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have recently received waivers to the school accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). As the prospects for reauthorizing the Act in the near term are dim, these new accountability systems will be law for at least several years. Drawing on a four-part framework from the measurement literature, we describe and critique the approved waiver accountability plans, comparing them to the NCLB accountability rules. We find a mixed bag-some states have made large improvements and others have not. Overall we conclude that states missed opportunities to design more effective school accountability systems that might minimize negative unintended consequences of these policies. The article concludes with suggestions for state and federal policy in light of the available literature.

We estimate relative achievement effects of the four most commonly adopted elementary mathematics textbooks in the fall of 2008 and fall of 2009 in California. Our findings indicate that one book, Houghton Mifflin's California Math, is more effective than the other three, raising student achievement by 0.05 to 0.08 student-level standard deviations of the Grade 3 state standardized math test. We also estimate positive effects of California Math relative to the other textbooks in higher elementary grades. The differential effect of California Math is educationally meaningful, particularly given that it is a schoolwide effect and can be had at what is effectively zero marginal cost.

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Previous research indicates that suicidal ideation is higher among military-connected youth than non military-connected youth. This study extends prior work by examining suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts in military-connected and non military-connected adolescents. Data were gathered from 390,028 9th and 11th grade students who completed the 2012-2013 California Healthy Kids Survey. Bivariate comparisons and multivariate logistic analyses were conducted to examine differences in suicidal ideation, plans, attempts, and attempts requiring medical attention between military and not military-connected youth. In multivariate logistic analyses, military-connected youth were at increased risk for suicidal ideation (OR = 1.43, 95 % CI = 1.37-1.49), making a plan to harm themselves (OR = 1.19, CI = 1.06-1.34), attempting suicide (OR = 1.67, CI = 1.43-1.95), and an attempted suicide which required medical treatment (OR = 1.71, CI = 1.34-2.16). These results indicate that military-connected youth statewide are at a higher risk for suicidal ideation, plans, attempts, and attempts requiring medical care because of suicidal behaviors. It is suggested that policies be implemented to increase awareness and screening among primary care providers, school personnel, and military organizations that serve military-connected youth.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1848Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication.ISBN: 978-0-8330-9834-4 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND CorporationR® is a registered trademark. Cover: Jim Greenhill for the United States Government.iii PrefaceThe National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is a residential, quasi-military program for youth between the ages of 16 and 18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. The program is operated by participating states through their state National Guard organizations with supporting federal funds and oversight. The first ChalleNGe sites began in the mid-1990s; today there are 40 ChalleNGe sites in 29 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To date, more than 145,000 young people have completed the ChalleNGe program. Congress requires the ChalleNGe program to deliver a report on its pro gress each year.The program includes a 5.5-month Residential Phase followed by a 12-month PostResidential Phase, with support from a mentor. The stated goal of ChalleNGe is "to intervene in and reclaim the lives of 16-18 year old high school dropouts, producing program gradu ates with the values, life skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to succeed as productive citizens."In this report, we provide information in support of the required annual report to Congress. We also lay out a framework for use in evaluating ChalleNGe sites; subsequent reports will provide additional information on future cohorts of students and will build on this framework to develop more detailed and more effective metrics, and will provide strategies for data collection in support of these metrics. Methods used in this study include site visits, data collection and analy sis, lit er a ture review, and development of two tools to assist in improving the metrics-a theory of change (TOC) and a program logic model. This report will be of interest to ChalleNGe prog...

Debate over the design of state and federal accountability systems is an important ongoing issue for policy makers. As we move toward next-generation accountability through No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) waivers and reauthorization drafts, it is important to understand the implementation and effects of key elements of prior accountability systems. In this policy brief, we investigate an under-researched feature of NCLB accountability—the use of safe harbor to meet proficiency rate objectives. We use school-level data on California schools between 2005 and 2011 to investigate the prevalence of safe harbor over time. We find dramatic increases in recent years, primarily for the objectives for historically disadvantaged groups. Furthermore, we find no evidence that schools using safe harbor meaningfully outperform schools failing Adequate Yearly Progress in the short or long run, casting doubt on the utility of the measure. We conclude with recommendations to policy makers, including state assessment and accountability coordinators, regarding accountability policy design in future laws.