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RAND @rand.org · 31/08/2026

5️⃣ Many pre-K teachers don’t have the learning materials they need. They often mix and match different materials, likely because no single option fully meets their students’ needs. This may be especially concerning because foundational skills begin to take shape during the early years.

Figure 5: Percentage of Teachers Who Reported Using Each Type of Material for Groups of Students presents four charts: to teach all children in my classroom; to provide additional support for the children who struggle academically; to provide additional support to the children in my classroom who have IEPs/IFSPs; To provide additional support for the children in my classroom who are English learners

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RAND @rand.org · 31/08/2026

4️⃣ Stricter cell phone policies reduce—but don’t eliminate—the problem. We identified five distinct types of policies across U.S. public schools and examined how each relates to how often students check their phones. More-restrictive policies are associated with reduced phone use.

Figure 4: Percentage of Students Who Checked Their Cell Phones During Their Classes at Least Once per Day, by School Cell Phone Policy

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RAND @rand.org · 31/08/2026

3️⃣ Chronic absenteeism is falling—but still too high. The rate of students missing at least 10% of school days in a year rose sharply after the pandemic. Our latest estimates show some progress, but chronic absenteeism remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 3. Chronic Absenteeism Rates by School Year and Percentage of Students Who Were Absent tracks absences from 2017-2025

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RAND @rand.org · 31/08/2026

2️⃣ Students worry that using AI comes at a cost. Two-thirds say that using AI more for schoolwork harms their critical thinking. Even so, students are using AI tools for homework at growing rates.

Figure 2. Percentage of Students Who Agreed or Strongly Agreed That Using AI More for Schoolwork Will harm Critical Thinking Skills, by Grade contains three graphs charting students overall, by grade, and by use of AI help (like chatbots) for homework

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RAND @rand.org · 31/08/2026

1️⃣ Teachers are still burning out. In 2026, U.S. teachers reported poorer well-being than similar working adults on every indicator we track.

Figure 1. Well-Being of Teachers and Similar Working Adults presents four charts tracking the job related stress, difficulty coping with job-related stress, symptoms of depression, and burnout among teachers

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RAND @rand.org · 20/08/2026

The U.S. national debt just hit $40 trillion. What would it take to reduce the federal debt burden? Our experts used the RAND Budget Model to outline potential solutions: bit.ly/4zy5cQM

The line graph titled "Tradeoffs could tame the federal debt by 2055" illustrates three scenarios for the U.S. federal debt as a percentage of GDP. The baseline scenario shows a steep rise to 156% by 2055. The 23% target scenario depicts a steady decrease to 23% around 2055, and the high productivity growth scenario shows a dip to 98% before rising again. Text states that 30-year planning and fiscal adjustments could lower the debt to 1975 levels.

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RAND @rand.org · 26/06/2026

New study: 1/3 of middle and high school students think missing three or more weeks of school—being chronically absent—is mostly OK: bit.ly/4vVEYoq

Bar chart titled "Percentage of Youth and Parents Who Think It Is Mostly OK When Students Are Chronically Absent, by Age Group." The chart compares responses by youths and parents. For youth, 32% of all youth, 31% aged 12–14, 29% aged 15–16, and 37% aged 17–18 think it is mostly okay. For parents, 18% of all parents, 17% of those with children aged 12–14, 18% with children aged 15–16, and 21% with children aged 17–18 think it is mostly okay.

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RAND @rand.org · 17/06/2026

New finding: Teachers report spending a little more than $600 out of pocket on school supplies. bit.ly/4fxgD3F

A chart. Figure 10. Teacher Out-of-Pocket Spending on School Supplies. Sorted by grade level, teacher experience, school poverty, and student racial composition.

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RAND @rand.org · 10/06/2026

The use of AI for mental health advice has risen sharply in the past year among young people. Most say they have not told anyone about turning to chatbots for help. bit.ly/49uaCkr

Plum text on a light pink background reads: Nearly 1 in 5 young people in the U.S. use AI chatbots for mental health advice.

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RAND @rand.org · 13/05/2026

➡️ But even the strictest policies don't completely stop student phone use. Even in schools that ban phone use entirely, half of students said they still check their phones in class at least once a day. And roughly one-sixth said they do so more than five times per day.

Bar chart titled "Percentage of Students Who Checked Their Cell Phones During Their Classes at Least Once per Day, by School Cell Phone Policy." It shows percentages of students who said they checked their phone in class across five policy categories: "Cannot bring phone to school" (42%), "No phone use in school" (50%), "No phone use allowed in class" (72%), and "Phone use allowed in class" (84%), and "No cell phone rules" (84%).

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RAND @rand.org · 08/05/2026

The U.S. national debt now exceeds 100% of GDP. What would it take to reduce the federal debt burden? Our experts used the RAND Budget Model to outline potential solutions: bit.ly/3R9qbaH

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RAND @rand.org · 26/03/2026

China has one of the world's lowest fertility rates, and its population decline is accelerating. By 2050, China's population could lose 250 million people from its current 1.4 billion. That's nearly three-quarters of the current U.S. population. bit.ly/4sMUHF5

Figure 1. Total Population in China, Japan, India, and the United States: 1950-2050 is a line graph charting, with four lines, population in each of the listed countries. Source: Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division, 2024 Revision of World Population Prospects, database, United Nations, 2024.

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RAND @rand.org · 21/01/2026

Nearly half of those days involved microdosing. Among U.S. adults who used psilocybin in the past year, 69% microdosed at least once during that period.

Figure 2. Estimated Proportion of U.S. Adults Who Microdosed Psilocybin, MDMA, or LSD Among Those Who Used in the Past Year shows three circular charts beside each other that compare use of each drug. The left chart shows that 69% of those who tried Psilocybin reported microdosing at least once. The chart in the middle indicates that 65% of those who tried MDMA reported microdosing at least once. The chart on the right shows that 59% of those who tried LSD reported microdosing at least once.

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RAND @rand.org · 21/01/2026

Psilocybin—or magic mushrooms—was by far the most commonly used substance. About 4.3% of adults reported using psilocybin in the past year. (That’s approximately 11 million people.)

Figure 1. Past-Year Use of Psychedelic Substances by Adults in the United States is a bar chart with substances listed on the y axis and percentages on the x axis. Substances are: Psilocybin, MDMA or MDA, Amanita muscaria, Ketamine, LSD, DMT, Mescaline, 2C-B, Salvia divinorum, Ibogaine or iboga, and 5-MeO-DMT. Useage rates range from about .5% to just over 4%.

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RAND @rand.org · 27/11/2025

A new RAND study finds: 🔸1 in 3 boys and young men lacks an adult man he can turn to for help with school or relationships. 🔸1 in 4 lacks an adult man who can help him plan his future. 🔸Boys from low‑income households are even less likely to have access to male mentors. bit.ly/3JNuANs

Graphic showing the percentage of boys and young men ages 12-21 who reported having a mentor.

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RAND @rand.org · 11/11/2025

How well do military skills translate to jobs in the civilian workforce? What is the health care experience like for veterans? How much do we know about the needs of veteran families? Listen to a special Veterans Day episode of Policy Minded. ⬇️

Family joyfully greeting a military service member returning home, with text overlay that reads: Policy Minded

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RAND @rand.org · 17/10/2025

New data show growing inaccuracies in official homeless counts in Los Angeles. bit.ly/4mZrC5L

This line chart compares two measures of unsheltered persons or dwellings over time from January 2022 through 2025.

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RAND @rand.org · 15/10/2025

Official homeless counts in Los Angeles increasingly underestimate the number of people living on the street in three key neighborhoods. bit.ly/3WD5DH0

This line chart compares two measures of unsheltered persons or dwellings over time from January 2022 to January 2026.

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RAND @rand.org · 14/10/2025

An estimated 125 million American adults know someone who has died of a drug overdose. The experiences of family and friends left behind by fatal overdoses have been overlooked. RAND's Alison Athey explains why more supports are needed for those who are grieving. bit.ly/3WBfVr8

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RAND @rand.org · 07/10/2025

There was also a clear top reason why youth reported that schools should allow phone use in class. 81% of those who were against phone bans said that their parents should be able to reach them when needed.

Figure 6: Group of two bar charts showing students' reasons why schools should or should not ban cell phones from class

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RAND @rand.org · 07/10/2025

But what do students think? Only 11% of youth enrolled in K–12 schools said that phone use should be prohibited “bell to bell.” But 60% did support at least *some* phone restrictions during the school day.

Figure 5: Bar chart showing percentages of youth enrolled in K-12 schools who support cell phone policies in some form

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RAND @rand.org · 07/10/2025

High schools tended to have more-lenient policies. 49% of high schools allowed students to use their phones when class was not in session (e.g., lunch). 24% of high schools allowed students to sometimes use phones during class at the teacher’s discretion.

Figure 2: Bar chart showing various grade levels and their cell phone policies

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RAND @rand.org · 07/10/2025

Nearly all K–12 schools had a policy that allowed students to bring their cell phones during the 2024–2025 school year. 67% of principals said their schools had a policy that prohibited cell phone use from "bell to bell."

Figure 1: Diagram showing percentages of how cell phones are allowed in schools. 95% of principals report students can bring phones to school.

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RAND @rand.org · 02/10/2025

Most young people experiencing disconnection have at least a high school diploma. This suggests that efforts to promote high school graduation alone won’t solve the problem of disconnected youth.

Stacked bar chart comparing educational attainment of all young people and disconnected youth in four categories: No high school degree, GED, High school graduate, and some college plus

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RAND @rand.org · 02/10/2025

This figure shows rates of disconnection by age, education, and other key demographic characteristics.

Grouped bar chart comparing rates of disconnection between men and women by various dimensions including family structure, race, ethnicity, and education

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RAND @rand.org · 20/08/2025

The use of Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications has increased sharply in recent years. Our new report shows rates of use across different demographic groups. bit.ly/41JTFOQ

Figure 2. Percentage of U.S. Adults Reporting GLP-1 Agonist Use, by Age and Sex
Age 18-29 Age 30-49 Age 50-64 Age 65+
Men 2.5% 7.2% 16.8% 13.5%
Total 3.3% 11.2% 18.5% 13.1%
Women 4.1% 15.1% 20.0% 12.8%
SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.

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RAND @rand.org · 18/08/2025

5️⃣ More teachers are using standards-aligned materials. For decades, states have tried to get more schools to adopt high-quality instructional materials. There's been a steady increase in use over the last six years.

Figure 5: Teachers Who Use Standards-Aligned Curriculum at Least Weekly. Bar graph displaying data for Math and ELA over six academic years from 2018-19 to 2023-24.

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RAND @rand.org · 18/08/2025

4️⃣ Female teachers report more job-related stress. Teachers who are stressed or otherwise experiencing poor well-being may not always be able to give their best effort to their students.

Figure 4: Frequent Job-Related Stress Rising Again Among Female Teachers. Line chart indicates female and male teachers, female similar working adults, male similar working adults. Years span from 2021-2025.

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RAND @rand.org · 18/08/2025

3️⃣ Teachers feel unprepared to instruct multilingual learners. About 10% of students are still developing English proficiency. Only about half of the teachers we asked said they felt prepared to teach these students to reach the grade-level standard in their subject.

Figure 3: Who Feels Most and Least Prepared to Teach MLLs to Grade-Level Standards displaying varying levels of teacher preparedness across different educational levels and qualifications. Categories range from 'Not at all' to 'Fully prepared'.

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RAND @rand.org · 18/08/2025

2️⃣ Students are bored with math. About half of middle and high school students reported losing interest during their math lessons about half or more of the time.

Figure 2: How Many Students Disengage During Math Lessons? A bar chart with answers "never or almost ever," "less than half of the time," "about half of the time," "more than half of the time," and "all or almost all of the time" on the x axis. On the y axis, 30%, 20%, and 10% are indicated.

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RAND @rand.org · 18/08/2025

1️⃣ Chronic absenteeism—when a student misses at least 10% of school days per year—remains a challenge. Empty desks are a problem in schools across the country, but *extreme* chronic absenteeism is highly concentrated in urban school districts.

Figure 1: Urban Districts Report Extreme Chronic Absenteeism.
Severity levels are indicated on the x axis: low, modest, significant, high, and extreme. On the y axis, school district subgroups: total, urban, suburban, rural, low poverty, middle poverty, high poverty, majority white students, majority students of color.

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RAND @rand.org · 14/08/2025

We also asked students what they thought about chronic absenteeism. One-quarter said that it's "mostly OK" to miss three weeks of school in a school year:

Figure 3: Percentages of Youths Who Said They Felt It Is "Mostly OK" to Miss Three Weeks of School, by Parents’ Highest Education Level. All youth: 26%; High school or less: 33%; Some college or associate’s degree: 24%; Bachelor’s degree or higher: 23%

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RAND @rand.org · 14/08/2025

Why are so many students staying home so often? Sickness was by far the most common reason they cited.

Figure 4 Alt Text: Bar Chart: Percentage of Youths Who Selected Various Reasons for Missing School This Year. There are eight categories with their respective percentages identified with blue shading. Sickness: 67%; Felt down or anxious: 10%; Oversleeping: 9%; Uninterested in school: 7%; Needed to care for a family member: 4%; Lack of transportation to school: 3%; Too behind on schoolwork to go: 3%; Work hours conflict with school hours: 1%.

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RAND @rand.org · 14/08/2025

Empty desks are a problem in schools across the country, but *extreme* chronic absenteeism is highly concentrated in urban school districts. Roughly half of urban districts reported extreme levels of chronic absenteeism last year.

Figure 2: Percentage Distribution of Districts by Severity of Chronic Absenteeism Levels, by District Subgroup. Severity levels are indicated on the x axis: low, modest, significant, high, and extreme. On the y axis, school district subgroups: total, urban, suburban, rural, low poverty, middle poverty, high poverty, majority white students, majority students of color. Total: low: 7, modest: 24, significant: 30, high: 28, extreme: 11; urban: low: 0, modest: 0, significant: 23, high: 33, extreme: 44; suburban: low: 8, modest: 42, significant: 27, high: 16, extreme: 7; rural: low: 8, modest: 19, significant: 32, high: 31; extreme: 9; low poverty: low: 11, modest: 46, significant: 28, high: 15; extreme: 1; middle poverty: low: 5, modest: 19, significant: 36, high: 28, extreme: 12; high poverty: low: 8, modest: 10, significant: 21, high: 41, extreme: 20; majority white students: low: 10, modest: 25, significant: 33, high: 23, extreme: 8; majority students of color: low: 1, modest: 19, significant: 24, high: 38, extreme: 18. A purple box around the urban, suburban, and rural “extreme” figures indicates that urban districts were five to six times more likely to report extreme chronic absenteeism than their rural and suburban peers.

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RAND @rand.org · 14/08/2025

Chronic absenteeism—when a student misses at least 10% of school days per year—is a persistent challenge, even years removed from the pandemic. We estimate that roughly 22% of K–12 students were chronically absent in the 2024–2025 school year. That’s nearly 11 million kids.

Figure 1 Alt Text: Line Graph: Chronic Absenteeism Rates by School Year. There are two lines on the graph, a solid line representing data from Malkus (2025) and a dotted line representing an estimate from RAND surveys. The vertical axis is labeled from 0-30% to show percentages of absent students, and the horizontal axis is labeled with school years 2016-2017 through 2024-2025. In the graph, the solid line begins under 15% in the 2016-2017 school year and dips down, then back up, during the COVID-19 pandemic. That section of the chart is labeled: "interpret with caution due to data collection interruptions." Following 2020-2021, the solid line rises from around 15% to nearly 30% in 2021-2022 and down to just under 25% in 2023-2024. The dotted line indicates RAND estimates a steeper decline in 2023-2024, under 20%, and rises to just over 20% in 2024-2025.

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RAND @rand.org · 06/08/2025

Among those who have used GLP-1 drugs, about half report they have experienced nausea. About 1/3 experienced diarrhea. The majority of those who report having side effects note that they are mild.

Figure 3. Percentage of U.S. Adults Who Have Ever Taken a GLP-1 Agonist Reporting Side Effects, by Severity Level

A stacked bar chart comparing the percentage reporting mild or serious side effects like nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and hollowed-out-face.

Nausea Diarrhea Vomiting Hollowed-Out Face
Mild 43.2% 26.8% 14.4% 7.4%
Serious 8.8% 7.5% 5.4% 1.1%
Total 52.0% 34.3% 19.8% 8.5%
SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.

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RAND @rand.org · 06/08/2025

Women tend to use GLP-1 drugs at higher rates than men. The medications are most used by women between the ages of 50 and 64. Here's a breakdown:

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RAND @rand.org · 06/08/2025

Nearly 12% of Americans have used GLP-1 drugs—such as Ozempic—for weight loss. 14% say they're interested in them. New findings from the largest and most recent survey on Americans' use of a new class of weight loss drugs. 🧵

Figure 1. Percentage of U.S. Adults Reporting GLP-1 Agonist Use
Stacked bar chart showing percentage of adults reporting GLP-1 agonist use.

No, and I do not plan to take them = 74.2%
No, but I am interested in taking them = 14.0%
Yes, I have taken them at least once = 11.8%

SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.

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RAND @rand.org · 15/05/2025

On our new podcast, Policy Minded, we're letting you in on conversations with some of the world's leading policy experts. Today, we're picking the brain of Beth Asch, a renowned expert on military personnel and defense manpower…

Graphic with the text 'Policy Minded' over a stylized brain illustration in shades of purple and mauve, set against a dark purple background.

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RAND @rand.org · 13/05/2025

On Policy Minded, our new podcast, we'll pick the brains of the world's top policy experts, so you can get even smarter about the issues that shape the world. 🎙️ Our first episode drops May 15. Listen to the trailer and subscribe: www.rand.org/pubs/podcast...

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RAND @rand.org · 16/04/2025

The national trend in turnover for principals looks slightly different. It appears to have declined from a postpandemic peak but has plateaued at a higher level than before the pandemic.

Line graph titled 'Panel B. Percentage of principals who retired or resigned' shows retirement percentages before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, up until the school year 2023-2024. Pre-pandemic, the percentage was 3%, rising to 6% in SY 2021-2022, peaking at 16% during the COVID-19 pandemic, then decreasing to 9% in SY 2023-2024, and further down to 8%.

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RAND @rand.org · 16/04/2025

Our new report, the first to estimate educator turnover rates for the 2023–2024 school year, finds that teacher turnover continues to trend downward from its pandemic peak.

Line graph titled 'Panel A. Percentage of teachers who retired or resigned" shows the retirement rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates start at 6% pre-pandemic, rise to 10% in SY 2021-2022, and decrease to 7% in SY 2023-2024.

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RAND @rand.org · 08/04/2025

…transportation…

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RAND @rand.org · 08/04/2025

…environment…

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RAND @rand.org · 08/04/2025

The report includes a menu of roughly 200 potential infrastructure and development projects in six related sectors: Governance...

Figure 2.2
Governance: A vision
A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing border proposals, land swaps, and the existing built area. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.

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RAND @rand.org · 28/01/2025

A long-awaited cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is in effect. But on the path toward peace, a cease-fire is just the beginning. New RAND research lays out a road map to achieving a *durable* Israeli-Palestinian peace. Here's an overview. 🧵 www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

Text over photo of a landscape reads: New Report: Pathways to a Durable Israeli-Palestinian Peace

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RAND @rand.org · 17/01/2025

In 2021, the U.S. accounted for more than one-fifth of the world’s at-risk imports.

Potential Sources of At-Risk U.S. Imports Span the Globe (Figure 1). Three maps outline different parts of the world. Darker shading (China) indicates more categories of goods that the International Labor Affairs classified in 2021 as being at risk of being made with forced labor in that country. Lighter pink shading (India) indicates fewer categories, and gray indicates no categories.

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