Changes in School Composition during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for School-Average Interim Test Score Use. Research Report. RR-A1037-2

In this report, RAND researchers investigate one specific issue that may contaminate utilization of COVID-19--era school-aggregate scores and result in faulty comparisons with historical and other proximal aggregate scores: changes in school composition over time. To investigate this issue, they examine data from NWEA's Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth assessments, interim assessments used by states and districts during the 2020-2021 school year. This report has four main sections. First, it provides background information on the assessment context. A detail is provided on the problems caused by changes in test-taking populations, particularly for school-level analyses, and provides examples of state policies for score reporting. Second, it details the research questions and describes the sample and methods. Third, it presents the results of the investigations. The report concludes with a discussion of the implications of findings for decision-making during the COVID-19 crisis. This report is the second of three that examine the impacts of COVID-19-related assessment disruptions on school and district processes. The first report, "Adapting Course Placement Processes in Response to COVID-19 Disruptions: Guidance for Schools and Districts. Research Report. RR-A1037-1" (ED612136), compares three strategies to estimate missing test scores and help with course placement decisions.

"Not Your Model Minority": An Inquiry on the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

The realities of COVID-19 have clearly revealed the myth of the model minority, a stereotype in which Asian Americans are seen as successful and high achieving in contrast to other Communities of Color. An ever-present, but sometimes seemingly dormant, anti-Asian racism in the United States is reflective of patterns in U.S. immigration history. Yet, neither is often taught in PK-12 education. In this article, the authors briefly outline the history of two major policies in Asian American immigration history and share an inquiry designed to help students explore the institutionalized racism that has defined who is a "good" immigrant.

Modes and Trajectories of Shadow Education in Denmark and China: Fieldwork Reflections by a Comparativist

Purpose: In the domain of shadow education (private supplementary tutoring), Denmark and China may be placed at opposite ends of a spectrum. Denmark has a recently emerged, small, and high-cost sector that mostly serves low achievers, while China has a more industrialized sector with a long history and economies of scale. The paper juxtaposes the two to shed light on each. Design/Approach/Methods: The article is a personal narrative of the author's research experiences. She grew up and had initial education in China before moving to the Nordic realm for 2 years. This provided a set of initial lenses, which were subsequently deployed in research partnership from her current base in China with colleagues in Denmark. Findings: The juxtaposition raises questions that might otherwise not have been asked and provides insights that might otherwise not have been gained. Danish families hesitate to use shadow education for advantages in the egalitarian society, in contrast to Chinese patterns that stress competition and achievement. These facets have implications for the modes of shadow education and even the names of tutorial companies. Originality/Value: The paper has a methodological value in addition to its substantive insights on the trajectories of shadow education in the two countries.