Areas of Expertise
Accountability Systems in Education
AIR has an in-depth, state-by-state understanding of educational accountability systems, built in part on two major national evaluations over the past five years. These systems include policies related to content and proficiency standards, assessments used to determine adequate yearly progress (AYP), annual measurable objective (AMO) trajectories, state accountability workbooks, and strategies used to support low-performing schools. In these efforts, AIR collected comprehensive interview data for all 50 states, compiled and analyzed the largest and most comprehensive existing database of AYP performance, analyzed nationally-representative survey data, and created a series of policy-relevant reports.
Recent Reports
- AIR Experts Author Report on Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in School Accountability Systems
- Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
- State and Local Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act Volume VI - Targeting and Uses of Federal Education Funds (TRAC)
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Adult Education
Adult Education enables adults to acquire the basic skills necessary to function in today's society so that they can benefit from the completion of secondary school, enhanced family life, attain citizenship and participate in job training and retraining programs. AIR’s adult learning work focuses on adult literacy, English language learning, and adult learning environments such as community colleges. We conduct research and provide professional development and technical assistance to state and program staff. Our team includes former teachers and practitioners, researchers, data analysts, and professional development specialists.
Recent Reports
- The Adult Education Training and Education Survey (ATES) Pilot Study
- Children’s Elementary School Outcomes After Participating in Family Literacy Programs
- Evaluation of the First 5 LA Family Literacy Initiative: Final Evaluation Report
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Adult English as a Second Language
AIR evaluates strategies for teaching adults English, identifies promising programs, and recommends ways to promote effective approaches.
Recent Reports
- Children’s Elementary School Outcomes After Participating in Family Literacy Programs
- Common ELL Terms and Definitions
- Transitioning English Language Learners, Annotated Bibliography
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology (AT) includes any technology item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. AIR evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of devices designed to improve functional capabilities of students with disabilities.
Recent Reports
- National Leaders Explore Technology Issues During NCTI’s 2010 Technology Conference
- The Use of Simulation for Training Teamwork Skills in Health Care
- Toward a Generalized Human Factors Taxonomy for Classifying ASAP Incident Reports, AQP Performance Ratings, and FOQA Output
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
At-risk Populations in the Educational Setting
AIR conducts research and evaluation on individual, school, and community interventions for students who are at risk for poor school and community outcomes. Further, AIR provides consultation and technical assistance for developing and implementing such interventions. AIR’s approaches involve promotion, prevention, early intervention, dropout prevention, and treatment. They are strength-based and child- and youth-guided or driven.
Recent Reports
- Children’s Elementary School Outcomes After Participating in Family Literacy Programs
- National Disability Policy: A Progress Report
- Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention (TNGTI) Grant Program: January 2011 Evaluation Report
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- New York State Curriculum Audits
- Milwaukee Public Schools Striving Readers Evaluation
- Supplemental Educational Services in Texas
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Behavior Change Communication in Developing Countries
AIR implements behavior change communication programs that build the capacity of a developing country’s staff to conduct research and to design and implement information campaigns. These campaigns result in changed community behaviors based on the unique and culturally appropriate aspects of each community. For example, improvements in community health often depend on changing behaviors among community residents. Reducing diarrheal disease often requires community involvement to change how the community accesses and stores water, as well as how it practices hygiene. Reducing illness and death due to malaria in a community may have more to do with community mobilization to change attitudes about the use of bed-nets than to a reduction of mosquitoes. In order to change these behaviors, research identifies the reasons behind the current behavior. Information is also disseminated that aims to change the way perceptions about risk, danger, and incentives inform behavior.
Recent Projects
Behavior in the Educational Setting
AIR conducts research and evaluation, synthesizes information, and provides technical assistance regarding positive behavioral and relational approaches to student behavior and school discipline. AIR staff use research to identify effective and ineffective approaches, and to study and support the scale–up and alignment of evidence- and theory-based approaches. AIR’s foci include individual, classroom-based, school-wide, and community-supported approaches to improving student behavior and school discipline.
Recent Reports
- NIDA Notes: Behavior Game Reduces Later Drug-Related Problems
- Student Victimization in U.S. Public Schools: Results from the 2005 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
- Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Anchorage Social and Emotional Learning and School Climate Analysis
- Center for Integrating Education and Prevention Research (EdPrev)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Behavior Modeling
AIR’s applied behavioral modeling work provides scientific support to programs investigating asymmetric conflicts, behavioral threat detection, and emergency response. We support these initiatives by:
- applying statistical and measurement techniques,
- broadening the scope of the scientific basis for addressing these problems,
- evaluating research programs against best practices,
- implementing high quality database development procedures, and
- creating unique experimental designs to answer key behavioral research questions.
Recent Reports
- NIDA Notes: Behavior Game Reduces Later Drug-Related Problems
- Building Capacity: An Evaluation of Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence (FLaRE) Professional Development to High Schools
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Bullying
Any child can be bullied, and up to half of all children are bullied at some point during their school years. Technology makes it easier for tech-savvy kids to intimidate others through cyberbullying and other forms of electronic harassment – even at school. AIR’s experts have helped establish measures for collecting student- and school-level data on bullying behavior at school in expertise areas like traditional bullying and cyberbullying. AIR conducts extensive statistical and descriptive analyses on the prevalence and correlates of bullying in schools. AIR staff have served as content area experts to national surveys and regional organizations conducting research on bullying in their locales.
Recent Reports
- Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007
- Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools, Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety
- Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2006
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening in Developing Countries
Capacity building and institutional strengthening are integral parts of the technical support AIR provides to developing countries through education systems reform efforts. AIR's systems-level support involves concerned officials within the specific department of the Ministries of Education and trains the appropriate staff to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Examples of areas in which Ministries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) request support and capacity building include:
- financial management and accounting;
- strategic planning and long-term planning;
- policy dialogue and the transition to implementation;
- teacher professional development; and
- strategies for inclusion of marginal populations in education.
Recent Reports
- RISE Final Program Report - July 2006 to August 2010
- School Management Committees/Parent-Teacher Councils
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Egypt’s Education Reform Program
- Mejorando el Impacto al Desempeño Estudiantil de Honduras (MIDEH-Honduras)
- Zambia’s Community Health and Nutrition, Gender and Education Support 2 Program (CHANGES2)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Child Labor Prevention
Child labor is a complex problem rooted in the extreme poverty of many developing countries. Prevention of child labor lies in the ability to create an environment that protects children from being exploited. Through its work, AIR adopts a two-pronged approach: 1) focusing on key strategies at the policy level; and 2) focusing on grassroots strategies to mobilize communities against child labor. Reintegration of child workers into their homes and schools has proven crucial to breaking the cycle of child labor. AIR has worked to achieve this goal by focusing on issues such as psychosocial support for child workers, family reunification, community development and training, teacher sensitization, conducive school-fee and school-readmission policies, and vocational training.
Recent Projects
Child Welfare
The child welfare system provides services designed to promote the well-being of children by ensuring safety, achieving permanency, and strengthening families to successfully care for their children. AIR provides training and technical assistance to promote cross-system collaboration and improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families involved in the child welfare system. AIR also conducts research on national trends in the child welfare system and develops publications that support and empower families in navigating the complex child welfare system.
Recent Reports
- Supporting Children and Families After Traumatic Events
- Benefits of Systems of Care for Child Welfare
- Evaluation of Policies, Procedures, and Practices Affecting the Education of Children Residing in Group Homes
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Healing Hearts, Promoting Health
- Physical and Emotional Awareness for Children Who Are Homeless (PEACH)
- Partners United for Supportive Housing Cedar Rapids
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Chronic Disease Management
AIR believes information is the most potent weapon in chronic disease management, since chronic diseases cannot be prevented by vaccines or medicine, and do not simply disappear with time. Behaviors that damage one’s health – such as tobacco use, lack of physical activity, and poor eating habits - are major contributors to leading chronic diseases. Using tools like surveys to assess patient attitudes, databases where providers and consumers can search for the latest answers, and informatic models that provide quick and accurate calculations to answer clinical questions, AIR is working to help manage chronic diseases by controlling tobacco use, substance abuse, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.
Recent Projects
Classroom Instruction
Understanding and improving classroom instruction is a central component of many of AIR’s evaluation and technical assistance projects. AIR designs high- and low-inference classroom observation tools and, using highly trained observers, conducts observations in a variety of classroom settings. Data on classroom instruction are integrated into recommendations for improving schools and classrooms.
Recent Reports
- Study of Teacher Preparation in Early Reading Instruction
- Expectations and Reports of Homework for Public School Students in the First, Third, and Fifth Grades
- Impact of Two Professional Development Interventions on Early Reading Instruction and Achievement Report
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
- Indiana Diagnostic Assessments Study
- Ohio Healthy Schools Profile System
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Commitments to the Clinton Global Initiative
Building on President Clinton’s lifetime in public service, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) reflects his belief that governments need collaboration from the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and other global leaders to effectively confront the world’s most pressing problems.
In 2005, President Clinton established CGI to turn ideas into action and to help our world move beyond the current state of globalization to a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values. By gathering world leaders from a variety of backgrounds, CGI creates a unique opportunity to channel the capacities of individuals and organizations to realize change. To fulfill the action-oriented mission of CGI, all members devise practical solutions to global issues through the development of specific and measurable Commitments to Action.
AIR has been a member of the Clinton Global Initiative since 2008.
Recent Projects
- Commitment for Quality Education for More Children in Haiti
- Support to the Secretariat of Deworm the World
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Common Core Data
The Common Core of Data (CCD) is an annual collection of public elementary and secondary education data administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and its collection agent, the U.S. Census Bureau. The surveys of the CCD system include data, such as enrollment, grades levels, minority population, and poverty level, from all public schools and local education agencies. AIR provides professional and technical services for all aspects of data file preparation, file review, data analysis, preparation of data file documentation, and writing of substantive reports.
Recent Reports
- Learning from the Past: Drawing on California’s CLAS Experience to Inform Assessment of the Common Core
- Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2008–09 (Fiscal Year 2009)
- Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2008–09
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Conditions for Learning
Successful schools must create and maintain effective conditions for learning. Such conditions have historically been regarded as including high-quality pedagogy, well-trained teachers, adequate resources, and effective leadership. AIR has proposed that educators also examine the social and emotional conditions for learning—the factors that ensure students feel safe and supported in school. AIR conducts research and evaluation, designs and analyzes surveys, synthesizes information, develops tools to improve, and provides consultation and technical assistance regarding student and teacher perceptions of safety, support, and connectedness; academic challenge and engagement; and individual and peer social emotional learning. AIR’s work is both national and international and includes consultation with districts, states, federal officials, and Ministries of Education regarding how to monitor and improve conditions for learning and teaching.
Recent Reports
- Wisconsin Culturally Responsive Education for All (CREATE) Initiative - Training and Enhancement Initiative
- Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP)
- Student Connection Research: Final Narrative Report to the Spencer Foundation
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Conference Planning/Management
AIR has supported more than 100 meetings and conferences annually for more than 23 years. Our conference staff are skilled in planning and managing many types of meetings with a variety of purposes. We have proven expertise in all aspects of workshop, meeting, and conference management including: program planning and management, registration services with online registration and meeting Web sites, exhibit services, logistics support, meeting material preparation, technical writing in support of meetings and conferences, onsite management, and post-conference support. Please contact Ezra Bourne for more information.
Content and Performance Standards in Developing Countries
In a number of projects across the developing world, AIR has contributed, in collaboration with Ministries of Education, to the definition of three types of educational standards.
- Learning standards are designed to inform stakeholders in education of specific grade-by-grade learning objectives in a particular subject area.
- Professional standards facilitate the development of a licensing system to ensure that teachers are appropriately trained, to guide trainers in determining the content of pre-service and in-service training programs, and to provide a means by which other practitioners in education can be held accountable.
- School standards allow schools to offer the appropriate range of services to students, teachers, and parents to ensure that effective learning takes place; such standards can be used as the basis for the design of an accreditation system.
Recent Reports
- Comparing Mathematics Content in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 Assessments
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Mejorando el Impacto al Desempeño Estudiantil de Honduras (MIDEH-Honduras)
- EQUIP2: Namibia Basic Education Support (BES III) Technical Support to DNEA
- Programme Haitien d’Appui à la Réforme de l’Education (PHARE) – ABE/LINK
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Content Knowledge Strengthening in International Schools
AIR believes that effective teacher professional training includes both strengthening teacher content knowledge in subject matter and improving teachers’ instructional methodologies. Using a country’s curriculum, which maps out the concepts and skills prescribed to achieve the country’s educational goals and objectives, AIR works with teachers to help them achieve mastery of the content knowledge so they can better deliver the concepts within their subject area.
Recent Projects
- TELL (Teach English for Life Learning) Program in Ethiopia
- Pakistan’s Revitalizing, Innovating, Strengthening Education (RISE)
- Malawi Teacher Training Activity (MTTA)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Cultural Competency
The ability to understand, communicate with, and interact effectively with people from different cultures is an especially important skill to possess in a 21st century global economy. AIR conducts research and evaluation, synthesizes information, develops tools to improve, and provides consultation and technical assistance to increase cultural and linguistic competence in education, mental health, juvenile justice, child welfare, and youth development. AIR’s approaches involve individual and organizational assessment and capacity development, disparity reduction, and the collection and analysis of data.
Recent Reports
Curriculum and Instructional Systems Design in Developing Countries
AIR helps developing countries’ Ministries of Education design curricula that reflect the educational goals and objectives of each country for its citizens, usually by content focus and grade level. AIR works with stakeholders to identify their needs, design a program to develop instructional materials, provide different models and technical support, and involve the users in the development process.
Recent Projects
Data Analysis
Recent Reports
- The Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study
- Examining NAEP Achievement in Relation to School Testing Conditions in the 2010 Assessments
- Alternative Approaches to Setting Performance Standards for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Center for Survey Methods
- National Household Education Survey (NHES)
- Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Database Management
AIR provides our clients with databases and data-driven tools, including Web applications, business intelligence, data warehousing, and project performance reporting solutions. We utilize a proven methodology to develop, design, build, and maintain databases that are reliable and scalable and provide the highest levels of data integrity and security. For more information on how our databases can enhance your project, contact us at webdev@air.org, or call 301.592.2108.
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Disease Prevention
To prevent disease, it is necessary to understand the ideas and attitudes that underlie destructive health behaviors and convert them into positive actions. Our disease prevention efforts aim to take individuals and communities beyond knowledge and empower them to motivate change. AIR has expertise in developing content, materials, and programs that resonate with the target audience and lead to behavior change. We provide disease prevention expertise to clients to mobilize policymakers, health professionals, consumers, organizations at the national and community levels, the media, and others into a community ready for action. AIR uses audience-driven research to develop public health campaigns and design award-winning disease prevention/health promotion materials and Web sites.
Recent Reports
- On the Road to Well-Being: The Development of a Communication Framework for Sexual Health
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Public Health Emergency Preparedness: Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Population Monitoring Surveys
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Disproportionality Issues in Special Education
AIR plays a leading role in providing states with support for responding to disproportionality in special education through the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)-funded centers such as the National Center on Response to Intervention (RTI), the K-8 Access Center, and the Elementary and Middle School TA Center (EMSTAC). In addition to working with individual states, AIR staff collaborate on this topic with the Harvard Civil Rights Project, presenting at numerous national conferences and providing training to educators in local districts and schools.
Recent Reports
Recent Projects
Early Childhood Education
AIR conducts research to assist in the development of programs and policies that aid young children and their families, including many large-scale studies of early care and education programs for states and the federal government. AIR also designs results-based accountability systems for child development programs, conducts statewide assessments of supply and demand for preschool and infant/toddler services, and has developed a Preschool Cost Estimator.
Recent Reports
- Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes in Arts-Integrated Learning Settings: A Review of Literature
- Condition of Children Birth to Age Five and Status of Early Childhood Services in California
- Children’s Elementary School Outcomes After Participating in Family Literacy Programs
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
- Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest)
- The CALDER Center is Now Located at AIR
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Education Adequacy and Equity
AIR economists analyze distributions of federal, state, and local dollars to assess the adequacy of school funding to meet state educational goals and to develop mechanisms to ensure resources are distributed to meet the diverse needs of various student populations.
Recent Reports
- Achievement Gaps: How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Math and Reading
- Successful California Schools in the Context of Educational Adequacy
- Efficiency and Adequacy in California School Finance: A Professional Judgment Approach
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Education Assessment
AIR offers a full range of assessment services, collaborating with our state and district clients, to develop and deploy customized, criterion-referenced assessment programs to help students learn, teachers teach, and parents know what is happening at school. More information about the full range of assessment activities is provided on the Education Assessment Web page.
Recent Reports
- Psychometric Advances in Alternate Assessment
- Measures and Methods for the National Reporting System for Adult Education
- Achievement Gaps: How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Math and Reading
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Egypt’s Education Reform Program
- Center for Special Education Finance (CSEF)
- Special Education Expenditure Project (SEEP)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Education Assessment and Evaluation in Developing Countries
AIR plays a strong role in shaping education assessment and evaluation in developing countries. Our educational assessment work helps to determine what students should know and be able to do in relation to standards and curriculum. AIR’s work includes formative, summative, diagnostic, and international assessment, and is used to measure student or system performance. It is also used for accountability at the school or district level. Our evaluation work involves carefully collecting information about a project or program in order to assess effectiveness and make decisions.
Recent Reports
- Literacy Policy and Practice in Ethiopia: Building on the TELL Program and EGRA Results
- Child Friendly Schools Evaluation: Country Report for Nigeria
- Child Friendly Schools Evaluation: Country Report for Thailand
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- AIR Helps Honduras Evaluate Academic Performance at the Census Level
- Mejorando el Impacto al Desempeño Estudiantil de Honduras (MIDEH-Honduras)
- Malawi’s Primary School Support Program: A School Fees Pilot (PSSP:SFP)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Education Finance and Cost Analysis
AIR’s experts have helped establish the national agenda in education finance, leading the development and use of innovative resource allocation and cost models to address a range of education finance and policy issues from early intervention through postsecondary education. Our nationally recognized researchers apply state-of-the-art methods to conduct large-scale studies of resource allocation in education at the federal, state, and local levels. AIR has worked with state policy makers to provide new funding formulas to states or school districts to ensure sufficient resources are available to meet the educational needs of difficult-to-serve student populations.
Recent Reports
- The Price of a Science Ph.D.
- College Spending in a Turbulent Decade: Findings From the Delta Cost Project
- Not Your Mother’s College Affordability Crisis
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Education Systems Reform in Developing Countries
Bringing sustainable change to underperforming education systems requires a holistic approach. AIR works collaboratively with Ministries of Education of developing countries, development agencies, and donors to coordinate a sector-wide approach to education improvement. Our work supports effective policy dialogue and financing, and strengthens policies and systems for teacher training, school health and nutrition, literacy programs, improvement of the learning environment, and inclusive strategies for learners with disabilities. We build the capacity of education officials and institutions in developing countries to:
- improve their use of data and information for decision-making;
- enhance curriculum development and assessment;
- facilitate changes in public policy;
- increase enrollment of girls and other neglected groups and communities; and
- promote the use of technology in education.
Recent Reports
- Addressing Perception in the Delivery of Education in Conflict and Crisis
- RISE Final Program Report - July 2006 to August 2010
- School Management Committees/Parent-Teacher Councils
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Education Technology
Technology offers tremendous promise for learning and has ignited the imagination of those who are interested in bringing about revolutionary gains in the achievement of all students. Yet, with this great potential, the use of technology in schools also raises a whole host of challenges, including those related to cost-effectiveness, equity, and safety.
AIR has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure sound investments in technology in education. Our staff evaluate technology-based education programs and curricula, and provide guidance on systems for collecting, analyzing, and using data in making classroom and school data-driven decision making.
Recent Reports
- National Leaders Explore Technology Issues During NCTI’s 2010 Technology Conference
- Changing the Odds: Informing Policy with Research on How Adult Learners Succeed
- The Digital Disconnect
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- AIR Convenes the U.S. Department of Education’s Connected Educator Month
- AIR Convenes the U.S. Department of Education’s Connected Educator Month
- Indiana Diagnostic Assessments Study
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Educational Organization and Leadership
Paired with expertise in organizational and leadership theory, AIR boasts a staff that includes several former district and school leaders and works closely with several large- and mid-sized districts conducting evaluation and providing technical assistance that requires an understanding of how educational organizations and leaders work.
Recent Reports
- The Ripple Effect
- Measuring School Climate for Gauging Principal Performance
- Exploratory Study of the HOPE Foundation© Courageous Leadership Academy: Summary of Findings
- View All Reports
Recent Products
Employee Assessment, Testing, and Credentialing
AIR provides assessment solutions for high-stakes testing environments and high-risk occupations. AIR has an exceptional development and quality assurance process that results in high yields for field test items, high levels of validity, and minimal challenges to the face validity of our assessments. Our expertise in validation research, psychometrics, and standard setting enables us to ensure our assessment work exceeds legal and professional standards.
Recent Reports
English Language Learners
AIR operates a center to address the specific needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) by strengthening the connections between knowledge, practice, and policy development. AIR’s work emphasizes integration of English language learning skills across content areas, providing research to inform policy development around best practices for teaching ELLs, and technical assistance to support such practice. Specific topics include access to preschool, alternative assessments, evaluations of relevant federal and state policies, and analysis of effective strategies to improve English language learning.
Recent Reports
- Understanding Patterns and Precursors of ELL Success Subsequent to Reclassification
- Learning from the Past: Drawing on California’s CLAS Experience to Inform Assessment of the Common Core
- Series Overview (Special Series on the Fresno–Long Beach Learning Partnership)
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- ELL Center's Technical Assistance Related to the Common Core State Standards
- Technical Assistance to New York State Districts for ELLs to Help Turn Around Low-Achieving Schools
- ELLs and the California Collaborative on District Reform
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Evaluation of Educational Programs and Policies
AIR is a national leader in identifying and evaluating education environments and systems both locally and nationally. We help stakeholders determine which policies and practices are most effective in their schools and communities. AIR provides a range of program assessment and evaluation tasks, including: developing evaluation plans; training; technical assistance; formative research; survey design and analysis; and process and outcome evaluations.
Recent Reports
- Instruction Across the High School—College Divide (2009)
- Can Financial Aid Improve Student Success at Louisiana’s Community Colleges?
- Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- ELL Policy Analysis and Related Work
- Evaluation of the Massachusetts Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL) Initiative
- Evaluation of the TEACh Initiative
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Evidence-Based Research in Education
AIR applies rigorous standards to the review and synthesis of research to determine what approaches to education are based on high quality evidence. Our staff help set standards for the quality of impact studies, through the What Works Clearinghouse and Doing What Works, as well as other federal, foundation, and state projects. AIR also develops tools for analyzing data across studies and manages complex reviews.
Recent Reports
- Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
- The Kindergarten Year
- Wisconsin Culturally Responsive Education for All (CREATE) Initiative - Training and Enhancement Initiative
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Texas Statewide 21st Century Community Learning Centers
- Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
- New York State Curriculum Audits
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Federal Education Statistics
AIR’s experts contribute to the development of high-quality statistics about education that inform discussion, debate, and planning at national, state, and local levels. AIR:
- develops data collection instruments for large-scale surveys and assessments,
- plans and implements strategies to assure high-quality data,
- analyzes data and writes reports to monitor continuing and emerging topics,
- conducts methodological studies in statistics and large-scale surveys and assessments, and
- facilitates communication among statisticians, survey methodologists, practitioners, policy analysts, researchers, and the public for input and dissemination of findings.
Recent Reports
- New Report on Trends in U.S Education Finds Fewer High School Students Are Employed Compared to 1990
- Condition of Education 2011 Report Offers New Insights Into U.S. Education Trends
- Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2008–09
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Common Core of Data
- Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
- Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Federal, State, and District Education Policy
AIR works closely with government agencies at the federal, state, and district level to examine how they have structured their systems of support to address the needs of low-performing schools and the degree to which the strategies employed by these systems facilitate improved school and classroom practices, and, ultimately, improved student achievement. AIR most recently conducted an in-depth investigation in six states, collecting data primarily from interviews with key stakeholders at the state, district, and school level and extant sources, and collected survey data from all 50 states.
Recent Reports
- National Evaluation of Title III Implementation—Report on State and Local Implementation
- Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
- Wisconsin Culturally Responsive Education for All (CREATE) Initiative - Training and Enhancement Initiative
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- State and Local Evaluation at AIR Chosen to Evaluate Three Winning i3 Grants
- Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
- New York State Curriculum Audits
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Good Behavior Game
The Good Behavior Game is a behavioral classroom management strategy that involves helping children learn how to work together to create a positive learning environment. It promotes each child’s positive behavior by rewarding student teams for complying with criteria set for appropriate behavior, such as working quietly, following directions, or being polite to each other. The team-based approach uses peer encouragement to help children follow rules and learn how to be good students. At the same time, it enables teachers to build strong academic skills and positive behaviors.
AIR evaluates the implementation and impact of the Good Behavior Game approach to managing classroom behaviors. Through a series of related studies, AIR has developed a strong evidence base around the impact of this approach.
Recent Reports
Recent Projects
- Good Behavior Game Professional Development Study
- Center for Integrating Education and Prevention Research (EdPrev)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Health and Education Linkages in Developing Countries
Over the past decade the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and other major population and health studies have consistently shown that educational attainment has a substantial effect on behavior and attitudes towards health, evidence of the mutual benefits between education and health. AIR is carrying out important work that links the areas of health and education, such as training teachers to provide simple health interventions at schools (for example, the administration of deworming medicine and micronutrients, or provision of clean water and sanitation) and strengthening health education curricula and teacher training (such as curriculum training on HIV and AIDS prevention, nutrition and hygiene, and malaria prevention).
Recent Reports
- Performance Management: Improving State Systems through Information-Based Decisionmaking
- Medical Teamwork and Patient Safety: The Evidence-Based Relation
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- The Communication Toolkit: Using Information to Get High Quality Care
- Commitment for Quality Education for More Children in Haiti
- ENGAGE: Pilot Project in Inclusive Education
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Health Policy/Affairs
Health public policy analysis touches on a broad range of health issues, from financing of health care to cost containment to improving quality and outcomes. AIR’s work in this area often involves original research as well as surveying the landscape and pulling together materials created by others. We also work to inform the public on key issues. AIR’s efforts extend from reforms of Medicare and Medicaid to developing communication plans in case of terrorist biohazards or an influenza pandemic.
Recent Reports
- Performance Management: Improving State Systems through Information-Based Decisionmaking
- Prospects for the Social Safety Net for Future Low Income Seniors
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Helping States Improve Their Medicare Services
- Medicare Part D Consumer Research
- Public Health Emergency Preparedness: Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Population Monitoring Surveys
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Healthcare Financing
The web of private and public healthcare financing schemes ultimately determines who is covered by insurance and what kind of care they receive. At AIR, a key focus is to evaluate the impact of policy reform efforts on the medical marketplace. AIR Health Program Director Marilyn Moon, a renowned Medicare scholar, continues her research and analysis of the new drug benefit that will profoundly impact some 45 million people in this pivotal social insurance program.
Recent Reports
- Performance Management: Improving State Systems through Information-Based Decisionmaking
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- The Communication Toolkit: Using Information to Get High Quality Care
- Evaluation of the Minority Research Infrastructure Support Program and the Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity Program
- Medicare’s Future
- View All Projects
Recent Products
High School Improvement
AIR provides technical assistance and designs, analyzes, synthesizes, and distributes research and information about promising and proven practices that inform the national debate about policies and strategies for high school improvement. Our expertise and work leading the National High School Center for the U.S. Department of Education, and the Early College High School Readiness project for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are examples of our contributions to the field.
Recent Reports
- Turnaround Schools in California: Who Are They and What Strategies Do They Use?
- Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2008
- What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
HIV/AIDS
AIR’s work in HIV/AIDS involves the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Through CDC, we oversee the development and implementation of the Act Against AIDS Campaign, the first national HIV prevention campaign focused on the domestic epidemic in over 20 years that leverages efforts in the public and private sectors. Additionally, AIR provides a comprehensive media relations program for the Office of Communications at CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention (NCHSTP). Through NIAID, AIR provides HIV/AIDS communication strategies and support to the Office of Communications and Government Relations.
Recent Reports
- On the Road to Well-Being: The Development of a Communication Framework for Sexual Health
- View All Reports
Recent Products
HIV/AIDS Mitigation in Developing Countries
Schooling is one of the best weapons in the fight against HIV/AIDS in developing countries, but often HIV/AIDS devastates the school system. AIR works within and through the education sector to reduce HIV/AIDS and mitigate the impact of the disease by:
- preventing the spread of infection through school-based education and training;
- making accommodations for those children with HIV/AIDS to increase their access to educational opportunities, and providing support while they are in school;
- reducing stigma through education and raising awareness; and
- empowering communities, particularly women and girls, to have more control over their economic and reproductive options.
Recent Reports
- Vulnerability for Households with Persons with Disabilities and HIV/AIDS in Chongwe, Zambia
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Recent Projects
- ENGAGE: Pilot Project in Inclusive Education
- ENGAGE: Pilot Project in Inclusive Education
- ENGAGE: Pilot Project in Inclusive Education
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Human Factors in the Workplace
Human performance in the workplace is influenced by many things, including the way in which people interact with the systems, tools, machines, and environments of work and everyday life. AIR researchers apply their knowledge of work and human behavior to design workplace systems, procedures, and devices that improve performance, maximizes safety, and reduce risk and error. In addition, we design and evaluate software so that it is consonant with human capabilities, evaluate the causal contributors to human error, evaluate voluntary incident report systems, and conduct process analyses related to the use of aeronautical information.
Recent Reports
- Post-Training Feedback: The Relative Effectiveness of Team- Versus Instructor-Led Debriefs
- Toward a Generalized Human Factors Taxonomy for Classifying ASAP Incident Reports, AQP Performance Ratings, and FOQA Output
- A Review of Selected Aviation Human Factors Taxonomies, Accident/Incident Reporting Systems, and Data Reporting Tools
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Implementation of Educational Programs and Policies
AIR evaluates the implementation of educational programs, policies, and practices, and provides recommendations to improve implementation. We also look at capacity, challenges, and strategies for scaling up model programs and practices.
Recent Reports
- Instruction Across the High School—College Divide (2009)
- Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
- Turnaround Schools in California: Who Are They and What Strategies Do They Use?
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Inclusive Development: Gender Issues
In order to equalize the disparity in economic status between men and women in developing countries, AIR works to ensure that girls and women are afforded equality in opportunities for education and access to health care. AIR tackles gender issues across many of its projects and across areas ranging from education to health and workforce integration. We ensure equal representation of men and women within decision-making bodies such as school management committees and boards of trustees, among others. AIR also works closely with communities to recognize and acknowledge practices that need to change in order to provide equal opportunities for boys and girls. AIR leads social mobilization campaigns to highlight traditional practices, helping parents recognize the value of educating their girls as well as their boys, and ensuring that both have opportunities for success.
Recent Reports
Recent Projects
Inclusive Development: Minority Populations
AIR recognizes the importance of engaging and reaching out to minority populations in our projects in developing countries. Through activities such as awareness campaigns on acceptance and tolerance, AIR seeks to mitigate discriminatory practices that highlight difference based on race, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexual orientation, or language.
Recent Projects
Inclusive Development: Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) are a designated segment of the child population who are most at risk of facing negative educational, health, and social outcomes compared to the average child in their society. OVC include orphans, children with disabilities, children living in child-headed households, children subjected to exploitation, and children living in households with high burdens of illness. OVC also include internally displaced persons or refugees, children affected by conflict or post-conflict settings, and victims of food scarcity as a result of natural or man-made events. AIR leads a number of projects focusing on orphans and vulnerable children in countries across the globe. We bring to this work a broad range of expertise as well as contextual knowledge of the countries to help provide effective and efficient support.
Recent Projects
Inclusive Development: People with Disabilities
In the developing world, people with disabilities historically have been isolated from development assistance activities that directly affect them. AIR is a leader in the promotion of inclusive development, an emerging area of development that focuses on the meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities and their associated organizations in development cooperation. We provide targeted assistance that strengthens the organizations’ technical capacity to implement programs, conduct research and training, and reinforce their fiscal capacity to manage and seek development assistance grants and contracts. AIR plays a major role in dialoguing with donors and governments in order to increase awareness of the vital need to integrate inclusive development in the work of international development.
Recent Reports
- Inclusive Education in Pakistan: Experiences and Lessons Learned from the ENGAGE Project
- Vulnerability for Households with Persons with Disabilities and HIV/AIDS in Chongwe, Zambia
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Information and Communications Technology Integration for Schools in Developing Countries
AIR is an active proponent of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Integration—the use of electronic and/or digital devices to increase access to and/or improve the quality of education. Examples of AIR’s ICT integration efforts include computer- and Internet-delivered instruction; radio, MP3, or personal media players to deliver audio or video segments to teachers and learners; and Short Messaging Service (SMS) texts to cell phones with tips for teachers or homework challenges/quizzes for students after school. AIR also uses ICT tools to collect school- and student-based data to increase the speed and accuracy of vital information that stakeholders need to develop evidenced-based policies.
Recent Projects
International Comparisons in Education
AIR has extensive experience in international educational research and assessment. At one end of the spectrum, we analyze data from comparative assessments to inform research programs and to develop indicators and reports for policy makers. At the other end of the spectrum, we collaborate on behalf of the United States with other countries in the design and planning of such programs, working with outside experts to advise on policy issues at the national level, and utilizing prominent experts to provide technical assistance to the agencies engaged in the implementation of such programs.
Recent Reports
- How Massachusetts Students Compare to Hong Kong Students in Grade 3 Mathematics
- Counting on the Future
- Lessons Learned from U.S. International Science Performance
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
Job, Skill and Competency Analysis
AIR’s industrial-organizational psychologists routinely work with our clients to define the knowledge, skill, ability, and competency requirements of jobs and occupations. We use this core information to develop performance management systems, identify content for training programs, inform recruitment and selection processes, and support other human resource management (HRM) applications. AIR has analyzed a broad range of jobs, including high-risk professions such as Air Traffic Controller, Deputy US Marshals, Electricians, and Intelligence Officers.
Recent Reports
Litigation Support/Equity Analysis
AIR experts provide a broad range of services to support the investigation, monitoring, and litigation of personnel and employment practices involving race, gender, age, or other factors. These services include:
- employment database development;
- risk analysis and mitigation;
- analysis of personnel practices;
- statistical analysis;
- attorney-client privileged consulting;
- expert witnessing; and
- implementing affirmative relief.
Longitudinal Data Systems
Longitudinal data systems are useful tools capable of tracking a variety of student and school information over multiple years, and often in multiple schools. AIR’s expertise in using these systems for student assessments, user friendly reporting, value added modeling, and identifying highly effective teachers help states and districts answer the next generation of policy and practice-relevant questions.
Recent Reports
- The Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study
- Selecting Growth Models for School and Teacher Evaluations
- Examining NAEP Achievement in Relation to School Testing Conditions in the 2010 Assessments
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Recent Projects
- National Household Education Survey (NHES)
- Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
- Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Mathematics Education
The successful teaching and learning of mathematics plays an increasingly important role in ensuring that U.S. students have the right skills required to compete in a global economy. AIR has development and research expertise in the areas of curriculum review, alignment, and evaluation; research-based instructional practices; effective professional development; the development and alignment of high quality assessments; and international comparisons.
Recent Reports
- Children’s Elementary School Outcomes After Participating in Family Literacy Programs
- Access to Algebra I: The Effects of Online Mathematics for Grade 8 Students
- Eighth-Grade Algebra: Findings From the Eighth-Grade Round of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K)
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Texas Statewide 21st Century Community Learning Centers
- Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
- The Mathematics Professional Development (PD) Impact Study
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Minority Health
Under the management of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AIR Health, the National Diabetes Education Program includes a major outreach effort to minority communities. Leveraging communications through community-based organizations, AIR is delivering prevention messages to African Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans. Through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, AIR is implementing a program to help family physicians and nurses communicate more effectively with diverse patient populations.
National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)
The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) is a nationally representative assessment of English literacy among American adults age 16 and older. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NAAL is the nation's most comprehensive measure of adult literacy since the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). AIR provides technical assistance and management support, including expert analysis, and technical review of assessment frameworks, field test items, and reports. We also provide technical assistance on NAAL-restricted and public use files.
Recent Reports
- The Literacy of America's College Students
- Highlights from the 2003 Maryland State Assessment of Adult Literacy
- Highlights from the 2003 Kentucky State Assessment of Adult Literacy
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history. It serves as a common metric for all states and selected urban districts and as a result, permits NAEP to provide a clear picture of student academic progress over time. AIR’s experts provide support for all aspects of the survey, including:
- assessment development;
- providing a quality review on data files;
- producing data products and reports;
- providing training staff;
- developing informational materials; and
- providing quick turnaround analysis upon request.
Recent Reports
- Validity Issues Involved in Cross-Grade Statements About NAEP Results
- NAEP Trends: Main NAEP vs. Long-Term Trend
- Using NAEP, the “Nation’s Report Card,” to Assess the Student Proficiency Standards Set by States
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- National Assessment of Educational Progress Education Statistics Service Institute (NAEP ESSI)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
National Educational Longitudinal Study
AIR recently conducted a project to analyze results of two national studies—the National Longitudinal Study of No Child Left Behind (NLS-NCLB) and the Study of State Implementation of Accountability and Teacher Quality Under No Child Left Behind (SSI-NCLB). AIR provides support for the large-scale longitudinal surveys including data collection, design of future cohorts, and lending expertise for teaching researchers how to use large-scale databases.
Recent Projects
National Household Education Survey (NHES)
The National Household Education Survey (NHES) program provides descriptive data on the educational activities of the U.S. population. The surveys cover learning at all ages, from early childhood to school age through adulthood. AIR’s experts provide support for all aspects of the survey, including:
- developing questionnaires;
- assisting with sample design;
- assisting with disclosure review analyses;
- providing a quality review on data files;
- producing data products and reports;
- providing training staff;
- developing incentives and informational materials; and
- providing quick turnaround analysis upon request.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Title I
AIR is a leader in the evaluation of state and district implementation of the accountability, teacher quality, and English language acquisition provisions outlined in Title I, Title II, and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), reauthorized in 2001 as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). AIR’s work has served as one of the major sources of data for the National Assessment of Title I and other reports to the U.S. Congress. Currently, AIR is conducting a national evaluation of state and local implementation of Title III standards, assessments, and accountability systems concerning English language learners for the U.S. Department of Education.
Recent Reports
- State Support for School Improvement: School-level Perceptions of Quality
- Psychometric Advances in Alternate Assessment
- State and Local Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act Volume VI - Targeting and Uses of Federal Education Funds (TRAC)
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Nutrition
Since 1999, AIR has implemented a number of national and state programs aimed at improving the nutritional status of many groups including children, women, and minorities. Working with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Health Resources & Services Administration; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, AIR has developed a variety of consumer, provider, and community-based products to prevent and manage obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. AIR’s in-house nutrition experts ensure that content complies with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Healthy People 2010 Goals.
Online Testing
AIR offers Internet-based online testing using either adaptive or fixed-form tests. Our testing engine integrates innovative, machine-scored constructed-response items with multiple choice items in either adaptive or fixed test. Working with the state of Oregon, AIR offers the only adaptive testing engine that is peer-reviewed and NCLB approved. AIR offers the only adaptive testing engine that is peer-reviewed and NCLB approved. Working together, our test developers, computer scientists, and statisticians have designed a test delivery system that offers innovative, machine-scored items on fixed and adaptive forms. More information may be found on our Online Testing Web page.
Recent Reports
Organizational Assessment
AIR experts assess the needs, processes and functions of organizations with the overall goal of improving organizational outcomes. Our researchers utilize a variety of assessment tools and methods to support this work, including interviews, procedural audits, cognitive labs, focus groups, and surveys. Targeted surveys have been particularly valuable in our assessment of organizational cultures and climates, employee engagement, the state of higher education, and career readiness, to name a few. Our survey researchers have the capability to design content, conduct multiple-mode administrations, analyze data, and organize survey results that yield organizational insight and actionable recommendations for addressing organizational performance issues.
Recent Reports
- Airline Pilots' Experiences in and Reactions to Their Check Rides: Results from a Nationwide, Representative Survey
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Recent Projects
Patient-centered Care
Patient-centered care is based on establishing an effective continuous partnership between clinicians and patients and between health care organizations and consumers.
Recent Reports
- Team Training in Health Care: A Review of Team Training and a Look Toward The Future
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Recent Projects
Performance Management
AIR uses surveys, interviews, and other diagnostic techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of organizations across a range of organizational functions and dimensions, such as quality of leadership and interpersonal interactions, culture and climate, communications and decision-making, and work motivation and incentives.
We provide in-depth survey feedback, perform root-cause analysis to determine the reasons for organizational breakdowns, and propose changes or refinements of managerial and human resources policies and behaviors to address problems and to promote effective change. We also perform best practices studies to provide an organization’s management with direction that is based on the previously successful efforts of others.
Recent Reports
- Best Practices for Event Review Committees
- Integrating State Administrative Records To Manage Substance Abuse Treatment System Performance
- Post-Training Feedback: The Relative Effectiveness of Team- Versus Instructor-Led Debriefs
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Recent Projects
Performance Measurement
AIR supports the development and use of outcome-based performance assessment to help educators focus on what students actually can do after they are taught. AIR also uses performance measurement data in its evaluations of educational programs.
Recent Reports
- Toward the Structural Transformation of Schools: Innovations in Staffing
- Measures and Methods for the National Reporting System for Adult Education
- Integrating State Administrative Records To Manage Substance Abuse Treatment System Performance
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Recent Projects
Persons with Disabilities
AIR has nationally recognized experts who address the needs of persons with disabilities, their families, and their service providers. AIR has expertise in federal and state policies in early intervention, special education, and vocational rehabilitation. We are also experts in translating rigorous research into improved practice in states and localities across the country.
Recent Reports
- National Disability Policy: A Progress Report
- Improving Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities in the Juvenile Justice System
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Recent Projects
Postsecondary Education
AIR’s research and evaluation work in postsecondary education identifies successful practices to increase educational access and to coordinate K-12 preparation with postsecondary needs. We explore cost-effective ways to deliver postsecondary educational services and training, and help colleges and universities foster environments that maximize learning, research productivity, and innovation.
Recent Reports
- The Price of a Science Ph.D.
- Higher Education Pays: The Initial Earnings of Graduates of Texas Colleges and Universities Who Are Working in Texas
- The Adult Education Training and Education Survey (ATES) Pilot Study
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Recent Projects
- ELL Content Centers
- St. Louis Regional College Access Pipeline (CAP)
- College & Career Readiness & Success Center
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Professional Development
Recent Reports
- A Literature Review of STEM Graduate Education
- What the United States Can Learn From Singapore’s World-Class Mathematics System: An Exploratory Study
- Using Multifacet Rasch Analysis to Examine the Effectiveness of Rater Training
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
Program and Impact Evaluation in Developing Countries
AIR is experienced evaluating complex programs in low- and middle-income countries. We design and conduct impact evaluations of programs and policies using experimental and quasi-experimental designs. We work with donors, governments, and foundations to ensure that our studies provide them with evidence-based findings that address their programmatic and policy needs. Our partners in these evaluations are typically in-country organizations and individuals.
Recent Reports
- Child Friendly Schools Evaluation: Country Report for Nigeria
- Child Friendly Schools Evaluation: Country Report for Thailand
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Recent Projects
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that focus on 15-year-olds' capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy. It emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of mandatory schooling. PISA is organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. Begun in 2000, PISA is administered every 3 years. AIR’s experts provide analytical support for U.S. participation in PISA, as well as technical consultation and management support, including expert analysis, and technical review of assessment frameworks, field test items, and reports.
Recent Reports
- Highlights from PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context
- Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2009
- Lessons Learned from U.S. International Science Performance
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
The Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) measures the literacy and numeracy skills of people between the ages of 16 and 65. It also examines how well people solve problems in technology-rich environments. The first administration of PIAAC will be in 2011. AIR provides technical consultation and management support to PIACC, including expert analysis and technical review of assessment frameworks, field test items, and reports.
Recent Projects
Program Support and Evaluation
AIR’s team of evaluation and workforce experts work with government and private sector clients to develop and improve programs, systems, and processes to optimize organizational performance. We conduct process and impact evaluations, applying our expertise in research design, data collection, and quantitative and qualitative analysis to determine program effectiveness and to identify best practices. Our evaluations provide concrete, actionable recommendations to align and improve programs, systems, and work processes.
Recent Reports
- Evaluating ARRA Programs and Other Educational Reforms: A Guide for States
- Public School Practices for Violence Prevention and Reduction: 2003–04
- Exploring Assignments, Student Work, and Teacher Feedback in Reforming High Schools Report
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Evaluation of OJJDP’s Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Project
- National Household Education Survey (NHES)
- Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international comparative study of the reading literacy of young students. PIRLS studies the reading achievement and reading behaviors and attitudes of fourth-grade students in the U.S. and students in the equivalent of fourth grade in other participating countries. AIR’s experts provide analytical support for U.S. participation in PIRLS, including consultation and management support, expert analysis, and technical review of assessment frameworks, field test items, and reports.
Recent Reports
- Teacher Strategies to Help Fourth-Graders Having Difficulty in Reading: An International Perspective
- Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2009
- The Reading Literacy of U.S. Fourth-Grade Students in an International Context Results From the 2001 and 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
Psychometrics and Standard Setting
AIR is a leading organization in the development of new psychometric techniques. As such, we are able to provide a level of psychometric expertise rarely paralleled in other research institutions. AIR leverages this expertise to provide exceptional measurement quality to high-stakes testing, including assisting our clients to avoid pitfalls in assessment and measurement. Our expertise includes Item Response Theory (IRT) modeling, classical item analysis, Generalizability Theory models, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, setting cut scores and performance standards, sampling design, and efficient pilot- and field-testing procedures.
Recent Reports
Recent Products
Public Health Education
AIR develops public education campaigns and materials on a variety of public health issues, ranging from H1N1 flu, to syphilis and diabetes. AIR education efforts are informed by research, audience-tailored, and culturally-appropriate. Depending on the goals of the client, these efforts may aim to inform targeted audiences, raise general awareness of issues, enlist support from a wider public audience, mobilize communities, and/or change behavior. These efforts are led by staff with advanced degrees in public health or communication and considerable experience in applying the best and latest health communication methodologies and practices to achieve measurable and lasting results.
Recent Reports
- On the Road to Well-Being: The Development of a Communication Framework for Sexual Health
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Recent Projects
- Take the Lead: Working Together to Prepare Now
- Health Information Networks, Clearinghouses, Online Information Systems, Web Sites, Online Product Catalog and Publishing
- Communicating About Pandemic Flu
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Recent Products
Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Clear and accurate communication - communication that motivates people to prepare in advance of a crisis and then take appropriate actions when a public health emergency occurs - is critical to reducing illness and suffering and ultimately saving lives. AIR works with state and federal clients to develop educational materials, messages, training programs, and crisis communication plans. Based on risk communication principles and audience research, AIR’s award-winning work spans a variety of public health emergency topics, including H1N1 flu, pandemic influenza, bioterrorism, and chemical and radiological threats.
Recent Reports
Recent Projects
Publication and Materials Development
AIR designs and produces materials targeted to a wide range of audiences. Publications and materials are developed with client and audience input at every step, taking into account communication goals, literacy issues, and plain language principles to ensure access, comprehension and usage.
Materials designed, produced, and tested with target audiences include print and collateral materials; television, radio, print, and outdoor advertising; exhibits and conference materials; media kits; video documentaries; original music; interactive CDs; and Websites.
Recent Projects
Randomized Field Trials (RFTs)
AIR designs and conducts large Randomized Field Trials (RFTs) on teacher professional development for reading and math, and interventions such as Thinking Reader software and Virtual Algebra. Further, AIR helped develop widely applied standards for the quality of RFTs under the What Works Clearinghouse, and incorporates those standards in AIR studies.
Recent Reports
- A Framework for Understanding “Evidence” in Prevention Research and Programs
- Campbell Collaboration Bibliography of CRTs currently in C2-SPECTR
- Random Assignment in Program Evaluation and Intervention Research: Questions and Answers
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Recent Products
Re-integration Into Home and School
Reintegration of child workers into their homes and schools has proven crucial to breaking the cycle of child labor. Education is one of the key tools for reintegrating child workers into their communities. Strategies AIR has implemented in order to facilitate re-integration of child workers into their schools and homes include psychosocial support for child workers, family reunification and sensitization, community development and training, teacher sensitization, conducive school-fee and school-readmission policies, vocational training for older children, and training modules to prepare child workers for reintegration into mainstream schools.
Recent Projects
Reading and Literacy
AIR’s work in reading and literacy spans early childhood to adult education, and focuses on literacy in schools and the workplace. Varied methodologies include quantitative and qualitative analyses, cognitive laboratory interviews and critical incident exercises, and evidence-based technical assistance. Whether investigating teacher knowledge about beginning reading instruction, studying the effectiveness of computer-based reading interventions, or providing guidance about adolescent struggling readers, sound theoretical principles and scientifically-based evidence are AIR’s touchstones.
Recent Reports
- The Impact of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Program on Student Reading Achievement
- Evaluation of the Content Literacy Continuum: Report on Program Impacts, Program Fidelity, and Contrast
- Children’s Elementary School Outcomes After Participating in Family Literacy Programs
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
- New York State Curriculum Audits
- Milwaukee Public Schools Striving Readers Evaluation
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Reporting and Curricular Support
Data from assessments guide students, parents, and educators to improved teaching and learning. AIR’s multidisciplinary reporting team offers customized paper and online reports that present data that lead to appropriate interpretations and effective actions. AIR believes that reporting assessment data should go beyond simply stating how students performed on tests - reports should help educators and parents improve curriculum, instruction, and student learning. More information may be found on our Reporting and Curricular Support Web page.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Response to Intervention (RTI) integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems. With RTI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities or other disabilities. AIR is a national leader on response to intervention, validating RTI frameworks for integrating instruction and assessment into rigorous prevention systems. We support states and school districts in implementing RTI with fidelity. Through this work, AIR is helping educators and families achieve the promise of RTI to improve special and general education.
Recent Reports
- The Status of State-level Response to Intervention Policies and Procedures in the West Region States and Five Other States
- Meeting the Needs of Significantly Struggling Learners in High School: A Look at Approaches to Tiered Intervention
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Recent Products
School Crime and Safety
AIR conducts research and evaluation, synthesizes information, develops tools to improve, and provides consultation and technical assistance regarding school crime and safety. AIR’s work has included conducting school and district audits, collecting and analyzing national data, and producing guides which have been released by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice. AIR also provides technical assistance and support for questionnaire development and sample design, producing and fully documenting analytic data files from raw survey data for the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) and for the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Recent Reports
- Student Victimization in U.S. Public Schools: Results from the 2005 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
- Student Connection Research: Final Narrative Report to the Spencer Foundation
- Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
School Health and Nutrition in Developing Countries
AIR is actively engaged in school health and nutrition programs worldwide that promote policies to empower schools to implement skills-based health instruction at the classroom level, provide simple school-based health and nutrition services to learners (e.g., deworming), and educate learners and communities about the importance of safe water, sanitation, and the prevention of infectious diseases. Because simple health interventions and health-focused life skills promote school attendance and participation, school health programs are often designed and implemented as part of a broad systemic education reform that aims for UNESCO’s Education for All by 2015.
Recent Projects
- Zambia’s Community Health and Nutrition, Gender and Education Support 2 Program (CHANGES2)
- View All Projects
Recent Products
School Reform and Effectiveness
AIR’s efforts in the area of school reform and effectiveness encompass a broad range of issues, including comprehensive school reform, turnaround schools, and standards-based reform, as well as policies and practices that influence teacher effectiveness. We conduct evaluations and critical reviews of the research, identify promising and proven practices, and provide tools and technical assistance to help implement them.
Recent Reports
- The Ripple Effect
- Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: Results from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey
- Making the Move: Transition Strategies at California Schools with High Graduation Rates
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Recent Projects
- Technical Assistance to New York State Districts for ELLs to Help Turn Around Low-Achieving Schools
- Boston Public Schools: Turnaround Using Increased Learning Time
- Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest)
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Recent Products
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
The Center for STEM Education and Innovation is designed to meet demands for innovation and evidence to improve teaching and learning of 21st century science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills that students need to thrive in the global economy. We focus on the needs of all students, particularly struggling and disengaged students, those with learning disabilities, English language learners, and students for whom traditional education is not working. The Center draws on AIR’s experience working across all educational levels, subjects, and domains
Recent Reports
- The Price of a Science Ph.D.
- Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes in Arts-Integrated Learning Settings: A Review of Literature
- Broadening Participation in STEM: A Call to Action
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
- Texas Statewide 21st Century Community Learning Centers
- Vermont Enhancing Education Through Technology Statewide Evaluation
- Evaluation of Amarillo Independent School District’s Vision 2020 Grant Program
- View All Projects
Recent Products
Skills Assessment in Developing Countries
Basic skills required in the workplace can be measured, assessed, and evaluated using a variety of strategies and tools ranging from simple self-assessment diagnostics to more elaborate assessments. In order to help individuals develop competencies needed in the workplace, AIR designs appropriate assessment tools and uses feedback and results from the assessments as the basis for designing effective intervention training programs.
Social and Emotional Learning
AIR conducts a wide variety of work regarding the development and measurement of the social and emotional capacities of children, youth, and adults. This work includes development of individual assessments, support for the development of social and emotional learning standards and the efficient integration of academic and social emotional learning, and the alignment of social emotional learning with mental health interventions and positive behavioral approaches. AIR’s work in these areas is both national and international.
Recent Reports
- What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities
- Student Connection Research: Final Narrative Report to the Spencer Foundation
- Children’s Self-Report About Their Social-Emotional Development from Third to Fifth Grade: Findings from the ECLS-K
- View All Reports
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Social Marketing
In recent years, AIR has used its social marketing expertise to help clients create behavior change in areas such as diabetes control and prevention, tobacco prevention and cessation, nutrition, physical activity, breast cancer screening, and HIV/AIDS prevention. AIR applies social marketing principles to work in education, working with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) on a U.S. Department of Education grant to encourage reading readiness of low-income children.
Recent Reports
- Developing a Measure of Health Insurance Literacy: Understanding Consumers’ Ability to Choose and Use Insurance
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Recent Projects
- Using Social Marketing and Community Engagement to Help Low-Income Children Get Ready to Read
- I-131 Public Education Campaign
- Communicating About Pandemic Flu
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Recent Products
Special Education
AIR has a long history of conducting federal, state, and local projects designed to improve outcomes for children with disabilities, other disadvantaged children, and their families. We analyze and synthesize information related to policy initiatives in special education and early intervention. We assess and develop special education fiscal policy alternatives, measure special education costs, and conduct program evaluations such as the adequate yearly progress of students with disabilities. Additionally, AIR provides technical assistance support for implementing evidence-based practices in each of the 50 states and 10 U.S. territories, as well as in hundreds of local school districts.
Recent Reports
- AIR Experts Author Report on Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in School Accountability Systems
- National Leaders Explore Technology Issues During NCTI’s 2010 Technology Conference
- What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities
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Recent Projects
- The National High School Center
- Center for Special Education Finance (CSEF)
- Special Education Expenditure Project (SEEP)
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Recent Products
Stakeholder Development in Health
AIR has special expertise in strategically identifying and cultivating third-party stakeholders for the purpose of supporting a specific public health goal. In many cases, this is as simple as determining other parties who will be affected by the issue at hand.
On a more sophisticated level, our stakeholder development initiatives bring together seemingly disparate interests around a specific desired outcome. This allows many individual interests to be served by a single action—often in different ways. Our communication and outreach efforts with Supporters of the Physical Activity Guidelines and stakeholder efforts related to Healthy People 2020 goals and the Center for Disease Control’s Act Against AIDS Campaign are good examples of AIR’s recent work in this area.
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP)
The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) was created as a mechanism for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make grants to states to establish and maintain health insurance advisory services programs for Medicare beneficiaries. The National SHIP Resource Center, operated by AIR, strives to enhance the ability of CMS and the states to sustain and improve their health insurance counseling and education programs for Medicare beneficiaries. The Resource Center aims to foster improvements in SHIP performance by identifying best practices, offering training and technical assistance support, and ensuring that the most current and accurate information is disseminated to SHIPs to aid them in their beneficiary counseling and education programs.
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Statistical Compendia
AIR’s experts compile, maintain, and analyze survey data for the Condition of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, and Projections of Education Statistics. AIR staff author reports and indicators and make available the information gathered by federal and non-federal education data providers. In addition to these annual reports, AIR has responsibility for a variety of other recurring and one-time analytic, indicator, and tabular reports on education statistics, including those focusing on minority populations and the disadvantaged.
Recent Reports
- New Report on Trends in U.S Education Finds Fewer High School Students Are Employed Compared to 1990
- Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States
- Public Elementary and Secondary Students, Staff, Schools, and School Districts: School Year 2003-04
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
Statistics and Psychometrics
AIR’s nationally recognized psychometricians and statisticians use the most advanced sampling methods and state-of-the-art psychometric procedures to provide each of our clients with world-class information that exceeds industry standards and can be counted on to inform policy and curriculum decisions. More information may be found on our Statistics and Psychometrics Web page.
Recent Reports
Substance Abuse
AIR is deeply involved in public and private efforts to prevent and treat substance abuse. Through the BEST Foundation, AIR conducted an assessment of treatment providers’ organizational strengths, challenges, and priorities, leading to the development of a self-guided process to enhance and improve performance. At the state level, we have provided technical assistance to federal block grantees to enhance program performance and outcomes, and to implement expanded access to care and choices of treatment. AIR has also supported federal substance abuse agencies in the development of clinical guidelines and management information systems.
Recent Reports
- NIDA Notes: Behavior Game Reduces Later Drug-Related Problems
- Performance Management: Improving State Systems through Information-Based Decisionmaking
- Integrating State Administrative Records To Manage Substance Abuse Treatment System Performance
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Recent Projects
Survey Methodology and Data Quality
AIR’s survey methodologists combine knowledge from statistics, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, computer science, and business management to provide high quality data for research. Emphasis is placed on:
- the statistical foundations of sampling and estimation in complex surveys;
- questionnaire design;
- data collection and the impact of different modes of data collection on data quality;
- analysis of survey data properly reflecting the complex survey design features; and
- total survey error perspectives on survey design and analysis.
Recent Reports
- NCES Handbook of Survey Methods
- Airline Pilots' Experiences in and Reactions to Their Check Rides: Results from a Nationwide, Representative Survey
- A Guide for Education Personnel: Evaluating a Program or Intervention
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Recent Projects
- Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
- Veterans’ Health Administration Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients
- Medicare Part D Consumer Research
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Recent Products
Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries
AIR’s international expertise in areas such as education, training, community mobilization, and behavior-change communication are employed in developing the capacity and improving the well-being of smallholder farmers. Our approach begins with youth through interventions such as junior-farmer schools and clubs, or life-skills training. It continues with adults through new types of extension service, with particular emphasis on the special needs of smallholder farmers. Inexpensive and ubiquitous information-and-communications technologies such as radio and cell phones can not only reach large numbers of farmers with vibrant, impact-driven agricultural programming; they can also capture the farmers’ own voices to share lessons learned and help set extension agendas.
Recent Projects
Teacher Preparation and Professional Development
AIR is widely respected for its contributions to the policy discussions around teacher preparation and professional development, including alternative ways of measuring teacher effectiveness and changes in the teaching workforce related to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). We have:
- conducted multi-year evaluations of traditional and alternate route teacher preparation;
- national studies of the impact of professional development on teacher knowledge, practice, and student achievement; and
- research on teacher assignments and student work.
Recent Reports
- Teachers’ Perspectives on Educational Research
- Wisconsin Culturally Responsive Education for All (CREATE) Initiative - Training and Enhancement Initiative
- Middle School Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study: Findings After the Second Year of Implementation
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Recent Projects
Teacher Professional Development in Developing Countries
AIR helps teachers in developing countries improve their skills and content knowledge by creating and enhancing learning opportunities for them throughout their careers. We formulate policies to support teachers’ professional development and design, implement, and evaluate programs for teacher learning. AIR’s expertise extends from teachers’ pre-service training in post-secondary institutions to in-service training opportunities, including support through cluster schools and other mechanisms.
Recent Projects
Recent Products
Teacher Quality and Effectiveness
Teachers have the greatest potential to impact student learning, and research has found that student achievement is related to teacher competence. AIR works to better understand and improve teacher effectiveness in the school setting. For example, we evaluate teacher preparation pathways, measure schools’ progress towards having “highly qualified teachers,” develop new teacher compensation strategies, and evaluate professional development approaches and programs. This work includes developing teacher knowledge tests and innovative approaches to measure teacher practice and student outcomes.
Recent Reports
- Teachers’ Perspectives on Educational Research
- Middle School Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study: Findings After the Second Year of Implementation
- Study of Teacher Preparation in Early Reading Instruction
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Recent Projects
- Evaluation of the TEACh Initiative
- Indiana Diagnostic Assessments Study
- Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest)
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Recent Products
Team Training
AIR’s team training work focuses on reducing the risk of errors across numerous industries, such as health care, where it is essential that team members be able to maintain their situation awareness, communicate efficiently, and make effective decisions.
AIR staff are developing and evaluating team training for healthcare, aviation, and military workforces including ensuring the national adoption of TeamSTEPPS™ – the federal standard for medical team training programs.
Recent Reports
- The Use of Simulation for Training Teamwork Skills in Health Care
- Post-Training Feedback: The Relative Effectiveness of Team- Versus Instructor-Led Debriefs
- Team Training in Health Care: A Review of Team Training and a Look Toward The Future
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Recent Projects
Technical Assistance
AIR provides technical assistance to help practitioners translate research into practice and policy that improve their results. AIR’s technical assistance work includes training, support in design and development of new tools and interventions, conducting analyses, assisting with implementation, maintaining resource centers and expert databases, bringing communities of practice together, and many other successful support tools.
Recent Reports
- Technical Assistance Partnership Publishes Three New Issue Briefs in Juvenile Justice Resource Series
- An Organizational Guide to Building Health Services Research Capacity
- Benefits of Systems of Care for Child Welfare
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Recent Projects
- State Training and Technical Assistance Center (STTAC)
- Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center
- Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health (TA Partnership)
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Recent Products
Test Development
Supported by state-of-the-art software, AIR’s structured and innovative approach to test development yields tests that provide clean, fair measures of what students know and can do. Our test development team consists of subject-matter experts, most of whom have years of classroom experience. We offer both test development services and support for clients who choose to develop items or tests themselves. More information may be found on our Test Development Web page.
Recent Reports
- AIR Partners with Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to Create an Online Test Delivery System for States
- Frequently Asked Questions about Curriculum-Based Measurement
- Using Item Difficulty and Item Position to Measure Test Fatigue
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Recent Projects
Test Processing and Logistics
AIR offers a full range of paper-based testing services, from test production through scoring and reporting. Using technology, AIR proves a fast, reliable testing experience, from student registration through printing, shipping, scanning, and scoring. More information may be found on our Test Processing and Logistics Web page.
Recent Reports
Training in Developing Countries
Training is the vehicle used to provide technical support to the educational system. AIR delivers training through different formats including consultation, discussion, presentations, conferences, and workshops. Effective training involves the learners in exploring the issues related to the theme/topic under discussion and provides hands-on-experience and materials that participants can use to demonstrate their understanding.
Recent Projects
- Malawi Teacher Training Activity (MTTA)
- Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative (USETI)
- Reducing Exploitive Child Labor in Mozambique (RECLAIM)
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Recent Products
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provides reliable and timely data on the mathematics and science achievement of U.S. 4th- and 8th-grade students compared to that of students in other countries. AIR’s experts provide analytic support for U.S. participation in TIMSS. This support includes:
- reviews of materials developed to plan and undertake the surveys and assessments;
- reviews of preliminary data files, including restricted-use files; literature reviews;
- maintenance of a virtual library of literature related to the surveys and assessments; and
- development of original materials for planning and undertaking the surveys and assessments.
Recent Reports
- International Benchmarking: State Education Performance Standards
- Informing Grades 1-6 Mathematics Standards Development: What Can Be Learned From High-Performing Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore
- Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2009
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Recent Projects
Recent Products
Vocational Education in Developing Countries
Vocational education and training play a key role in raising skill levels and improving a society’s productivity. The demand for skilled workers has increased as job specificity and the use of technology have increased. Recognizing the importance of vocational education, AIR works closely with Ministries of Education to support the development and improvement of vocational education programs in countries around the world. AIR’s vocational education projects are conducted either as part of secondary school programs or at separate facilities that offer courses to students from age 15 through adulthood.
Recent Reports
- Ambassador Bass Visits Kutaisi Vocational Training Center
- Vocational Education Project in Georgia, February 2010 Monthly Report
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Recent Projects
Web Accessibility
AIR is a leading developer of Web and electronic products compliant with both the spirit and the letter of the Section 508 guidelines for the accessibility of Web and other electronic information products. We have been developing accessible technology for our Federal clients since the Rehabilitation Act was passed in 1998.
AIR’s Web and electronic document development personnel have received training and certification from Usability.gov, and remain current on all new Section 508 Web Compliance and Remediation Framework goals and standards by attending the Department of Health and Human Services Web Council meetings, and monitoring other sources.
Our brochure provides additional information on the accessibility services we provide for Web, multimedia and other electronic products. For more information contact us at webdev@air.org, or call 301.592.2108.
Web Application Development
AIR provides clients with an effective and dynamic on-line presence through the development of interactive, feature-rich, and accessible Web sites and applications, and the strategic use of Web 2.0 and social networking technologies. Many of the Web applications we develop are hosted in our state-of-the-art, secure Web hosting environment, and maintained by a dedicated team of network engineers. The Web and electronic information assets we develop are compliant with both the spirit and the letter of the accessibility guidelines in section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Workforce Development in Developing Countries
AIR prepares students for success in the labor market by providing them with skills that match the current needs of employers and the economy. We develop training programs that enable students, particularly postsecondary students, to enter a variety of industries that require well-developed technical skills. Additional workforce development efforts have focused on providing skills maintenance and enhancement through continuing education to those already employed, as well as retraining for displaced workers.
Recent Reports
- Ambassador Bass Visits Kutaisi Vocational Training Center
- Vocational Education Project in Georgia, February 2010 Monthly Report
- EQUIP1: Secondary Education Activity, Final Report
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Recent Projects
Workforce Training and Development
Building and enhancing individual and organizational capacity is a primary driver of an organization’s success. AIR’s experts support capacity-building through the design, development, implementation and evaluation of training programs to enhance skill and organizational effectiveness. Additionally, AIR works with professional societies, government agencies, and foundations to examine questions relevant to strategically enhancing the skills and efficacy of their constituent workforces.
Recent Reports
- The Use of Simulation for Training Teamwork Skills in Health Care
- Post-Training Feedback: The Relative Effectiveness of Team- Versus Instructor-Led Debriefs
- Airline Pilots' Experiences in and Reactions to Their Check Rides: Results from a Nationwide, Representative Survey
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Recent Projects
- Develop a Risk-Informed Approach (RIA) to Evaluating Teamwork
- Development and National Implementation of TeamSTEPPS™
- SHRM State of HR Education Study
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Recent Products
Workplace Literacy
Meeting the needs of a global economy requires a workforce that is able to adapt to new technologies at a rapid pace. Enhancing our nation’s literacy and numeracy skills is central to maintaining a globally competitive workforce. AIR has extensive experience leading the development of national assessments of basic cognitive and literacy skills, and has been involved in translating those measures into requirements for occupations in the national economy.
Youth Employability in Developing Countries
AIR’s approach to supporting youth employability in developing countries includes conducting assessments to examine the extent to which young people are aware of existing career pathways in various sectors, identifying prospects for employment, and defining the core skills needed in the labor market. AIR then provides employability skills training programs based on the findings of the youth assessments. Such programs address the need to provide opportunities to learn basic workforce readiness skills such as punctuality, team work, and communication skills, along with specific technical job skills.
Recent Projects
Youth Empowerment in Developing Countries
Youth empowerment refers to interventions that lead to the creation of self-actualized behaviors in young people. AIR uses strategies such as youth advocacy, peer education and exchange programs, vocational schooling, distance learning programs, practical and social-skills building, and training programs for illiterate youths, which can help mobilize marginalized and vulnerable young people, including child workers. Youth empowerment allows young people to understand and assert their rights, appreciate their status and roles within their families and communities, and act as agents of change in the future development of their communities.
Recent Projects
- Nicaragua’s ENTERATE (Educando Niños Trabajadores y Erradicando Actividades y Trabajos Explotadores)
- Reducing Exploitive Child Labor in Mozambique (RECLAIM)
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Recent Products
