Areas of Expertise
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)
This latest report for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation examines how Early College Schools (ECS) can best prepare high school students for college success. The report presents findings from high school and college instructional data collected during site visits to ECS classrooms in the 2008–09 academic year, as part of the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI).
-
Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
The Race to the Top (RTTT) initiative, part of the larger federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provided an unprecedented amount of federal competitive grant funding to push educational systems toward innovation through the use of coherent and comprehensive reforms. AIR is conducting a mixed-method evaluation for the state of Hawaii, examining the extent to which the state’s RTTT program has been implemented as planned and is meeting its key benchmarks, especially for RTTT resource usage and participation. AIR evaluators are analyzing which changes in policy and professional practice have been associated with implementation as well as the resulting impact on student performance. The evaluation is providing timely, actionable information, supporting continuous improvement and enabling RTTT leaders, participants, and stakeholders to judge the value and worth of the initiative and its components.
-
Turnaround Schools in California: Who Are They and What Strategies Do They Use?
This November 2011 study, written by experts with AIR for the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, attempts to define turnaround schools in California, both what constitutes low-performing or failing schools and what constitutes turnaround or success for these schools.
-
Texas Statewide 21st Century Community Learning Centers
AIR, along with its partners, has conducted the evaluation of the Texas Statewide 21st Century Community Learning Centers since 2007. This federal initiative, authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, provides out-of-school-time opportunities for academic enrichment to help students meet state and local performance standards in core academic subjects. In addition to providing a comprehensive description of the implementation of the program across the state, the evaluation includes an achievement analysis examining the impact of program participation on student achievement and behavior.
-
Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
The Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success (READS) initiative was launched by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in 1999–2000 in an effort to positively affect student reading achievement and reduce the number of referrals to special education in READS-funded schools through the implementation of comprehensive reading programs. This four-year comprehensive evaluation of the READS initiative includes both qualitative case studies and longitudinal analysis of student demographic and achievement data and special education referral rates.
-
New York State Curriculum Audits
As an alternative to the specified sanctions under the 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the No Child Left Behind Act, for school districts that were cited as being in corrective action, the state of New York negotiated an audit of the written, taught, and tested curriculum for its districts in need of improvement. The audits conducted by AIR consist of a mixed method evaluation, including analysis of extant student performance data; district policy documents; classroom observations; and interviews and focus groups with teachers, principals, students, parents, and district officials.
