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)
- Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation
- Turnaround Schools in California: Who Are They and What Strategies Do They Use?
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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
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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
