Areas of Expertise : Data and Information Systems
AIR Experts in Education Guide (PDF)
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
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
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
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
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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
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Recent Products
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
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
- View All Reports
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
