Areas of Expertise : Human Development
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
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Recent Projects
- New York State Curriculum Audits
- Milwaukee Public Schools Striving Readers Evaluation
- Supplemental Educational Services in Texas
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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
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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
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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
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Recent Projects
- Healing Hearts, Promoting Health
- Physical and Emotional Awareness for Children Who Are Homeless (PEACH)
- Partners United for Supportive Housing Cedar Rapids
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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
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
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
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Recent Projects
- Evaluation of OJJDP’s Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Project
- National Household Education Survey (NHES)
- Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
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Recent Products
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
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
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Recent Projects
- Wisconsin Reading Excellence and Demonstration of Success Initiative (READS)
- New York State Curriculum Audits
- Milwaukee Public Schools Striving Readers Evaluation
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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
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Recent Projects
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
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Recent Projects
- Anchorage Social and Emotional Learning and School Climate Analysis
- Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP)
- Conditions for Learning
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Recent Products
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
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 Health Insurance Assistance Programs
- State Training and Technical Assistance Center (STTAC)
- Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center
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Recent Products
