Provides services and technical assistance for students so they benefit from research-based curricula taught in safe environments.

Adult Education & Literacy Children's Mental Health District Consulting Education Evidence & Indicators Early Childhood Education Finance Education Technology Higher Education School Reform Special Education

Produces and disseminates information to provide motivation and tools to enable individuals to make informed decisions about health issues.

Communications & Social Marketing Research & Policy Analysis Conference Services, Technical Writing & Clearinghouse/Call Center Management Technical Assistance & Training Informatics, Web Site Development & Information Management

Develops and implements education testing programs that benefit students, parents and public officals.

State Student Testing Computer Statistical Services

Works with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the government's primary source for collecting and analyzing data about public education.

Helps to provide all children with access to a quality education, and empowers people, organizations, and communities to bring about social change.

Is committed to helping clients improve the effectiveness of their workforce through a wide range of management, organizational, and business improvement efforts.

Equity Analysis Organizational Performance Skills Assessment Team Performance Usability Engineering

Produces, maintains and disseminates systematic reviews of the effects of social and behavioral interventions.

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Adult Education & Literacy

Adult Numeracy Initiative

• The Adult Numeracy Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), will provide the field with a thorough understanding of adult numeracy and the state of the discipline. Project activities include a literature review on critical issues in numeracy; an environmental scan of numeracy professional development programs and practices implemented at the state and local level; and in conjunction with a technical work group, the development of a research agenda in adult numeracy. The project will produce a series of commissioned papers on teaching and learning in adult numeracy.
  
  The literature review on the effect of instructional practices and assessment in adult numeracy instruction is now available online.

Adult Education Content Standards & Assessment
http://www.adultedcontentstandards.org/

• Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, this project enhanced capacity of adult education instructors, administrators and professional development providers through a series of professional development conferences, publications, website, and on-site technical assistance.

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An Evaluation of the Impact of Explicit Literacy Instruction on Adult ESL Learners

• The purpose of this project is to evaluate the impact of explicit literacy in ESL instruction on adult learners. The steps to conduct do this will include: Selecting a curriculum developer to develop an enhanced ESL curriculum, including the development, evaluation, and testing of the curriculum prior to implementation; using random assignment to select program sites both for the pilot test and implementation of the enhanced ESL curriculum, including training of program staff and monitors; implementing the curriculum and support and document this implementation; conducting data collection, analysis, and reporting of preliminary and final results; and conducting a 1-year follow-up if requested by ED.

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The National Reporting System

• The National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS) is an outcome-based reporting system for the State-administered, federally funded adult education program. The NRS continues a cooperative process through which State adult education directors and DAEL manage a reporting system that demonstrates learner outcomes for adult education. The NRS established a national accountability system for adult education programs by identifying measures for national reporting and their definitions, establishing methods for data collection, developing software standards for reporting to the U.S. Department of Education, and developing training materials and activities on NRS requirements and procedures. The NRS meets the accountability requirements for the adult education program in Title II of the Workforce Investment Act. The NRS will improve the public accountability of the adult education program by documenting its ability to meet Federal policy and programmatic goals. The collection of State outcome data will enable States to correlate practices and programs with successful outcomes, and also will assist States in assessing progress in meeting their adult education goals. For local providers, the NRS will help instructors and administrators plan instructional activities and services to enhance student outcomes and to relate effective practices and programs with successful outcomes.

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Improving the Quality and Use of National Reporting System Data, 2001-2004

• The project was designed to improve the states’ ability to collect higher quality data for the NRS and to train and assist state staff in using NRS data for program improvement. AIR conducted three national trainings, each attended by staff from over 40 states, on (1) improving data quality, (2) using data for program improvement and (3) performance standards and data monitoring. Along with each training session, AIR produced a guidebook and training materials: Guide for Improving NRS Data Quality, Using NRS Data for Program Management and Improvement, and NRS Data Monitoring for Program Improvement. AIR also provided technical assistance to seven states on accountability issues.

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California Adult Education Professional Development Project (CALPRO), 2000-2007

• AIR has designed, implemented, and operates a statewide system for providing ongoing professional development to adult education administrators and instructors. In addition to providing direct training and technical assistance, CALPRO collaborates with other state leadership projects in the delivery of services, and provides support to six regional resource centers throughout the state that provide professional development.

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What Works Study for Adult ESL Literacy Students

• This multiyear national study, directed by NRS project director Dr. Larry Condelli, identified effective instructional practices for improving the literacy skills of low-literate adult ESL learners. The study involved visiting more than 40 adult education programs and 75 classes across the country; interviewing students, teachers, and staff; and observing classes. The study design included following 495 students for 9 months after they started receiving instruction and included individual student assessments of reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as classroom observations. It is the only study to date that has found an empirical relationship between instruction and literacy outcomes for adult ESL literacy students. The modeling, which included measures of student attendance and of student and teacher variables, found instructional methods related to increases in basic reading skills, reading comprehension, and oral English skills.

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National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)

• AIR was the design and analysis contractor for the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). The 2003 NAAL helped policymakers, program administrators, educators, and researchers who wanted to obtain a greater understanding of the English literacy skills of adults and various subgroups of adults, including non-native English speakers, immigrants, parents, welfare recipients, minorities, and the elderly. Using data from the assessment, state policymakers will be able to identify populations most in need of literacy services and design programs to target them. The 2003 NAAL included a new health literacy measure which helped policymakers develop health education materials targeted to the literacy levels of the intended audience. By comparing results from the 2003 NAAL to results from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), we will be able to see how much progress the nation has made in improving literacy among various subpopulations. AIR is currently examining the literacy skills of adults and comparing the literacy skills of workers with different types of training by conducting a data analysis of the 2003 assessment data.

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