Julie Kochanek

Julie Reed Kochanek is senior vice president of human services at AIR and a member of AIR’s executive leadership team. In this role, she guides the work of the Human Services Division, AIR’s largest operating division, providing strategic vision in business development, eminence building, and client partnerships. The division includes more than 1,000 staff, who have a diverse array of expertise in research, evaluation, and technical assistance across such policy areas as K-12 and postsecondary education, public health, climate change, workforce development, justice systems, child welfare, teacher recruitment and retention, public safety, and community development. Under Dr. Kochanek’s leadership, Human Services Division staff focus on mission-driven work, with the goal of working with partners to generate and use evidence to address urgent social challenges and contribute to a better more equitable world.

Dr. Kochanek has 20 years of experience studying education systems and school reform efforts, with a special focus on bridging research and practice in education. She has worked with education providers to co-create practitioner-driven research agendas that rely on the power of data and evidence to change policy and practice. She also has experience steering knowledge translation, research dissemination, and technical assistance efforts with school districts across the country to help students succeed in the classroom.

Prior to joining AIR’s executive leadership team, Dr. Kochanek was director of the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest and leader of AIR’s Education Systems and Policy program area. As REL Midwest director, Dr. Kochanek led a team of researchers to design and implement structures and procedures that addressed high-priority regional needs, such as college and career readiness, educational equity, and teacher preparation and performance. She has helped practitioners use evidence to inform decision making, with the goal of increasing equitable access to learning opportunities and improving the quality of classroom instruction for all students.

Dr. Kochanek also has served as principal investigator on several National Science Foundation projects designed to improve access to computer science instruction; a William T. Grant-sponsored study of the use of evidence in school districts’ decision making; the evaluation of TNTP’s i3-funded Teach Initiative; an evaluation of Indiana’s full-day kindergarten policy; and a study of parent involvement initiatives in school improvement plans. Earlier in her career, Dr. Kochanek worked at the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago.