American Institutes for Research

James Cowan is a senior researcher in the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research program at AIR. His primary responsibilities include the design, management, and implementation of empirical studies of education policy. He has extensive experience in quasi-experimental research design and value added modeling.

Cowan has published work on the measurement of teacher effectiveness and its connection to teacher characteristics and preparation experiences. His current research interests include equity in teacher assignments, certification, compensation, and other teacher labor market policies.