The ability to read and understand basic texts is vital in modern society. A National Center for Education Statistics Data Point shows that one in five adults in the United States have low English literacy skills, meaning that they would have difficulty understanding, evaluating, using, or engaging with written texts.

As we look back over 2018, AIR's Professional Services Division reflects on the progress we’ve made in fulfilling our mission of conducting and applying the best behavioral and social science research, evaluation, and technical assistance towards improving people’s lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged.

While international literacy rates have improved over past decades, challenges remain. AIR literacy experts are currently researching, evaluating, and implementing strategies to improve literacy rates across the country and around the world. As a part of the 2018 International Literacy Day conversation, we collected quotes from our experts and facts on international literacy.

Who enrolls in postsecondary competency-based education? Using data from programs in the CBE Student Outcomes Research Collaborative, we explore the demographic characteristics of postsecondary CBE students.

Contingent—also known as adjunct or clinical—faculty are college instructors who are not in a tenure-track position or are at an institution without a tenure system. According to a recent study by AIR’s Delta Cost Project for the TIAA Institute, contingent instructors made up at least half of instructional faculty in 2013 among different types of institutions. Find out more in this infographic.

In Minnesota, as this infographic shows, associate's degrees in some career-oriented majors return wages that rival or surpass the wages of graduates with bachelor’s and master's degrees.

How many students in our nation’s kindergarten classrooms were born outside the United States? Where do they come from and what languages do they speak? As students enter new classrooms this fall, Shannon Russell, Jeremy Redford, and Meghan McQuiggan explore these questions and more using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 data.

High school graduation season is upon us. But how much do we know about who’s graduating? Using the latest Condition of Education data, we show graduation rates—and graduation gaps—for all 50 states.

How involved are parents in their children’s education? Do they attend school activities? Are they satisfied with the school? Is involvement different for parents of students in public or private schools? Using the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012, this infographic answers these questions.