A rigorous 2017 study found no significant effect of the $7 billion federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program on student outcomes. But the story of SIG is far more complex. In this blog post, Kerstin Carlson Le Floch unpacks the story of SIG, highlighting instances in which program elements worked, ...
In 1960, AIR launched Project Talent, the largest and most comprehensive study of high school students ever conducted in the United States. Project Talent data are now available to researchers through the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging. AIR survey methodologists worked with University of Michigan colleagues to prepare ...
Turning around our nation’s low-performing schools became a national priority—and central focus of education policy at all levels—in 2001 with No Child Left Behind. Then Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants redoubled the nation’s emphasis on school turnaround, giving states more resources to advance improvement efforts within federal ...
Title II, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act aims to increase academic achievement by improving teacher and principal quality. In this blog post, Jane Coggshall describes her recommendations to ensure that states, regions, and districts work more strategically both to develop individual teachers and leaders and to ...
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives states the authority and flexibility to turn around their lowest performing schools. In this blog post, Allison Gandhi asks if states can succeed where federal policy requirements have run into walls, using the success of the Massachusetts Wraparound Zone initiative as an example. ...
The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program will expire as ESSA is implemented, but the challenges of low-performing schools have not. SIG provided some promising examples, as well as caveats that can challenge and inform those of us who believe our nation’s most disadvantaged students deserve better. In our latest blog ...
As long as accountability systems have been in place, AIR has conducted research and evaluation on the design and implementation of these policies. Our work spans accountability activities from developing performance indicators to providing supports to districts and schools.
This spotlight takes a look at the history of Title I, how the program has changed over time, and how it affects children, schools, families and education policy. Experts weigh in on the program's past and future in interviews, briefs, and blogs.
Successive federal efforts to tackle the entrenched challenges of persistently low-performing schools have fallen far short of their goal. In this blog post, Kerstin Le Floch and Catherine Barbour offer three ways ESEA can build capacity in low-performing schools.
Mounting evidence shows that social and emotional learning skills may be more predictive than test scores of student success in English language arts and math. In this blog post, Deborah Moroney and Michael McGarrah discuss how states and districts can build systems to support and properly assess these social and ...