The Minnesota Department of Education administers about 65 surveys a year. These surveys help gauge needs, gather feedback, inform programs and policy, and fulfill legislative requirements. The Midwest Comprehensive Center partnered with the department in 2015 and 2016 to build the agency’s capacity in survey methodology, enhance overall survey quality, ...
Just like physical health, mental health is crucial to everyone’s well-being. For Mental Health Awareness Month, five AIR experts reflected on three of the biggest trends and shifts they’ve observed from their collective years in the field.
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.
Raising awareness and increasing the understanding of mental health can change the way society views and responds to this complex issue. AIR promotes positive mental health through school and community-based approaches involving youth, families, school, health care providers, and other stakeholders.
The “graying of America” calls for new solutions to enable older Americans to age in place in their communities of choice. This issue brief reviews three community-based models—cohousing, villages, and livable communities—that are filling critical gaps in services directed at those who want to age in place. ...
For decades, charter schools and district-run schools have been placed on opposing sides by advocates and policymakers. With support from the state and other partners, the Lawrence Public School District (LPS) state receiver brought these two seemingly opposing ideas together as a turnaround strategy for the district’s lowest performing schools. ...
Brandy Farrar uses mixed methods to identify evidence-based best practices for health care policies and services. As a trained sociologist, she is particularly interested in the intersection between individual-level social psychology and system-level structures and processes.
Schools that show better academic performance than would be expected given characteristics of the school and student populations are often described as “beating the odds.” State and local education agencies often attempt to identify such schools as a means of identifying strategies or practices that might be contributing to the ...
Monique M. Chism, Ph.D., a vice president for technical assistance, leads AIR’s six federally funded comprehensive and content centers and District and School Improvement portfolios. Prior to joining AIR, she served as deputy assistant secretary for policy and programs in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. ...
Foundations invest millions of dollars to carry out their missions and change the world. How do they know their investments are working? AIR uses the strongest research evidence and deep experience in systems change across multiple sectors to support foundations, large and small, in fulfilling their missions. ...