Vanessa Hoffman is a researcher in the International Development Division at AIR. She has over 8 years of experience leading qualitative approaches for evaluations and assessments in developing country settings. Her current work evaluates energy efficiency and renewable energy generation activities in Kosovo, improving children’s educational outcomes in Burkina Faso, ...
Vanessa Coca is a senior researcher in the Workforce Development program at AIR. Her primary responsibilities include directing, designing, and conducting research projects and activities related to postsecondary student success initiatives. Dr. Coca also provides coordination and thought leadership as part of the leadership team for the Postsecondary Practice Area ...
Little research has been done to understand the interplay between HIV/AIDS and disability at the household or community level, either nationally or globally. This pilot study is only the first of many necessary steps to understand the complex and little researched relationship between HIV/AIDS and disability. ...
The 2020‒21 school year has begun like no other in the recent history as millions of students are learning online and the services and supports that schools can offer are limited due to concerns about COVID-19. Educators, practitioners and policymakers are invited to join AIR and colleagues from across the ...
People with disabilities are an important part of the workforce, but make 63 cents for every dollar earned by a person without a disability—and that gap rises as educational attainment increases. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, the Institute for Educational Leadership and AIR led a discussion on the challenges that ...
The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) is a comprehensive measure that includes education and work histories, personal characteristics, and literacy skills data for 19,000 respondents. Findings from this study show that 30 million people in the United States lack the literacy skills needed to take full advantage of ...
Through our Meet the Expert feature, get to know some of AIR’s key staff, learning what drives and keeps them going, the work they find most meaningful, and even a little bit about how they spend their personal time.
One person's injury or illness can affect a community at all levels. The Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury or Illness Network (RETAIN) project aims to increase employment retention and labor force participation of individuals who acquire, and/or are at risk of developing, disabilities that inhibit their ability to work. ...
Although English language learners (ELLs) have an increasing presence in postsecondary education, their unique needs are often unmet by institutions of higher education. Technology-mediated English language instruction may be a solution to the pressing challenges that postsecondary institutions face in providing personalized instruction to ELLs, because it allows instruction to ...
On the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 40th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2015, AIR experts reflected on an era of research on the classroom and the workplace, their personal stories, and the future.