African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to go into debt while earning a doctorate in the sciences than their white and Asian counterparts, according to a new issue brief by experts at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The disparity is largest for African Americans, who are twice as ...
This brief, the fourth in a series about ISAs, addresses evidence that suggests loan aversion may be especially prevalent among underserved and underrepresented students. The brief concludes that ISAs could provide an alternative to student loans—in particular, for loan-averse individuals whose views of student debt are determined primarily by negative ...
To understand how teachers are promoting whole-child development, AIR analyzed survey data from a nationally representative sample of K-12 public school teachers using RAND’s American Teacher Panel. The three brief reports in this series present results for three topics, and an appendix provides the full set of survey questions. ...
Addressing persistent challenges in education, health care, and workforce requires evidence-backed approaches. For nearly 75 years, AIR has researched key issues and offered insight into the effectiveness of many strategies. Read our policy primer to explore our body of evidence covering issues such as COVID-19, early childhood, school climate, the ...
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.
Micro-credentials are quick competency-based certifications that illustrate mastery of a skill. This research brief describes the existing research on micro-credentials, Leadership for Equity micro-credential content, the analytical approach that informed this research, and findings from interviews with principals. ...
During the past two decades, there has been an increase in exclusionary and punitive discipline in US schools. These disciplinary approaches have been discriminatory in their impacts and have failed to improve school safety. Luckily, a growing body of evidence shows that changing discipline policies and practices can improve school ...
As new technologies emerge, there is a growing perception that schools must utilize the latest technologies. This brief’s authors conducted evaluations of two large-scale technology initiatives and here share six lessons learned about common pitfalls during early stages of implementation.
School climate and social and emotional learning (SEL) have often been treated separately by researchers and practitioners, but both are necessary to build healthy schools. This brief reviews research on how positive school climates support SEL and how improved SEL contributes to improved school climate in elementary and secondary schools. ...
This research brief, the third from the Back on Track study, describes the characteristics of students who failed Algebra I in ninth grade in the large urban school district where the study took place, to better understand the population of students who are served by credit recovery courses.