Zero tolerance policies were born out of fear and even desperation. After the 1999 school shootings in Colorado, some educators and public figures adopted a tough law-and-order stance; but, instead of deterrence, we got a discipline regime of mass suspensions. In this blog post, AIR's Peter Cookson argues that zero ...
Taking advanced courses in high school predicts a broad array of positive outcomes, yet students from certain backgrounds have been excluded from these courses historically. To address this problem, more than 60 districts in Washington state implemented a policy that automatically enrolled all qualified high school students in advanced coursework. ...
Education and health policy experts from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) are available to the media to discuss the implications of President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address to the nation on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. AIR, a nonpartisan not-for-profit behavior and social science research organization based ...
Some of the nation’s lowest-performing schools implementing a school intervention model funded by a School Improvement Grant (SIG) used more practices intended to improve student achievement than similar schools that didn’t implement a SIG-funded model. However, there was no evidence that SIG directly led to greater use of practices or ...
In this blog post, Matthew Soldner argues that, as Congress works on reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the need for far better research and access to federal student aid data should be high on its agenda.
Social and emotional skills undergird student success—and mold better citizens. Results from the Collaborating Districts Initiative suggest that even modest investments can pay off for individuals, schools, and society. In this policy brief, Kimberly Kendziora and Nick Yoder share the results of the evaluation and offer policy six recommendations for ...
Experts from AIR will present at several sessions during the annual Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) research conference, being held November 8-10 in Washington, D.C. APPAM is a professional organization dedicated to improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education. This is ...
Both the formal and informal education communities are increasingly focused on fostering opportunities for social and emotional learning (SEL) and the link between SEL and youth outcomes. This self-reflection tool is designed to help afterschool program staff reflect upon their own social and emotional competencies and their ability to support ...
Now that states have started submitting their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans, the hard work of implementation will soon be underway. AIR experts provide evidence-based policy perspectives on ESSA and states’ strategies outlined in their proposed plans.
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.