Jessica Heppen, a nationally recognized expert in education research, policy, and practice, is the president & CEO of AIR. Dr. Heppen been with AIR for 20 years and, in that time, has held several key roles during her tenure.
Mary Kay Dugan is a managing technical assistant consultant at AIR. She is passionate about identifying evidence-based promising practices and translating them into policies and effective programs focused on underserved populations including disadvantaged youth and young adults. Dugan has over 30 years of experience helping federal, state, and local governments ...
Recognizing the importance of early childhood development, the Zambian government has committed to scaling up programs that support health, nutrition, and early learning/stimulation for children. UNICEF partnered with AIR and researchers from the University of Zambia to gather data on traditional parenting and child care practices across diverse cultures in ...
Cecilia Xuning Zhang is an interdisciplinary researcher with years of mixed-methods research experience and a wide breadth of content knowledge in the areas of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Technology-Based Learning Supports. She has rich technical expertise in collecting and analyzing extant data to inform enrollment trends and population estimates, leading user ...
Maura Shramko is a researcher at AIR, where she examines how to create inclusive, supportive environments that promote thriving and well-being for young people and communities.
Dr. Shramko conducts research and evaluation that seeks to shift youth-serving environments by centering the strengths and perspectives of young people and communities who are ...
Linda Lin is a researcher at AIR with experience in designing and conducting education research and evaluation studies. Dr. Lin specializes in experimental and quasi-experimental study design and quantitative methodology, with a particular interest in casual inference methods, multilevel modeling and data mining. She also has extensive experience in developing ...
Michelle Perry is a senior technical assistance consultant in the Youth, Family, and Community Development program area at AIR. She currently serves as deputy project director for the Corrections and Community Engagement Technical Assistance Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. In this role, she ...
Kim Gattis is a nationally recognized expert in large-scale mathematics assessments through her work at the state, national, and international levels. For over a decade she has led AIR projects supporting the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Currently ...
Amy Trauth is a researcher with expertise in P-16 STEM curriculum and instruction, classroom and large-scale assessment, teacher preparation, and issues related to equity and access in P-16 STEM education. She serves as a science content expert on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Trends in International ...
Kathleen L. Pfannenstiel is a senior researcher at AIR and provides technical assistance and professional development to states and school districts with an emphasis on improving results for students with disabilities. Dr. Pfannenstiel is the principle investigator for an Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) model demonstration grant. She works ...