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.
The recent release of the 2015 NAEP results by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics have been labeled “historic” by some because math scores at both Grades 4 and 8 and reading at Grade 8 have all declined, the first decline since NAEP's framework was put ...
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, ...
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 ...
Nathalie Cornet is an international development professional with over 10 years of experience in project and performance management, strategic planning, and partnership building. She is currently AIR’s Mexico Country Director and also serves as the co-project director for the Compliance in Auto Parts through Labor Law Enforcement (CALLE) project in ...
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 ...
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 ...
Kathleen M. Murphy is a managing researcher in the Workforce program area at AIR. She directs business development related to adults with disabilities at AIR, in her role as lead of AIR's work on individuals with disabilities.
Dr. Murphy is principal investigator for AIR’s Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation ...
LEARN is a five-year program designed to improve literacy, health, and dietary practices of school-aged children, and to increase awareness of gender norms and sexual and gender-based violence in Liberia. In 2022, Save the Children began implementing LEARN II, with a focus on sustainability. AIR will continue to evaluate outcomes ...
Erika Kessler, Ph.D., is a researcher at AIR with expertise in climate change and environmental education and employing advanced statistical analysis techniques with large-scale, complex survey data.Dr. Kessler brings a breadth of work experience and expertise across a diverse array of topics to AIR. She has particular interest and experience in the ...