The start of the 2022-23 school year marked the beginning of the expansion of California’s transitional kindergarten (TK) program, which provides an additional year of early education prior to traditional kindergarten. Research has shown that transitional kindergarten improves learning for children overall, with especially pronounced benefits for dual language learners. ...
Amy H. Rathbun is a managing researcher who serves as the director of the Education Statistics Services Institute Network (ESSIN) contract in support of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and project director for AIR’s work on the ESSIN International Activities project.
Taylor Melanson is a researcher in the Evaluation, Methods, and Analytics program area within the Health Division at AIR. He is a health economist with training and experience in quantitative research, econometric analysis, program evaluation, and causal inference using experimental and quasi-experimental research methods. His areas of expertise include chronic ...
About 1.7 million youth in the U.S. have at least one parent in prison. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of parents held in prisons has risen 79 percent from 1991-2007. Youth with incarcerated parents fare worse than other youth on a range of educational and physical ...
Just like physical health, mental health is crucial to everyone’s well-being. For Mental Health Awareness Month, five AIR experts reflected on three of the biggest trends and shifts they’ve observed from their collective years in the field.
Heather Quick, a managing research scientist at AIR, has more than 15 years of experience leading research and evaluation studies of early care and education program quality, school readiness, family engagement, and teacher professional development. Dr. Quick is currently principal investigator of a statewide impact study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten ...
The simple act of not attending school consistently increases the likelihood that children will be unable to read well by grade 3, fail classes in middle school, and drop out of high school. Standing in the way of truly addressing chronic absence are three harmful myths.
Experts with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) are available to offer education and health care insights on issues raised by President Barack Obama during his State of the Union address, including his call to use education to better prepare Americans for the workplace.
Maria Stephens is a senior researcher at AIR. She has over 25 years of experience related to international and national large-scale assessments, including the processes required for their development and implementation, the communication of their results to a wide range of audiences, and studies that compare their content with other ...
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.