Jennifer D. Pierce is a senior technical assistant consultant for AIR with thirteen years of experience working in public and private school settings as a teacher, coach, building leader, and district-level leader and four years of experience working in higher education as a research assistant and instructor. Dr. Pierce's areas ...
Janet Lundeen is an organizational leader in supporting federal research and policy related to special education and children and youth with disabilities. She is co-project director for the Analysis, Communication, Dissemination and Meetings (ACDM) contract for the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education. Lundeen leads development ...
Whitney Cade is a senior researcher at AIR. She currently supports multiple projects, including two Institute for Education Science grants and the Regional Education Laboratories Southwest. Her recent work focuses on understanding the impacts of 8th grade algebra on school trajectories and college readiness, evaluating UTeach teacher characteristics and program ...
Alise Crossland (Brann) is a senior researcher at AIR with more than 13 years of experience identifying and assessing digital learning technologies for both general and special education. Her work focuses on providing technical assistance and professional development to educators at the local, state, and national level on the use ...
Veronica Tate is a managing director at AIR and serves as a senior leader on the management team that shapes the technical assistance delivery and supports effective collaboration across the comprehensive centers operated by AIR. She provides leadership, project management, and quality assurance supervision to ensure the effectiveness of services, ...
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.
Stacia J. Rush joined AIR as a research analyst in 2005. For the Access Center, she served as a technical assistance liaison with the Mid-South Regional Resource Center and assisted with developing products and presentations for the center. Dr. Rush also served as team leader on the Instructional Strategies Team ...
Iris Daruwala is a senior researcher at AIR, where she works with foundations and federal, state, and local agencies on research and evaluation projects. Her work is primarily focused on understanding how educational interventions and reforms can reduce inequities among marginalized student groups and support whole child well-being. As an ...
Douglas Fuchs is an Institute Fellow at AIR. He is also Professor of Special Education and Nicholas Hobbs Chair of Special Education and Human Development and Professor Pediatrics in the Vanderbilt University Medical School, Department of Special Education. At Vanderbilt, Fuchs has been principal investigator of 50 federally-sponsored research grants. ...
Bobbi Newman is a principal researcher and director of AIR’s practice area for standards and assessments. She has more than 15 years of experience in research and evaluation of school reform efforts. Dr. Newman has worked at every level of the education system, from the classroom to the state. As ...