Yuan Zhang is a senior researcher in the Education Statistics program at AIR. She has over five years of experience providing expert support for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) longitudinal studies branch, including data analyses for various NCES reports, such as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class ...
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 ...
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.
Etai Mizrav, Ph.D., is a senior researcher in the Educators and Instruction Program Area at AIR. His primary responsibilities include developing research and supporting states and districts with bridging research and practice to address educational inequality and promote equity in education systems. Dr. Mizrav’s research investigates 21st-century drivers of educational inequality ...
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 ...
Dena D. Slanda is a senior TA consultant in the Education and Instruction division at AIR. Dr. Slanda provides technical assistance and professional development to states and school districts with an emphasis on improving results for students with high-intensity needs. She does this by strengthening educator and administrator professional learning ...
Dr. Gilmour is a principal researcher at AIR. She has extensive experience in special education policy analysis, focusing on improving access to effective instruction for students with disabilities by studying special educator labor markets and teaching quality. Dr. Gilmour has methodological expertise in quantitative methods, often using data from state ...
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 ...
Amber V. Dillard is a senior communications specialist at AIR. With more than 15 years of experience in strategic communications and health promotion, Dillard brings expertise in applying communications theories and practices to achieve the goals and objectives of federal clients. She has extensive experience in the strategy, design, dissemination, ...