Education

Increasing the effectiveness of education

AIR is committed to increasing the effectiveness of education at all levels through rigorous research and evaluation, training, and technical assistance. Our work spans the learning lifespan—from pre-K to postsecondary education, career readiness, and adult education—and focuses on a wide range of topics, including STEM, social and emotional learning, and state and federal education policies.

Our rigorous, state-of-the-art research and evaluation work provides important evidence for education policymakers and practitioners to use when answering crucial questions about program implementation, challenges, and solutions. Through our policy, practice, and systems change work, our experts help clients address educational issues and challenges at the local, state, national, and international levels by applying evidence-based practices in educational and community settings.

 

Latest Work

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16 Jun 2021
Report

Choosing a College STEM Major: The Roles of Motivation, High School STEM Coursetaking, NAEP Mathematics Achievement, and Social Networks

The study uses nationally representative data to investigate how high school STEM motivation, STEM course taking, STEM achievement and social networks are associated with the decision of students who go on to enroll in 4-year colleges to choose a STEM major or not. The study findings highlight the important role of students’ motivation, particularly students’ STEM identity. Thinking and believing in oneself as a scientist and as a person who is good at mathematics were shown to be strongly associated with the choice of a STEM major.
Image of RISE logo
10 Jun 2021
Spotlight

RISE Webinar Series

The Research on International Studies in Education (RISE) Webinar Series, organized by AIR, showcases research using data from international studies and promotes sharing and discussion about how data-based evidence can be used for improving educational outcomes.
Image of AIR expert Patricia Garcia-Arena as a child
7 Jun 2021
Commentary

Why I’m Passionate About Early Literacy

In this personal essay, AIR Principal Researcher Patricia Garcia-Arena shares her memories of being an English learner in preschool and elementary school—and how early literacy experiences can be better for ELs today, thanks to evidence-based instructional practices.
24 May 2021
Spotlight

ESSA at AIR

Implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) presented policymakers and stakeholders with opportunities to improve outcomes for schools and students as well as teachers and leaders. AIR worked with districts and states to help them navigate the most current information, key topics, and research-based resources for planning and implementing ESSA at the state and local level.
Image of socially distanced teachers in a classroom, wearing masks
19 May 2021
Q & A

Federal Relief Funds: An Opportunity to Invest in Teachers

With a new round of COVID-19 relief funds headed to states and districts nationwide, education leaders have a rare opportunity to make strategic and comprehensive investments in the teacher workforce. In this Q&A, two leaders of AIR’s Center on Great Teachers & Leaders—Lisa Lachlan and Lynn Holdheide—share insights and evidence-based recommendations to address new and persistent teacher quality and teacher shortage issues.
10 May 2021
Spotlight

Spotlight on Summertime Experiences

Researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders are increasingly aware of the powerful potential for summertime experiences and the need to design, implement, and continuously improve summertime experiences for all.

Project

Michigan Preschool Development Grant Projects

In December 2018, Michigan secured a Preschool Development Grant and began the required completion of a statewide needs assessment of the state’s early childhood mixed delivery system to inform in-depth strategic planning to increase the availability and quality of programs and supports for children birth to age 5 and their families. Michigan contracted with AIR and its partners to complete the statewide needs assessment.
Project

Identifying and Reducing Gender Bias in STEM: Systematically Synthesizing the Experimental Evidence

Researchers are debating whether biases against women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have reduced over time, persist in nearly all training and career contexts, or vary in more nuanced ways across contexts and STEM fields. AIR is synthesizing four decades of research to understand the postsecondary and workforce contexts in which bias against women in STEM remains especially pernicious and the interventions that can most effectively reduce such biases.
Project

Research, Evaluation, and Technical Assistance for the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) Program

Through the Department of Ed’s Office of Academic Improvement, the 21st CCLC program “supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children.” AIR researchers and technical assistance consultants have a unique connection to and history of making contributions to the program.
Project

Cost Analysis Standards Project (CASP)

To advance the production of high-quality information on the economic costs and benefits of implementing educational and other social programs, experts from AIR, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University convened a panel of experts in designing and conducting economic evaluations of educational and social programs to develop the Standards for Economic Evaluation of Educational and Social Programs. The intent of the standards is to make clear for researchers, funders, and consumers of research what constitutes rigorous economic evaluations of educational and social programs.
28 Apr 2021
Q & A

What Educators Need to Know About Students’ Mathematics and Science Achievement

U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students made long-term achievement gains in mathematics, but not in science, according to the U.S. results on the 2019 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study. In this Q&A, AIR’s Tad Johnston, senior technical assistance consultant and a math specialist, and Danielle Ferguson, researcher and a science specialist, offer their insights on what these trends tell us and how educators make practical use of the results.
28 Apr 2021
Spotlight

Teaching in the Time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted education system across the country and around the world, changing what classrooms and learning look like on a day-to-day basis. Educators are navigating a constantly shifting landscape, with the health of students, teachers, and the community at large at stake. Explore our research, resources, and webinar recordings to better understand the challenges teachers are facing and find tools and resources educators can use as they move forward.
Image of student wearing a mask
15 Apr 2021
In the Field

Addressing COVID-19 Learning Disruptions: Four Recommendations for Effective Tutoring Interventions

As more students return to in-person learning, education leaders are working not only to rebuild school communities and help students transition but also to address gaps in learning resulting from COVID-19 disruptions. AIR Senior Researcher Emily Loney discusses one strategy states and districts are considering: tutoring, or focused instruction provided to students in one-on-one or small group settings.
Image of kids running outside school, wearing masks
12 Apr 2021
Q & A

How Expanded Learning Programs and Schools Work Together to Support California Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

AIR partnered with Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) and the Partnership for Children and Youth to create resources that help educators strengthen partnerships between expanded learning programs and schools; plan integrated whole child supports; and design in-person learning hubs. In this Q&A, AIR Researcher Femi Vance describes the interconnected nature of these concepts and programs and their connection to equity.
31 Mar 2021
Report

A Framework for Considering Device and Interface Features That May Affect Student Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress

A recent challenge to maintaining NAEP trends has arisen with the exploration of new testing methods and question types that reflect the growing use of technology in education. The purpose of this white paper is to provide a framework for considering device and interface features that may affect student performance on digital NAEP assessments, and to prioritize the variables that should be examined in further validity studies.
Image of school principal with students
30 Mar 2021
Spotlight

Building and Supporting Great School Principals and Leaders

Principals impact student achievement through their influence on classroom instruction, organizational conditions, community support, and setting the teaching and learning conditions in schools. Read about what our researchers are learning about leading schools and how they are applying that learning to improve state policy, district programs, and school practices aimed at developing and retaining effective leaders.
Image of quote by Drew Atchison
15 Mar 2021
Q & A

School Funding Evaluation Focuses on Equity for Students—and Taxpayers

AIR’s most recent study of school funding in New Hampshire, a collaboration with the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, exemplifies how conventional and novel research methods can provide states with a deep understanding of the impact of school funding on student success. In this Q&A, AIR Principal Research Economist Jesse Levin and Senior Researcher Drew Atchison explain the findings and implications for New Hampshire—and for other states committed to equity.
3 Mar 2021
Spotlight

AIR's Community Schools Work

Community schools serve as service hubs in their neighborhoods and communities, uniting families, educators, and community partners to accelerate equitable student outcomes in health, education, and employment. AIR’s community school experts work with education agencies, schools and districts, universities, and other stakeholders to promote student growth and development by removing barriers to learning and providing access to new, integrated learning opportunities to support whole child development.
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24 Feb 2021
Report

U.S. National and State Trends in Educational Inequality Due to Socioeconomic Status: Evidence from the 2003–17 NAEP

This study examines the trends in educational inequality due to family socioeconomic status (SES) in the United States both at the national level and at the state-level. Specifically, the study focuses on the changes in achievement gaps between high and low SES students between 2003 and 2017 with an additional emphasis on performance trends of low-SES students over time.
18 Feb 2021
Brief

When Schools Go Dark, School Counselors Shine: School Counseling During a Global Pandemic

School counselors are uniquely positioned in schools and districts to provide access to many of the supports that help bolster the well-being of students and allow them to be present and succeed academically. This brief profiles efforts by two state school counseling associations, four districts, and 13 school counselors to meet the needs of students and families during these unprecedented times.
Image of student getting temperature taken by a teacher
9 Feb 2021
Q & A

How Can Community COVID-19 Rates Inform Decisions on Reopening Schools?

COVID-19 has profoundly disrupted K–12 schooling. A working paper from AIR’s National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) suggests the prevalence of COVID in the community could be an important factor in deciding whether public schools reopen or remain open.
3 Feb 2021
Guide

Improving Lives Through Evidence-Based Approaches

Addressing persistent challenges in education, health care, and workforce requires evidence-backed approaches. For nearly 75 years, AIR has researched key issues and offered insight into the effectiveness of many strategies. Read our policy primer to explore our body of evidence covering issues such as COVID-19, early childhood, school climate, the opioid crisis, occupational licensing, and more.
1 Feb 2021
Spotlight

Career and Technical Education: Preparing Students for College and Career Success

Career and technical education (CTE) is a critical strategy for preparing youth and adults for careers and addressing the skills gap—a disparity between the skills job-seekers offer and the skills that employers need. Nationwide, AIR is supporting organizations large and small to strengthen CTE through rigorous research, evaluation, and technical assistance.
1 Feb 2021
Spotlight

NAEP Data in Focus: Examining the Research

The NAEP Data in Focus working papers combine AIR’s expertise and experience not only with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), but with other large-scale assessments and survey-based longitudinal studies.
Young teachers
1 Feb 2021
Spotlight

Teacher Shortages: Trends, Projections, and What Experts Say

Teacher shortages are widely reported across the United States. But is there more to the story? Research sheds light on the widely-debated questions of shortages, their causes, severity, and ways to respond.
Image of RPAs in Austin
25 Jan 2021
In the Field

Why a System Level Approach is Needed to Counter Racism Within the Education System

The death of George Floyd, along with racial inequities exacerbated by the global coronavirus pandemic, pushed racial justice issues to the forefront of our conversations in 2020. Sarah Caverly and David Osher discuss the effects on education, using the Austin Independent School District as an example of how a school district addressed issues of persistent racism at the system level.
21 Jan 2021
Spotlight

Supporting States with Preschool Development Grants

The Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five initiative supports states to create plans to facilitate collaboration and coordination among existing early childhood care and education programs. AIR has partnered with four states—California, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota—to support their work as they expand access to high-quality early childhood care and education.
15 Jan 2021
Spotlight

Spotlight on the Science of Learning and Development

The science of learning and development (SoLD) is a cross-disciplinary body of knowledge that describes how people learn and develop. AIR is part of the SoLD Alliance, which serves as a resource to connect and support leaders in research, practice, and policy to transform America’s education systems and achieve equity and excellence.
13 Jan 2021
Report

Examining the Educational Spillover Effects of Severe Natural Disasters: The Case of Hurricane Maria

While debates about cross-border migration remain a contentious topic of debate in developed countries, there is growing concern about increasing rates of internal migration driven by climate change. This study examines the effects of internal migration driven by severe natural disasters on students in host communities, and the mechanisms behind these effects, using the large influx of migrants into Florida public schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Illustration of AIR expert Karen Francis
12 Jan 2021
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Karen Francis

Karen Francis, Ph.D., leads AIR’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, where she provides organizational guidance and management around AIR’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy and implementation. A medical sociologist by training, she is the chair of AIR’s Diversity and Inclusion Council and leads AIR’s Cultural and Linguistic Competence Workgroup.
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11 Jan 2021
Video

REL Midwest Videos and Documentaries

The Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest), one of ten regional educational laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, serves the educational needs of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Explore these vidoes and documentaries to learn more about the topics we cover.
9 Jan 2021
Journal Article

An Examination of Early Grade Reading Assessments in Central Asia: Using Factor Analysis to Determine the Latent Data Structure in Kyrgyz, Russian, and Tajik

The early grade reading assessment (EGRA) is frequently used in low and middle-income countries to inform the state of reading outcomes and reading instruction. In this study, Grade 2 and 4 assessment results in the Kyrgyz, Russian, and Tajik languages from the Kyrgyz Republic (4,751 pupils) and Tajikistan (4,328 pupils) were analyzed to determine the number and nature of the underlying EGRA constructs.
Project

Innovations in Distance Education: Datacasting

While many schools and districts have relied on educational technology to help counter the effects of COVID-19, approximately 658,000 households in the U.S. lack readily available internet access; datacasting can help alleviate the stress of not having broadband access. AIR is bringing together stakeholders from state education agencies, libraries, and public broadcast stations to discuss best practices and to address potential hurdles in datacasting implementation.
Project

The Leaders We Need Now Study

Now more than ever, school principals are vital to student development, school safety, and educational equity. The National Association of Elementary School Principals and AIR have launched the Leaders We Need Now study to examine how principals’ work has changed—and needs to shift—in 2021 and beyond.
Project

Full-Service Community Schools Grant Evaluation for Chicago Public Schools

Through Full-Service Community Schools , students, their families, and the local community can receive academic, social, and health services, which can contribute to better educational outcomes for students. Starting in 2021, AIR will conduct an evaluation of the implementation of the FSCS initiative focusing on understanding implementation of the initiative and an impact analysis of how students benefit from attending a full-service community school.
Project

Chicago Public Schools Sustainable Community Schools Evaluation

The Sustainable Community Schools (SCS) strategy administered by Chicago Public Schools is unique in its focus on enhancing school-day instruction and supports. AIR will work in partnership with the diverse stakeholders associated with the SCS initiative to determine the degree to which the SCS model is aligned with these essential elements, whether the model is being implemented with fidelity, and the impact that the SCS model is having on students, their families, school staff, and the broader school community.
Project

Ready to Implement: A Toolkit for Out-of-School Practitioners

The field of out-of-school time (OST) is often the champion for new initiatives—from social and emotional learning to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), to college and career readiness and beyond—given the creativity and flexibility that is inherent to OST programming. AIR is developing a tool that enables OST practitioners to (1) measure their readiness to implement new initiatives and (2) access resources and professional learning that are aligned with their level of readiness.
30 Dec 2020
Report

To What Extent Does In-Person Schooling Contribute to the Spread of COVID-19? Evidence from Michigan and Washington

The instructional modality of schools (in-person, hybrid, or remote instruction) has implications not only for the health and safety of students and staff, but also student learning and the degree to which parents can engage in job activities. In this working paper, we consider the role of instructional modality in disease spread among the wider community.
15 Dec 2020
Service

Youth Development Measurement Lab at AIR

AIR understands the critical importance of providing every child with a safe and supportive environment to learn and to thrive. Our approach to supporting schools, districts, states, federal agencies, youth-serving organizations, and foundations in their efforts to support youth focuses on AIR’s mission to use the best research and technical assistance to improve people's lives.
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11 Dec 2020
Spotlight

AIR 2020 Year in Review: Using Evidence and Practice in Response to COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic has affected how we live, work, and thrive—and reminded us of the vast inequities that persist in our culture. Research and evidence can be a path forward through these uncertain times and help us improve the lives of individuals, communities, and society. Here are some highlights of how AIR contributed and used evidence to inform practice during this unprecedented year.
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8 Dec 2020
In the Field

How Positive Reinforcement Can Keep Students Engaged in a Virtual Setting

Educators have faced numerous obstacles to meaningfully engaging students during the global coronavirus pandemic. Initially, these were practical, including providing students with access to technology and safe spaces to learn. AIR Senior Researcher Megan Sambolt explains how research suggests multiple types of positive reinforcers can contribute to improved student behavior and increased engagement.
Image of students at computers with masks
7 Dec 2020
Spotlight

Computer Science for Educators and Students

AIR has built a strong portfolio of computer science (CS) projects through our CS@AIR initiative. We support more than a dozen projects—all with a focus on ensuring that every student gets access to a high-quality computer science education.
Image of Hispanic family reading together at home
3 Dec 2020
In the Field

Strategies for Supporting Young Students’ Home-Language Development During COVID-19—and Beyond

With COVID-19 still affecting in-person education across the country, early childhood educators have had to find new ways to give students, especially those who are dual-language learners, early, rich linguistic experiences. AIR Senior Researcher Lisa Hsin describes a number of ways early childhood educators can help families foster their children’s home language development, while also preparing them to succeed when they’re back in the classroom.
Illustration of woman with cell phone
1 Dec 2020
Spotlight

AIR’s COVID-19 Response and Resources

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. This virus, also known as COVID-19, has dramatically changed the lives of people around the globe, touching all aspects of life, from health care to education to the economy. In this new world of rapidly changing information about the virus, AIR seeks to be a source of evidence-based information that examines and begins to understand the various complexities of this crisis.
23 Nov 2020
Report

College Enrollment and Completion among Texas High School Graduates with a Disability

The limited available research suggests that students with a disability are less likely to enroll in and complete college than students without a disability; however, this research draws primarily on surveys with voluntary responses and often with a small sample size. This study offers new evidence to inform policies and research about how to serve students with a disability in postsecondary education.
18 Nov 2020
Q & A

A Quick Word with Jessica Heppen on Using Texting to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism in Schools

In a study for the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, AIR evaluated the effects of an adaptive text messaging intervention on chronic absenteeism in schools. Jessica Heppen, a senior vice president at AIR, tells us more about the study, including what her team learned about the effectiveness of the intervention and implications for educators, parents, and students.
17 Nov 2020
Brief

Why They Stay: Teach For America Alumni in Eastern North Carolina Rural Schools

Teach for America’s theory of change centers on leadership and partnerships with broad and diverse coalitions to change systems that perpetuate educational inequity. This study was commissioned to gather alumni perspectives about their work and impact in a small, purposeful sample of rural communities in Eastern North Carolina.
15 Nov 2020
Report

Comparison of NAEP Assessments With Current-Generation State Assessments

NAEP conducts assessments and publishes reports on student achievement in a number of subject areas—including mathematics, reading, writing, and science, among others—that are widely used by federal, state, and local policymakers, educators, researchers, and the public. These studies use the judgments of expert panelists to compare 2017 NAEP assessment items in mathematics and reading and writing with 2017 items from a sample of state assessments.
5 Nov 2020
Spotlight

Spotlight on Native Nations

Contributing and working alongside Native Nations, AIR has a deep commitment to engaging communities, fostering shared vision and values, building capacity, and developing strategic alliances to achieve sustainable systems change in Indian Country.
Image of middle school students working on science project
2 Nov 2020
Q & A

A Quick Word with Jill Young on the Readiness Projects

The Readiness Projects—a partnership of the Forum for Youth Investment, the National Urban League, and AIR—advances work informed by science and grounded in practice. In this Q&A, Jill Young, senior researcher at AIR, discusses how the Readiness Projects can support equitable opportunities for thriving youth.
1 Nov 2020
Spotlight

Spotlight on Personalized Learning

AIR believes that personalized learning efforts must have critical foundational elements, build in the relevant essential hallmarks, and opportunities to amplify learning with technology. Our approach to personalized learning draws upon our rigorous research base and strong field experience in facilitating educational system change efforts across the nation and globe.
teenager talks about exclusionary discipline
1 Nov 2020
Spotlight

Exclusionary School Discipline

Studies find that positive approaches to school discipline at all ages can actually improve students' academic performance, and those students are less likely to become involved in the juvenile justice system or have need for behavioral services. These AIR resources support educators in their efforts to transform disciplinary practices in our nation’s schools. We also hear from the students themselves.
29 Oct 2020
In the Field

Lessons Learned: What Research Shows About Students’ Experiences with Online Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented school closures throughout the United States, prompting educators to search for ways to meet the needs of children and families outside the bounds of traditional school walls. AIR has studied online learning for more than a decade, and although none of our studies took place in a situation like the current pandemic, this research provides insights that could inform education leaders who are working to promote and support student learning from afar.
Image of teacher with mask kneeling to help student in mask
27 Oct 2020
In the Field

Three Strategies to Help States Elevate Educational Equity

While the road to achieve equity in education has always been challenging, the COVID-19 global pandemic has further complicated these efforts. Through AIR’s work with eight states as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s comprehensive center program, we are learning more about which strategies are showing promise. Here are three.
23 Oct 2020
Spotlight

Addressing Challenges and Elevating Opportunities in Rural Education

Rural school districts, educators, and students have different experiences than their urban and suburban counterparts. The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) are designed to help fill this gap. These labs, which are funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, serve as research alliances that examine and address high-priority regional needs, such as college and career readiness, educational equity, and teacher preparation and performance.
Image of young woman in headscarf
8 Oct 2020
Spotlight

Educating Girls and Women Throughout the World

Equitable access to education is a global challenge for many, but especially for girls. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that educating girls contributes to the social and economic development of communities, increases household earning potential, and provides a foundation for making informed health and safety decisions. Helping girls access learning opportunities so they can achieve their greatest potential is an important focus of AIR’s work across the globe.
1 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Bread and Roses Too

COVID-19 has amplified inequities and mental health needs, with disproportionate effects on marginalized people and communities. All humans deserve to thrive—socially, emotionally, cognitively, physically, economically, and spiritually. In this blog post, David Osher and Jill Young propose a more robust conceptualization of equity—one that incorporates thriving and addresses human learning and development across all life spaces and over the life course.
1 Oct 2020
Report

The Relative Returns to Credit- and Non-Credit-Bearing Credentials

This analysis used 20 years of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 panel using an individual fixed-effects regression strategy to estimate the returns to noncredit-bearing credential and licensure pathways compared with credit-bearing credential and associate degree programs. Our findings show that credit-bearing credentials yield an approximately equal likelihood to be employed as noncredit-bearing credentials, but significantly improved earnings of about $7,000 a year.
Girl being bullied
28 Sep 2020
Spotlight

Bullying Prevention

The 2018 Indicators of School Crime and Safety reports that 20 percent of students ages 12-18 reported being bullied at school during the 2017 school year. As more is being learned about the negative psychological and physical effects of bullying, researchers are focusing on how to address the problem. The research and resources featured here relate to efforts to prevent violence in schools and help young people feel safe and supported.
Image of graphic showing importance of staffing qualified teachers during the COVID pandemic
24 Sep 2020
In the Field

Addressing Teacher Shortages with Differentiated Staffing Models

As the COVID-19 pandemic turns into a longer-term crisis with no end in sight, planning for the fall raises even more questions for teachers about school policies and their own futures. In this final installment of a series, Gretchen Weber discusses how the pandemic could be the force that finally drives us to permanent, much needed staffing solutions.
Illustration of Josh Polanin
16 Sep 2020
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Joshua R. Polanin

In this Q&A, Josh Polanin, principal researcher and project director for AIR’s What Works Clearinghouse, discusses his experience in quantitative methodology, particularly systematic review and meta-analysis, which allows him to design and lead studies across the field of education research.
15 Sep 2020
Report

Can Texting Parents Improve Attendance in Elementary School? A Test of an Adaptive Messaging Strategy

Chronic absence is a nationwide problem, even among young students. Those with poor attendance are more likely to face challenges later in school and in life. This study tested four versions of an adaptive text messaging strategy to see which, if any, would reduce chronic absence among 26,000 elementary school students.
Image of students at computers with social distancing and masks
10 Sep 2020
In the Field

Promoting Digital Equity and Opportunity in the Time of COVID-19

Often, strategies to provide equal access to technology and the internet involve simply providing people with devices. AIR's Trent Sharp explains why this could be short-sighted.
Young children arm in arm
5 Sep 2020
Spotlight

Building Safe, Engaging, and Equitable Schools

There are no quick fixes or easy solutions to respond to the tragedies that have occurred in schools across the country—but there are evidence-based ways to change school environments so that students and teachers feel safer.
Image of drawing by a child
2 Sep 2020
Spotlight

Literacy Around the World

Founded to actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities, and societies, International Literacy Day is celebrated around the world. Learn more about the projects, people, research, and in-country technical assistance that are contributing to the effort.
Project

Impact of COVID-19 on Early Learning and Care in California

The COVID-19 crisis has taken a toll on California's early learning and care system, and early learning providers need more support. In order to understand the ways in which programs have adapted, the services they provide, and the challenges they are facing, AIR and Early Edge California collected data from early learning programs throughout the state.
31 Aug 2020
Report

Personalized Student Learning with Station Rotation: A Descriptive Study

In "station rotation" classrooms, groups of students rotate among different types of learning modalities, such as computer-based instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, or paper-and-pencil assignments. To learn more about station rotation, the AIR study team conducted a descriptive study. As part of this study, we reviewed the research literature on station rotation and personalized learning more generally and developed a theory of action that illustrates key features and hypothesized outcomes of station rotation.
Image of high school student wearing a mask
24 Aug 2020
In the Field

Resources to Go Beyond the Basics and Support the Whole Child

Despite uncertainty about the start of the 2020-2021 school year, one thing is clear: Learning will take multiple forms and things will likely change as the school year progresses. AIR researchers created this resource for families and caregivers to help foster positive conditions for learning at home.
24 Aug 2020
Brief

COVID-19 and Whole Child Efforts: Reopening Update

Several national organizations have offered frameworks and resources for planning for the reopening school buildings closed due to COVID-19. Policymakers and practitioners will need a shared understanding of the common whole child terms and phrases as they plan and work to mobilize student supports. This resource provides definitions for key terms along with an analysis of the inclusion of these terms in the various reopening guidance documents.
15 Aug 2020
Spotlight

Spotlight on School Climate

Accurately measuring school climate helps schools identify areas of improvement and choose evidence-based interventions for effecting positive change. Read what our researchers are finding out about how learning environments affect whether students feel—and are—safe, connected, supported, and challenged.
11 Aug 2020
Q & A

How Can Schools Provide Quality Professional Learning Remotely?

As the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged teachers to shift instruction to distance learning platforms, it also has exposed the need for professional learning opportunities to help teachers adapt to this “new normal.” Lynn Holdheide answered a few questions about how districts and schools can turn this crisis into an opportunity for robust professional learning.
Teacher teaching virtually to students
5 Aug 2020
Q & A

Promising Strategies to Prepare New Teachers in a COVID-19 World

Lynn Holdheide, managing technical assistance consultant at AIR, and senior advisor and former director for the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, explains how teacher preparation programs are responding to the coronavirus pandemic. She also shares some innovative ways that school districts and programs are preparing teachers during uncertain times.
Project

After School Matters 2020 Summer Program Analysis

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, After School Matters engaged in organization-wide planning and preparation efforts to move in-person programs online. After School Matters reenvisioned its summer 2020 program session to provide 517 remote learning programs to nearly 10,000 teens in the city of Chicago. After School Matters partnered with AIR to contextualize and better understand remote programming in three key topics: (1) teen experiences, (2) instructor experiences, and (3) program quality.
Illustration of AIR expert Eboni Howard
30 Jul 2020
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Eboni Howard

Eboni Howard is a nationally recognized expert in child and family development, implementation science, and mixed-methods evaluation approaches. In this Q&A, she describes her work on such topics as early childhood systems change, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, and professional development.
Image of empty desks in a classroom
27 Jul 2020
In the Field

Why Retaining Deeply Experienced Teachers Is Critical During a Global Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic turns into a longer-term crisis with no end in sight, planning for the fall raises even more questions for teachers about school policies and their own futures. This is the first installment of a new series in which AIR experts discuss how to facilitate quality instruction in the midst of a pandemic, from attracting, preparing, and retaining teachers to providing them with professional learning opportunities.
23 Jul 2020
Podcast

AIR Informs: Responding to the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic

AIR takes an evidence-based approach to its research, evaluation, training, and technical assistance work on a daily basis. For our latest podcast series, AIR Informs, AIR experts explore the different ways the coronavirus pandemic is affecting our lives and how we can address the challenges it presents.
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21 Jul 2020
Report

Reading Motivation, Reading Achievement, and Reading Achievement Gaps: Evidence from the NAEP 2015 Reading Assessment

This study aims to understand the role that reading motivation plays in middle school reading achievement (including achievement gaps) by analyzing the 2015 grade 8 NAEP reading data. The study focuses on identifying the unique effects of student-level reading motivation and aggregated school-level mean reading motivation on reading achievement.
Image of young girl learning at her laptop
20 Jul 2020
In the Field

Digital Accessibility: How Schools and Teachers Can Support Students with Disabilities in Remote Learning

Keeping an eye on issues of equity in remote learning environments can seem overwhelming, particularly when moving teaching and learning from the classroom to an online platform. Taking the time to address digital accessibility has an overarching benefit: Universally designed and accessible learning materials can benefit all learners.
Image of PIAAC map
14 Jul 2020
Q & A

New Tool Maps Literacy and Numeracy Skills Across U.S. States and Counties

Literacy and numeracy are cornerstones of our modern society. Jaleh Soroui discusses the data behind the National Center for Education Statistics' PIAAC Skills Mapping tool, and how it can be used by state and county policymakers, administrators, educators, researchers, and others to draft policies, address gaps, set priorities, and allocate resources.
Image of man doing math on a whiteboard
9 Jul 2020
Q & A

In Conversation: How an International Survey Can Help Us Understand the Challenges the Coronavirus Poses for Educators

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, teachers, principals, and students have had to quickly adjust to distance learning or e-learning. Although data were gathered before the pandemic, the results of the spring 2020 release of Volume 2 of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) offer insights about teachers and principals that may help us better understand the challenges they are experiencing now and about how to support them.
7 Jul 2020
Q & A

A Practitioner’s Insights on Student Misconceptions and Errors

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and TIMSS Advanced assessments are a rich source of data on student performance in math and physics. A team of AIR researchers methodically analyzed these data across multiple assessment cycles and answered some of our questions about them.
Project

Resource Series: Expanded Learning Partnerships for the Whole Child During COVID-19 and Beyond

The start of the 2020–21 academic year illustrated the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of school-aged students and their families, and has heightened the need to catalyze the systems that support them. AIR partnered with Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) and the Partnership for Children and Youth to develop three resources on how expanded learning providers, districts and schools across California have been working together to best meet the needs of students during this unprecedented time.
Project

Birth Through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST)

In order to break the cycle of poverty, the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma is taking early action. The Birth through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST) program, supported by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, is offering supports for families in the earliest years of their children’s lives.
Image of mother and son playing with blocks
30 Jun 2020
In the Field

Four Steps to Help Home Visitors Increase Use of Evidence-Based Practices

Through home visiting, child development specialists, speech therapists, and other professionals work with families and their children in their homes to assess children’s development and health, as well as bolster parenting skills. Consistent, correct use of evidence-based practices by practitioners such as home visitors can help improve children’s outcomes. AIR recently conducted a study of a parent-implemented language-based intervention used in the home visiting context.
Image of preschool girl reading
25 Jun 2020
Brief

Impact of COVID-19 on Early Learning and Care in California

The COVID-19 crisis has taken a toll on California's early learning and care system, and early learning providers need more support. In order to understand the ways in which programs have adapted, the services they provide, and the challenges they are facing, AIR and Early Edge California collected data from early learning programs throughout the state.
Infographic: College completion rates
15 Jun 2020
In the Field

Making Sense of Data on International College Completion Rates and Financial Aid

Among the benefits of going to college are higher employment rates, higher earnings, and healthier lifestyles. Yet many young people who enroll in college don’t make it to graduation day. In a RISE webinar, Rachel Dinkes and Audrey Peek highlighted key findings and implications from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data.
Image of girls wearing Girls' Inc. t-shirts
8 Jun 2020
Q & A

Lessons from AIR’s Girls Inc. Study: What Helps Girls Thrive

Girls Inc. offers programming to girls ages 6 to 18 to help them develop skills and find the support they'll need to prepare for work and leadership roles in adulthood. In this Q&A, research project leaders Allison Dymnicki and Melissa Yisak answer a few questions about what research shows about out-of-school time programming and girls, as well as the findings from their evaluation of Girls Inc.
Project

Improving Education Outcomes for Students Who Have Experienced Trauma and/or Adversity

What can educators and educational systems do to support the resilience of children who experience severe, persistent and/or accumulative stress? AIR was commissioned by OECD to summarize (1) best evidence on causes and effects of adversity and/or trauma that students in many countries experience, (2) factors that exacerbate or reduce the effects of adversity and/or trauma, and (3) effective educational practices.
Illustration of AIR Expert Ann-Marie Faria
26 May 2020
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Ann-Marie Faria

AIR early childhood development and education expert, Ann-Marie Faria, Ph.D., focuses on quantitative research in early childhood settings, drawing on her experience as a former kindergarten and elementary school teacher. In this Q&A, she discusses her research at AIR, focused on documenting and improving quality in the early childhood mixed delivery system.
24 May 2020
Spotlight

The Good Behavior Game

The Good Behavior Game is an evidence-based behavioral classroom management strategy that helps children learn how to work together to create a positive learning environment. AIR works with school districts and communities on all aspects of GBG implementation, including planning, providing training to teachers and local coaches, and monitoring practices over time.
Image of interlocking colorful blocks
22 May 2020
Brief

Recognizing the Role of Afterschool and Summer Programs and Systems in Reopening and Rebuilding

The need for safety, support, and trusting, reciprocal relationships is especially important as we work to rebuild and return stronger than before COVID-19. This resource describes the role that afterschool and summer programs and systems can play and offers strategies for afterschool and summer programs and school leaders to work together in support of youth, families, and the community.
Image of elementary age child doing crafts outdoors
21 May 2020
In the Field

Navigating Summertime Experiences in 2020: Helpful Resources and Support for Program Providers

Summertime provides a unique opportunity for community partners, schools, families, and young people to work together to provide programs and services that promote the social, emotional, and cognitive development of youth. AIR expert Deb Moroney discusses how such programs might be affected by the coronavirus pandemic and offers resources for program providers.
19 May 2020
Report

Condition of Education Reports

How has the U.S. education system changed over time? What are the characteristics of students and teachers? How does the U.S. education system compare with others around the world? The annual Condition of Education provides data and information on these questions and much more.
15 May 2020
In the Field

Isolated from Opportunity: Reflections on Brown v Board of Education 66 Years Later

May 17 marks the 66th anniversary of the historic 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. The court’s unanimous ruling outlawed racial segregation in public schools, citing a violation of the equal protection clause under the Fourteenth Amendment.
14 May 2020
Podcast

AIR Informs Episode #6: Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities During COVID-19

Remote learning requires adjustment for all students, but students with disabilities face additional challenges during the COVID-19 quarantine. In this episode of AIR Informs, Allison Gandhi describes some of these obstacles, as well as strategies to help students, schools, and families make the most of this time.
Illustration of AIR expert Allison Gandhi
14 May 2020
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Allison Gandhi

Managing Director Allison Gandhi directs and implements large research projects at AIR and oversees the organization’s special education practice area. In this Q&A, she discusses her work and identifies trends to watch in special education over the next five to ten years.
11 May 2020
Report

COVID-19 and the Squeeze on State Education Budgets: Equity Implications for New York State

AIR examined New York’s post–COVID-19 Enacted Budget and compared it to the Executive Budget, released in January, to understand the effect of COVID-19 on state aid received by districts, with a focus on how differences between the two budgets related to district poverty levels. Next, AIR conducted longitudinal analysis looking at education revenue per pupil over time in New York State by district poverty rates.
4 May 2020
In the Field

Teacher Appreciation Takes on New Meaning in COVID-19 Era and Beyond

Gretchen Weber, former vice president for Policy, Practice, and Systems Change at AIR, has always championed teachers and advocated for meaningful teacher appreciation every day of the year. In this post, she discusses the challenges teachers are facing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Image of boy distance learning on his laptop
4 May 2020
In the Field

Teacher Appreciation in the Time of Coronavirus

Right now, teachers must navigate additional challenges to accommodate the coronavirus pandemic and school shutdowns. For Teacher Appreciation Week 2020, we are honored to showcase the ingenuity, creativity, and care that teachers are bringing to their virtual classrooms, and to families and communities, as shared by AIR’s experts.
Project

National Survey of Public Education’s Response to COVID-19

To improve services to students and families, we need information on what districts and charter management organizations are doing and plan to do to address COVID-19. From mid-May through July 2020, we are asking school district and charter management organization leaders to respond to a nationally representative survey of school districts and charter management organizations—more than 2,500 in total—about the actions they have taken and the challenges they have encountered during the COVID-19-related school closures.
30 Apr 2020
Brief

Grading Policy in the Time of COVID-19: Considerations and Implications for Equity

Knowing that the current context is dramatically different than previous school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that students’ access to learning from home varies, how should schools grade student performance? This brief from the California Collaborative on District Reform explores some of the policy options California districts and other states have pursued, as well as considerations and tradeoffs related to equity.
Teacher taking selfie with students
30 Apr 2020
Spotlight

Preparing and Evaluating Effective Teachers and Leaders

Teacher performance evaluation systems are one potential tool for improving student success. Emerging research points to some promising features of performance evaluation measures. Explore our most recent resources in teacher and leader development and effectiveness to discover what we are learning and how it is contributing to successful schools.
23 Apr 2020
Video

Webinar Series: Teaching and Leading in the Time of COVID-19

Teachers and principals across the country are surprising students, caregivers, and their communities with innovative practices and thoughtful solutions to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders is collaborating with national partners and leading educators to produce an ongoing webinar series focused on the needs of educators during this unprecedented time.
Image of dad and small children reading together
14 Apr 2020
Q & A

Troubling Trends in Reading Attitudes: A Q&A with Martin Hooper, Senior Researcher

Martin Hooper analyzes contexts for learning through large-scale assessment data. In this Q&A, he talks about his recent publications highlighting trends in literacy attitudes and practices, including the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. He also discusses how attitudes toward reading have shifted since 2001, in the U.S. and abroad; the implications of these attitude shifts; and how adults can promote reading in children.
9 Apr 2020
Podcast

AIR Informs Episode #4: Communities of Practice During COVID-19

Even though the coronavirus pandemic has pushed interaction, learning, and professional development to online environments, that doesn’t mean these activities can’t be just as effective as they would be in person. In this episode of AIR Informs, Melissa Rasberry and Marshal Conley discuss communities of practice and how they can help teachers connect.
Image of mother with young girl reading on bed together
7 Apr 2020
Spotlight

Building Positive Conditions for Learning at Home: Strategies and Resources for Families and Caregivers

As we all adjust to the current situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we create a safe, supportive, and engaging spaces for learning at home. In the coming weeks, we will continue to add new information, strategies, things to look for, and resources that have more information.
2 Apr 2020
Podcast

AIR Informs Episode #3: Creating a Safe, Supportive Learning Environment at Home

In this episode of AIR Informs, David Osher, an AIR vice president and Institute Fellow, explains the science of learning and development, as well as how parents can create a safe, supportive learning environment at home while their children are away from school during the coronavirus pandemic.
2 Apr 2020
Report

Effects of Visual Representations and Associated Interactive Features on Student Performance on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Pilot Science Scenario-Based Tasks

As part of the transition to an entirely digitally based assessment (DBA), new types of NAEP items have begun to be developed that leverage the DBA environment to measure a wider range of knowledge and skills, including science scenario-based tasks that are the focus of this report.
Illustration of AIR expert Michelle Yin
1 Apr 2020
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Michelle Yin

Michelle Yin, Ph.D., works at the nexus of education and labor economics, with a focus on special populations that include people with disabilities, youth at risk of not graduating from high school, and adult literacy learners. Her work provides empirical evidence that helps inform policy, practice, and advocacy.
30 Mar 2020
Podcast

AIR Informs Episode #2: Opportunities for Learning and Development in Out-of-School Time

In this podcast, AIR managing director and youth development expert Dr. Deborah Moroney, based in Chicago, shares what parents should know about out-of-school time programs and resources to support students while they’re not in school.
24 Mar 2020
Toolkit

SEL Online Learning Module: Creating a Well-Rounded Educational Experience

This free online course from AIR was designed as an introduction to social and emotional learning (SEL) for educators who endeavor to create a well-rounded educational experience. This introductory course is designed for all educators to ensure that the whole school community is engaged in the adoption and implementation of sustainable SEL practices.
Image of AIR CEO David Myers
17 Mar 2020
Commentary

Caring for Our People; Committed to Our Work. AIR President David Myers Responds to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Like all organizations and institutions, AIR is responding to the global coronavirus pandemic. In these most unusual circumstances, we remain committed to improving people’s lives through research, evaluation, and technical assistance and serving the needs of our communities, our clients, and our partners. Read a message from our CEO, David Myers.
12 Mar 2020
Report

International Early Learning Study

The International Early Learning Study measures 5-year-olds in four key areas: emerging numeracy, emerging literacy, self-regulation, and social-emotional skills. The study provides educators, policymakers, and parents with important context to help them better prepare children for primary school.
Project

Science of Learning and Development in Practice

The science of learning and development is an emerging, cross-disciplinary body of knowledge that tells us how young people learn and develop. We partnered with seven national youth-serving organizations to learn about how they are aligning the guiding principles from the science of learning and development to their organizational and program practices.
28 Feb 2020
Report

A Comparative Profile of 15-Year-Old Students Who Expect to Work in Finance

With the increasing significance of the financial sector and the recognition of financial literacy as an essential life skill, it is important to compare—in a global context—students’ career expectations in finance and explore their association with students’ financial literacy. This study compares 15-year-old students who reported career expectations in finance in 13 education systems that participated in the financial literacy assessment of the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
20 Feb 2020
Report

Midline Report for the Mixed-Methods Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of Impact Network’s eSchool 360 Model in Rural Zambia

The eSchool 360 model implemented by Impact Network represents a promising approach to improving educational outcomes in Zambia by incorporating three potentially high-impact components that could create important synergies. This report presents the midline results of the cluster-randomized controlled trial used to determine the impact of the model.
Image of California map
5 Feb 2020
Q & A

A Learning Community for School District Leaders Promotes Evidence-Based Decision-Making

The California Collaborative on District Reform was designed to improve educational opportunities for all students, with particular emphasis on those who have been historically underserved. Joel Knudson, a senior researcher at AIR and the Collaborative’s deputy project director, answered questions about the Collaborative and its work.
Project

The Readiness Projects: Leveraging Science to Support the Readiness of Youth, Adults, Systems, and Communities

Emerging findings from neuroscience, psychology, sociology illuminate the optimal human development periods—early childhood and adolescence—when we must act with intention and care. The Readiness Projects will bolster projects that support the readiness of youth, adults, systems, and community leaders by finding ways to test the utility of the learning sciences findings, to inform efforts to improve quality, to increase engagement, and to advance equity.
Infographic: Public Charter School Enrollment
23 Jan 2020
Q & A

As Charter Schools Expand, Research and Evidence-Based Practices Are Critical

Across 43 states and the District of Columbia, 7,000 charter schools now enroll more than 3 million students, according to a report co-authored by AIR. Megan Austin highlights how research and evidence-based practices can help charter management organizations and charter school leaders build capacity, develop effective teachers and leaders, and meet the needs of their students.
14 Jan 2020
Journal Article

What Works to Improve Early Grade Literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean? A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Educational policies on early grade literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean have long suffered from a disjuncture between school practice and research. This systematic review examines the effectiveness and fidelity of implementation of various programs in the LAC region that aim to improve EGL outcomes, including teacher training, school feeding, computer‐aided instruction, nutrition, and technology‐in‐education.
14 Jan 2020
Report

Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States

These reports build upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988.

Project

Florida Community Partnership Schools Initiative Evaluation

Funded by the Florida state Legislature, the Community Partnership Schools (CPS) model aims to provide students and their families with access to a wide variety of learning opportunities and health and wellness supports. In partnership with the Center for Community Schools at the University of Central Florida, AIR is evaluating implementation of the CPS model and how it affects students.
Project

Center for Process Data

Big data has entered the field of education increasingly over the last decade. The most important factor for this increase is the introduction of online/digital learning and assessment environments. AIR is working with NCES to maximize the potential of this data to deepen our understanding of student behavior and assessment engagement; to inform decisions on assembly, development, and operations; and to analyze and report data.
Project

Humanitarian Education Accelerator

The Department for International Development, UNICEF, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees established the Humanitarian Education Accelerator (HEA), with the aim of understanding how to create the conditions necessary to scale existing pilot programs. In order to begin building the evidence base, the HEA engaged AIR to produce a meta-evaluation to synthesize the findings of mixed methods process evaluations of all five of the innovation teams, as well as impact evaluations of three innovation teams’ work.
30 Dec 2019
Report

Digest of Education Statistics

Since 1962, the primary purpose of the Digest of Education Statistics has been to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from pre-kindergarten through graduate school, containing data on a variety of topics.
Graphic showing 2019 turning to 2020
11 Dec 2019
Spotlight

AIR 2019 Highlights: Advancing Equity Through Evidence

Equity is at the heart of AIR’s mission and work. In 2019, AIR’s experts contributed evidence and insights in support of equal access to a good education, quality health care services, and robust opportunities in the workforce. Learn how AIR’s mission-focused work in research, evaluation, and technical assistance is improving people’s lives across the U.S. and around the world.
Teachers standing by chalkboard talking
3 Dec 2019
In the Field

FAQs: Developing Clearinghouses to Identify and Implement Evidence-Based Educational Practices

In 2019, a grant gave Ohio the opportunity to improve literacy outcomes for children from birth through grade 12 and required educators to use relevant evidence-based practices. AIR experts provided education leaders with trainings on ESSA and evidence-based practices and produced several resources, such as a crosswalk aligning the ESSA evidence tiers with the ratings systems of evidence-based clearinghouses.
Image of teachers working together
21 Nov 2019
In the Field

Nine Conditions That Helped Massachusetts Turn Around Its Schools

What should states and districts working on school improvement keep in mind about successful turnaround efforts? AIR experts have identified nine key conditions that led to successful turnaround in Massachusetts that could be useful to education leaders in other states.
14 Nov 2019
Report

Making SEL Assessment Work: Ten Practitioner Beliefs

In the social and emotional learning field, multiple assessment issues—from the complexity, validity, and reliability of measures, to the use and interpretation of results—baffle even the most experienced researchers. AIR and CASEL convened 28 practice leaders from across the country to understand how they are implementing, assessing, and refining their SEL practices.
13 Nov 2019
Report

Career and Technical Education in High School and Postsecondary Pathways in Washington State

This paper describes the postsecondary transitions of students taking CTE courses in high school using administrative data on one cohort of high school graduates in Washington State.
student and teacher working on math problem
4 Nov 2019
In the Field

Supporting Students in Secure Care Through Title I, Part D

Educating students who have been neglected, delinquent, or are otherwise at-risk requires specialized training and careful collaboration across the agencies responsible for serving for these students. For this reason, each state receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education through the Title I, Part D Neglected or Delinquent Programs. Determining the best use of these funds is a top priority for all Title I, Part D coordinators.
Project

PROGRESS Center (Promoting Rigorous Outcomes & Growth by Redesigning Educational Services for Students with Disabilities)

The PROGRESS Center provides information, resources, and support for local educators and leaders responsible for the development and implementation of high-quality educational programs that ensure students with disabilities have access to free appropriate public education (FAPE) and that enables them to make progress and meet challenging goals
30 Oct 2019
Report

Children’s Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois

At least half of states administer or are developing kindergarten entry assessments. In fall 2017 the Illinois State Board of Education began requiring teachers to report data on every child’s skills at kindergarten entry using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey.
30 Oct 2019
Report

NAEP Validity Studies Panel Responses to the Re-analysis of TUDA Mathematics Scores

When the 2017 NAEP Mathematics TUDA (Trial Urban District Assessment) results were reported and it appeared that student performance trends on the NAEP were not similar to student performance trends on the state assessments that were aligned to college and career ready standards, a reanalysis study was designed to explore whether content misalignment might be a possible reason for the mismatched results. This report serves as a response from the NAEP Validity Studies Panel to the analysis.
Image of teacher in classroom with students on tablets
29 Oct 2019
In the Field

Three Strategies for Preparing Teachers of Computer Science

Teachers are the number-one factor in student learning, so preparing and supporting high-quality teachers of computer science is critical. AIR is working with states, districts, and teachers to implement and test three promising strategies to strengthen teacher preparation and development:
Image of young children looking at bugs in a field
23 Oct 2019
Q & A

Q&A: The Unique Assets and Challenges of Rural Education

As the Indiana State Liaison for REL Midwest, AIR Researcher Billie Day helps maximize opportunities for rural students, schools, and communities. She answered some questions about what assets and challenges affect rural education, some misconceptions about it, and her personal connection to the work.
Image of young teacher with students using magnifying glasses outside
14 Oct 2019
Brief

The Science of Learning and Development in Afterschool Systems and Settings

The SoLD Alliance is a collaborative effort to combine findings from diverse areas of research, from neuroscience to human development, into an integrated science of learning and development. It includes experts from AIR, EducationCounsel, the Forum for Youth Investment, Learning Policy Institute, Populace, and Turnaround for Children.
8 Oct 2019
Video

Webinar Series: Evidence-Based Practices Under ESSA

This series of two webinars, co-hosted by the Minnesota Department of Education and the Midwest Comprehensive Center, provides participants with an understanding of the research concepts embedded in the minimum requirements for CSI, TSI, and ATSI schools to help schools select evidence-based practices for their improvement plans.
Infographic: How do U.S. teachers and principals compare with teachers, principals internationally?
7 Oct 2019
Q & A

In Conversation: Insights on U.S. Teachers and Principals from an International Survey

How does the U.S. education workforce compare to other countries in terms of demographics, attitudes, and beliefs? Do they spend more time on instruction and other tasks than international educators? AIR provides technical and substantive support for the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which provides a barometer of the profession every five years. AIR Principal Researchers Matthew Clifford, Ebru Erberber, and Lisa Lachlan discussed TALIS 2018 key findings and policy and practice implications from a U.S. perspective.
Project

National Evaluation of Career and Technical Education under Perkins V (NECTEP)

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) reauthorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, which funds state agencies that in turn provide grants to school districts and postsecondary institutions to implement career and technical education. AIR and its partners will design and execute an evaluation, collecting and analyzing data from a variety of sources to evaluate CTE under the new law.
1 Oct 2019
Toolkit

Are You Ready to Assess Social and Emotional Learning and Development? (Second Edition)

How can you assess conditions for learning and development, as well as social and emotional competencies? The Stop, Think, Act: Ready to Assess toolkit, available at no cost, helps educators, practitioners, and policymakers decide if and when they are ready to take those steps.
Project

Evaluating the Impact of Early College High Schools

Early Colleges partner with colleges and universities to offer students an opportunity to earn an associate’s degree or up to two years of college credits toward a bachelor’s degree during high school at no or low cost to their families. AIR researchers have conducted a number of comprehensive studies on their impact, finding overall that Early Colleges show strong and lasting evidence of effectiveness for all students. Promoting postsecondary access and success can be an effective policy strategy for improving postsecondary enrollment and completion rates.
30 Sep 2019
Brief

Student Advising: An Evidence-Based Practice

This resource was developed to support initiatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin related to personalized and deeper learning, including the use of student academic and career plans. It includes a brief summary of the research, highlights promising student advising practices, and provides the results of a research evidence review that indicates that there is promising evidence for the practice of student advising.
Image of AIR staff gathering before a tour of civil rights landmarks
30 Sep 2019
In the Field

Understanding Educational Inequality by Revisiting Civil Rights History

Educational equity means that all students, regardless of circumstances or location, have equal access to opportunities to succeed in the classroom and beyond. A group of AIR staff and clients participated in a civil rights learning journey across the South to better understand how the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s affects educational opportunities today.
26 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Addressing the Educator Pipeline Through Pathways and Partnerships

In this blog post, published as part of the work of the Midwest Comprehensive Center, Chris Times discusses how states can ensure that all students have access to excellent educators.
25 Sep 2019
Report

School Choice in the United States: 2019

Compiling data from a variety of sources and surveys from the U.S. Department of Education, School Choice in the United States: 2019 provides a snapshot of educational options such as traditional and charter public schools, private schools, and homeschooling. It contains eight indicators on topics such as enrollment, homeschooling, options and satisfaction, school crime and safety, and academic performance.
18 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Highlights from the America’s Children Report

Every year, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics releases an annual report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. AIR subject matter experts have identified some interesting findings from several indicators in the 2019 report’s education domain and explain why they matter.
12 Sep 2019
Video

Long Story Short: How Can Early College High Schools Affect Postsecondary Outcomes?

Early Colleges are designed to support traditionally underserved students through higher education, allowing students to take college courses during high school at little or no cost and provide support for their transition into college. We compared educational outcomes for Early College students with their peers who were not in the program, up to six years after expected high school graduation. In this video, Kristina Zeiser discusses the significant bolstering effects that Early Colleges produce on student outcomes.
10 Sep 2019
Brief

Using Chronic Absence Data to Improve Conditions for Learning

Reducing chronic absence goes hand in hand with cultivating positive conditions for learning. This brief discusses how education leaders, community partners and policymakers can use chronic absence data to address inequities and improve student outcomes.
10 Sep 2019
Service

ESSA Tiers of Evidence Services

Passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) means significant changes for states, districts, and educational program developers. AIR is well-equipped to support states and districts that are implementing ESSA requirements, and program developers who want to ensure their services qualify for federal funding.
9 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Increasing Equitable Access to Quality Instruction: The Minnesota Standards Portal

In this blog post, published as part of the work of the Midwest Comprehensive Center, Marguerite Huber discusses an effort to create a centerpiece of support for teachers and districts implementing Minnesota state standards.
Image of man and school-aged boy on a bench
6 Sep 2019
In the Field

Chronic Absence: Busting Myths and Helping Educators Develop More Effective Responses

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.
Project

Postsecondary Education and Employment Pathways of Minnesota Public High School Graduates: Investigating Opportunity Gaps

This study examines differences in postsecondary pathways, college certificate and degree attainment, and employment outcomes for students with different demographic characteristics and attending schools of differing urbanicity. The study used the Minnesota Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System, employment data, and earnings data to explore students’ pathways one year and six years after high school graduation. The findings may help state education agencies, districts, and schools provide relevant support and prepare students for life after high school.
Project

Analyzing the Research on Gender Stereotypes in STEM

For over 25 years, scientists have studied the impact of children’s gender stereotypes about abilities in STEM. AIR experts are conducting a meta-analysis of the existing research for a National Science Foundation study seeking to clarify ambiguous findings regarding gender stereotypes in the STEM fields.
21 Aug 2019
Brief

Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales

By placing a state standard onto the NAEP scale, a NAEP equivalent score of that standard is produced, which can be compared across states. The recently released report—the seventh in the series—highlights the results from the 2016–17 school year and compares them with results from two earlier years: 2007 to show the longer-term trend and 2015 to show the immediate change.
Infographic: Student Bullying and Perceptions of Power Imbalance
19 Aug 2019
Q & A

A Public Health Approach to School Bullying: A Q&A With Xan Young, Senior TA Consultant

Xan Young, senior technical assistance consultant at AIR, directs the Violence Prevention Technical Assistance Center, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this Q&A, Young shares her insights on bullying and AIR’s work on this issue.
14 Aug 2019
Spotlight

Back to School: Preparing Students and Schools for Success

As students across the country return to school, those responsible for their care and education are finalizing their plans to ensure a productive year. AIR’s evidence-based resources for back to school support educators through three essential lenses: school climate, safety, and social and emotional learning (SEL); college and career readiness; and school improvement.
Father and daughter taking a survey at kitchen table
5 Aug 2019
In the Field

Four Ways AIR Experts Are Innovating Survey Methodology

A scientific, research-based survey is one of the most unbiased, methodical ways to collect and understand human behavior and opinion. With response rates on the decline, AIR researchers Michael Jackson and Cameron McPhee have conducted research exploring ways to predict survey response, including ways to boost participation among those least likely to respond, as a way to reduce non-responses. Here, they offer four takeaways from their work.
Project

Georgia College and Career Pathways: Employability Skills Task Force Recommendations

The Southeast Comprehensive Center assisted the Georgia Department of Education through technical expertise and support to the Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education staff in the implementation of career pathways. Also, SECC and the College & Career Readiness & Success Center supported the implementation of employability skills and quality work-based learning opportunities for all students. Staff from the SECC completed drafts of six programs identified for employability skills for use on the center’s website.
Project

Past and Projected Trends in Teacher Demand and Supply in Michigan

State and school district leaders in Michigan are concerned about the challenges some districts are facing in filling certain classroom teacher vacancies and about the harmful impact of teacher shortages on students, schools, and communities. This study provides a systematic analysis of trends in teacher demand, supply, and shortages in Michigan between 2013/14 and 2017/18 and projects shortages and surpluses for 2018/19–2022/23.
elementary children raising their hands excitedly
31 Jul 2019
Spotlight

Title I at 50: Past, Present, and Future

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.
25 Jul 2019
Report

Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety

These reports present key findings on crime and violence in U.S. public schools, using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS). SSOCS provides information about school crime-related topics from the school’s perspective, asking public school principals to report the frequency of violent incidents, such as physical attacks, robberies, and thefts in their schools.
22 Jul 2019
Commentary

Aspiring Teachers Deserve Time with a Mentor Before Going It Alone

In this commentary published in the Hill, Dan Goldhaber, AIR vice president and director of CALDER, and John C. White, Louisiana state superintendent of education, discuss the importance of formal mentoring for teachers during their career training.
11 Jul 2019
Brief

NCES Data Point: Adult English Literacy in the United States

The ability to read and understand basic texts is vital in modern society. A National Center for Education Statistics Data Point shows that one in five adults in the United States have low English literacy skills, meaning that they would have difficulty understanding, evaluating, using, or engaging with written texts.
10 Jul 2019
Q & A

The Education Connection: Helping Ex-Offenders Return to Their Communities

Each year, 700,000 people are released from federal and state prisons. For many, the transition home is not easy. They face obstacles including poverty, drug abuse, family dysfunction, and lack of access to services and treatment. Failure to reconnect can mean that many end up back in prison. AIR's Roger Jarjoura spoke about the role education plays in helping ex-offenders stay out of the justice system.
Image of adult students working on laptops
3 Jul 2019
Q & A

A Quick Word With: Stephanie Cronen on the National Study of the Implementation of Adult Education

The U.S. Department of Education commissioned AIR to conduct a national study to evaluate how adult education operates at the state and local levels, including who adult education providers are, the services they provide, and the challenges they face. Stephanie Cronen answered some questions about adult education and what the study aims to accomplish.
2 Jul 2019
Blog Post

How Can We Slow Down Prison’s Revolving Door?

Access to in-prison education and work experience are associated with a reduction in the likelihood of recidivism and provide inmates with a critical element on the path to reshape their personal identities. Could offering prisoners more education and work experience inside prison be a key solution to mass incarceration in the U.S.?
Project

Illinois Preschool Development Grant Projects

In 2019, 46 states and territories implemented a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Preschool Development Grant, Birth Through Five (PDG B–5), which supported states to do five broadly defined activities related to services for children birth to age 5 and their families.
Project

Reducing Summer Melt and Improving College Persistence: Testing the Effectiveness of a Light-touch Text Messaging Intervention

Text messaging is a popular and inexpensive strategy for reaching out to college-going students who may have limited access to the information in their schools and communities. This project will conceptually replicate and test whether Castleman and Page's “summer melt” text messaging intervention increases college enrollment, persistence, and credential attainment for college-intending seniors at high-poverty high schools when implemented at scale in routine educational settings.
Project

Social and Emotional Learning at Pasco County Schools

In the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, education leaders in Pasco County renewed their commitment to improve school safety and student mental health—which, according to research, can also improve academic learning. With guidance from AIR experts, a core team of district and school stakeholders examined research and existing efforts that provide students with the skills to engage in positive social interactions, master academic content, and become successful students.
30 Jun 2019
Report

50 Years of NAEP Use: Where NAEP Has Been and Where It Should Go Next

This paper traces the evolution of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) program with an emphasis on the concurrent evolution of NAEP’s primary and secondary purposes. The most detailed treatment is given to the modern era, with the author devoting separate sections to the legislation governing NAEP, the schedule of assessments, the primary reporting mechanism, and the transition to digital assessment.
25 Jun 2019
Toolkit

Work Based Learning Measures Series

Measuring student learning from work-based learning experiences gives students an opportunity to reflect on their work-based learning experiences and connect the knowledge and skills they’ve learned to future career goals. AIR's College and Career Readiness and Success Center has developed a series of five modules divided into five modules which highlight the key decision points to select and develop a work-based learning measure.
Image of girl talking in a youth group
24 Jun 2019
Q & A

A Look at Federal Support for Residential Education Programs

In a study prepared for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, AIR Senior Researchers Jennifer Loeffler-Cobia and Nicholas Read examined how state and local agencies and facilities use Title I, Part D funds in support of education, transition, and related services and supports for the youth they serve.
19 Jun 2019
Blog Post

Improving Teacher Retention in Chicago Public Schools

In this blog post, published as part of the work of the Midwest Comprehensive Center, Chris Times and Fausto López describe how educators and students in Chicago are proving that diligence and data-informed decision making can lead to positive changes.
Image of teacher and students building a robot
12 Jun 2019
Toolkit

Inclusive Technology in a 21st Century Learning System

Technology is a part of nearly every aspect of our daily lives—including the public education system. AIR, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, and more than 10 other organizations collaborated on the development of publications to ensure educational technology conception, design, procurement, use, and evaluation close rather than widen opportunity gaps between students with and without disabilities.
11 Jun 2019
Report

Student and School Characteristics Associated with Academic Outcomes for English Learner Students in Grades 3 Through 8 in Cleveland Metropolitan School District

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District has witnessed increases in the number of English learner students in grades K–12 over recent years. This study investigated the relationships of student and school characteristics with English learner student performance on statewide mathematics and English language arts assessments, and on English language proficiency levels.
5 Jun 2019
Blog Post

Promoting Equitable Education for American Indian Students

In this blog post, published as part of the work of the Midwest Comprehensive Center, Cora Goldston discusses how the Center has elevated the expertise of American Indian community members and state education agencies to support more equitable opportunities for American Indian students.
Project

Study of Practices for English Learners

English learners (ELs) face disproportionate educational challenges because they must master subject-matter content while also developing English proficiency. The Study of Practices for English Learners is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (U.S. Department of Education), and examines key policies, practices, and activities related to ELs nationwide.
Project

Informing Improved Recognition of Military Learning

With more than 1 million veterans having used the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, it is critical to better understand the challenges veterans face—and paths institutions could take to address those challenges by better recognizing their learning. This project examines veterans’ experiences with, and perceptions of, having their military learning recognized by postsecondary institutions as they pursue a credential.
22 May 2019
Journal Article

How Responsive Is a Teacher’s Classroom Practice to Intervention? A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Field Studies

While teacher effectiveness has been a particular focus of federal education policy, and districts allocate significant resources toward professional development for teachers, these efforts are guided by an unexplored assumption that classroom practice can be improved through intervention. This study examines the question of responsiveness by conducting a meta-analysis of randomized experiments of interventions directed at classroom practice.
Image of three girls excitedly looking at a book
22 May 2019
Q & A

The Condition of Education: Frequently Asked Questions, Answered

Every spring, the National Center for Education Statistics releases an omnibus report, The Condition of Education. In this Q&A, Jijun Zhang, a senior research analyst at AIR who has worked on this report for a decade, explains how it is compiled, who uses it, and what it can tell us about the state of education—both today and over time.
Illustration of David Osher and areas of expertise
20 May 2019
Q & A

Meet the Expert: David Osher

David Osher is a leading expert in violence prevention, conditions for learning, school safety, and social and emotional learning. The principal investigator on three national centers, he has written and edited various books and articles, including Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Students, with fellow AIR experts Deborah Moroney and Sandra Williamson.
17 May 2019
Spotlight

AIR Reads: A Sampling of Books by AIR Board Members, Fellows, and Staff Members

Making the world a better and more informed place drives AIR board members, fellows, and staff. These recent books examine pressing issues in depth, drawing on the best research available to understand complex challenges and offer practical solutions.
13 May 2019
Report

Study of the Title I, Part A Grant Program Mathematical Formulas

The major goals of Title I funding are to provide services to children in low income families and to support school districts with large numbers of poor children. In 2015 ESSA mandated a report examining the distribution of Title I funds to better understand how the current formulas affect various types of school districts—large and small, poor and wealthy, urban, and rural. AIR conducted this report with the National Center for Education Statistics.
Image of Gretchen Weber
3 May 2019
Q & A

How to Truly Appreciate Teachers: A Q&A With Gretchen Weber, AIR Managing Director

Gretchen Weber is still a teacher at heart. A National Board Certified Teacher, she thinks of herself as a voice for teachers—someone who has walked in their shoes and now hammers on the issues teachers face every day. In our latest Q&A, she explains how we can recognize teachers not just this week, but throughout the year.
Project

Great Lakes Comprehensive Center (GLCC)

The Great Lakes Comprehensive Center was one of 15 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education for the October 2012–September 2019 grant cycle of the Comprehensive Centers Program. The centers provided capacity-building technical assistance to state education agencies in their implementation and administration of programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, reauthorized in 2015 as the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Project

Midwest Comprehensive Center (MWCC)

The Midwest Comprehensive Center provided technical assistance to the state education agencies (SEAs) of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin with a focus on building the capacity of the SEA to support districts and schools to ensure that all students graduate high school ready for college or a career. Technical assistance was tailored to each state's individual needs while also being aligned to the priorities of the U.S. Department of Education.
Project

Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC)

The Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC) was one of 15 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education for the October 2012–September 2019 grant cycle. TXCC works closely with the Texas Education Agency, supporting their efforts to implement, scale up, and sustain initiatives statewide as well as lead and support their school districts and schools in improving student outcomes.
Project

Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC)

The Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) was one of 15 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education for the October 2012–September 2019 grant cycle of the Comprehensive Centers Program. SECC provided training and technical assistance to state education agencies in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina, to enable them to assist school districts and schools in the implementation and administration of programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as reauthorized in 2015 as the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Project

Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes

AIR is studying the ways in which schools provide opportunities for students to acquire complex knowledge and deeper learning skills. Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the study examines the impact of these opportunities on how students develop five dimensions of deeper learning: mastery of core content, critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, communication skills, and independent learning skills.
30 Apr 2019
Guide

Guide to Working With External Providers (Fourth Edition)

Although ESSA defines what is meant by evidence-based interventions, districts are responsible for selecting and implementing the strategies that are best aligned to their school needs. This guide was developed to support state and district leaders in identifying and working with external partners.
Image of Alexandria Walton Radford
24 Apr 2019
Q & A

A Quick Word With: Alexandria Walton Radford, on Postsecondary Education and College Admissions

The college admissions scandal that broke in March 2019 drew attention to the lengths that a few people go to cheat or pay their children’s way into these colleges, and to the way colleges make decisions about who gets accepted. Alexandria Walton Radford, a managing researcher at AIR and director of a new center on postsecondary education, answered a few questions about the state of college admissions.
Image of students from the 1960s taking a test in a classroom
15 Apr 2019
Q & A

Checking in on Project Talent with AIR Vice President Susan Lapham

Project Talent is the largest, most comprehensive study of high school students ever conducted in the United States. Since its launch in 1960, researchers have continued to collect data on the original participants and now its data are helping AIR researchers study possible risk and protective factors of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Project Talent Director and AIR Vice President Susan Lapham answered a few questions about the project, its history, and its potential influence.
12 Apr 2019
Journal Article

Using Response Propensity Modeling to Allocate Noncontingent Incentives in an Address-Based Sample: Evidence from a National Experiment

Monetary incentives are frequently used to improve survey response rates. Using data from the 2016 National Household Education Survey, an address-based sample of U.S. households, this article evaluates an experiment in which the noncontingent incentive amount was determined by a household’s predicted response propensity.
8 Apr 2019
Journal Article

Professional Learning Communities in Prisons

In 2016, the Office of Correctional Education in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation embarked on a process of implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) in all 35 California state prisons. AIR provided professional development and consulting on the PLC process.
5 Apr 2019
Guide

ESSA Key Resources: Improving the Fairness of School Funding

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers a variety of opportunities for state and local leaders to ensure equitable funding across their schools. AIR experts have compiled a list of key resources to help state and district leaders assess their funding practices, identify problems related to equity, and promote equitable resource allocation.
5 Apr 2019
Guide

ESSA Action Guide | Using ESSA to Improve the Fairness of School Funding

Studies have shown that education finance reform that addresses funding equity can improve educational—and life—outcomes, such as higher wages and a lower incidence of adult poverty.

5 Apr 2019
Guide

ESSA Key Resources: Selecting the Right Evidence-Based Practices

Evidence-based practices play an important role in ESSA. AIR experts have compiled a list of key resources to help education leaders choose the right evidence-based practice or program for your district or school and bring positive outcomes for their students.
5 Apr 2019
Guide

ESSA Action Guide │ Selecting Evidence-Based Practices for Low-Performing Schools

Evidence-based practices are commonly understood as those practices informed by research that lead to improved educational outcomes. This action guide offers education leaders three action steps to ensure the evidence-based practices they select meet ESSA requirements and fit their specific needs.
5 Apr 2019
Guide

ESSA Action Guides

Signed into law in 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a commitment by Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to equal educational opportunity for all American students. As states continue to implement ESSA programs, AIR is providing a series of action guides to support and inform education leaders.
3 Apr 2019
Brief

Pursuing Equity and Excellence in Mathematics: Course Sequencing and Placement in San Francisco

In 2014, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) moved away from a state-supported policy that placed all Grade 8 students in Algebra I due concerns about poor student outcomes and growing achievement gaps. A new policy and practice brief from the California Collaborative on District Reform, an initiative of AIR, explores student outcomes four years after the change.
Image of graphic featuring a quote from Tammie Causey-Konate
3 Apr 2019
Q & A

A Quick Word About Educational Leadership With: Tammie M. Causey-Konaté

Tammie M. Causey-Konaté, deputy director of the Southeast Comprehensive Center and senior technical assistance consultant at AIR, lived through the stress and displacement of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In the aftermath, she co-edited a 2018 book by fellow educators and writers who documented their experiences and developed a tiered approach to disaster recovery for education systems and students who experience trauma.
2 Apr 2019
Report

Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Labor Underutilization

Educational attainment is negatively related to unemployment and to working part time involuntarily. The National Center for Education Statistics released a new Data Point report entitled Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Labor Underutilization. This report examines the relationship between educational attainment and the rates at which adults are unemployed or underemployed (working involuntarily part time or involuntarily in a temporary job).
Project

Nevada School Climate / Social Emotional Learning Survey

The Nevada School Climate/Social Emotional Learning Survey (NV-SCSEL) is administered to students across the state of Nevada each spring. The NV-SCSEL is used by schools to measure and understand their students’ perceptions of key school climate topic areas, including physical and emotional safety, relationships, and cultural and linguistic competence, as well as students’ perceptions of their social and emotional competencies.
Infographic: Three-year olds enrolled in early childhood services
29 Mar 2019
Q & A

In Conversation: AIR Experts Discuss Early Childhood Systems Around the World

Research has firmly established that the first five years of a child’s life are critical for future success in school and in life, yet a September 2018 report shows that young children’s educational experiences are inconsistent across the U.S. and around the world. The Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators report includes findings on how early childhood education and care varies around the world in terms of approach, enrollment, quality, and teachers’ salaries. Three AIR experts discussed those variations, and excerpts of their conversation appear below.
28 Mar 2019
Report

Measuring the Economic Success of Florida’s Graduates

Florida has a large and complex system of higher education. Measuring the Economic Success of Florida’s Graduates provides students, parents, and others with information on graduates of Florida’s public institutions of higher education.
Image of map of Arizona showing Chinle
11 Mar 2019
In the Field

Building Leadership Skills to Strengthen Schools in Chinle, Arizona

The Chinle Unified School District faced both leadership challenges and teacher retention problems prior to the 2016-2017 school year. In fall 2017, AIR began providing competency-based turnaround leadership coaching, focusing on the patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, or speaking that cause a principal to be successful.
4 Mar 2019
Service

Assess and Improve │ Early Warning Systems in Education

An early warning system can be a powerful strategy to provide data to inform educators’ practices and help students get back on track. An EWS is implemented as a continuous improvement process, improving practices through review and refinement of practice. Through analysis of process, practice, and data, our clients receive recommendations to take action that improve student outcomes.
4 Mar 2019
Service

Launch and Implement │ Early Warning Systems in Education

In close collaboration with education leaders, AIR experts help clients use a seven-step, research-based continuous improvement process that enables educators to keep a close eye on at-risk students and to intervene early—and often—to improve student outcomes.
4 Mar 2019
Service

Customize Tools and Supports │ Early Warning Systems in Education

AIR translates research and evidence-based practices into ready-to-use, effective models to identify students early and support them with appropriate interventions to achieving key educational milestones.
4 Mar 2019
Service

Validate Indicators │ Early Warning Systems in Education

AIR researchers work with schools’, districts’, and states’ own data to identify the indicators that signal students’ readiness for key educational milestones. Starting with indicators drawn from the literature, AIR experts perform appropriate statistical analysis using state-, district-, or school-level data to identify which indicators accurately predict which students are on track.
4 Mar 2019
Service

Synthesize Research │ Early Warning Systems in Education

AIR researchers explore the indicators that signal students’ readiness to reach key educational milestones. By synthesizing the latest research on early warning indicators and systems, we put research evidence into useable formats that can be easily turned into action at the state, district, and school levels.
Project

Grow Your Own (GYO): A Systematic Approach to Securing an Effective Educator Talent Pool Modules

GYO is one strategy to address local teacher shortages and recruit future teachers of color. By leveraging local talent, GYO programs can promote a more diverse workforce while supporting college and career readiness development in high school students. The learning series, Grow Your Own: A Systemic Approach to Securing an Effective Educator Talent Pool, helps those interested in developing and implementing GYO programs through four short modules.
Project

Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools Evaluation

The Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools model is a whole-school intervention that aims to promote social inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities in their schools through inclusive activities that occur within the normative contexts of the school. Key inclusive strategies include unified sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole-school awareness and engagement. AIR is studying the impact of the model on schoolwide academic performance, measured by overall school performance on graduation rates and dropout rates.
1 Mar 2019
Brief

Developing a College- and Career-Ready Workforce: An Analysis of ESSA, Perkins, and WIOA

To establish an education-to-workforce pipeline, state leaders need to align labor market efforts with the education pipeline to ensure a seamless system of academic, technical, and employability skills preparedness. This updated brief aims to identify opportunities to connect, align, and leverage state policies, programs, and funding across federal laws that govern the pipeline.
Illustration of Monique Chism
28 Feb 2019
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Monique M. Chism

Monique M. Chism, Ph.D., a vice president for technical assistance, leads AIR’s six federally funded comprehensive and content centers and District and School Improvement portfolios. Prior to joining AIR, she served as deputy assistant secretary for policy and programs in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. She also brings experience from the Illinois State Board of Education, Learning Point Associates (now AIR), and her time as a teacher.
Image of presenters at PIAAC conference
28 Feb 2019
Spotlight

Do U.S. Adults Have the Skills Needed to Thrive in the 21st Century? Four PIAAC Studies by AIR

Successfully navigating work and life requires key skills—and the ability to adapt to a fast-changing, digital world. The go-to source for valid, reliable, and actionable data to inform adult education and training is the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), the subject of a research-to-practice conference convened by AIR.
Image of staff member looking at Southern Poverty Law Center wall feature
25 Feb 2019
Spotlight

A Civil Rights Learning Journey

How does the civil rights movement of the 1960s continue to shape all aspects of society, including educational opportunities and outcomes for children? In November 2018, a group of AIR staff had the opportunity to better understand this legacy by participating in a civil rights learning journey across the South. The bus tour set the stage for an equity summit sponsored by AIR’s Southeast Comprehensive Center.
22 Feb 2019
Report

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups 2018

Disparities in the educational participation and attainment of different racial/ethnic groups in the United States are well documented. This report profiles current conditions and recent trends in the education of students by racial and ethnic group.
Image of report cover
16 Feb 2019
Report

Improving Instruction for All Students Through Meaningful Support in Educator Evaluation

This resource details what six states consider essential for the continuous improvement of educator effectiveness systems. Based on lessons learned as they worked to solve their own problems of practice and improve systems, the six guiding principles and vignettes presented here offer both inspiration and knowledge for other states and districts interested in stronger systems to support educators.
15 Feb 2019
Service

Early Warning Systems in Education

States, districts, and schools use research-based indicators to identify students at risk of failing to meet key educational milestones such as reading at grade level, on-time graduation, or college readiness and college persistence. By identifying students early, educators can target interventions and supports to help students to achieve readiness and success. AIR works with education leaders to customize and refine early warning systems based on the best available research and evidence.
12 Feb 2019
Spotlight

Navigating ESSA: 13 Key Resources

State and school district leaders, whether relative newcomers to ESSA or entrenched in implementation, will find detailed information on states’ plans, policy, and research on educational practices in AIR’s ESSA Co-Pilot. The following 13 resources were chosen by AIR experts as the best entry point into this broad and deep topic.
Image of Katherine Hughes
6 Feb 2019
Q & A

A Quick Word With: Katherine Hughes, on Career and Technical Education

Career and technical education (CTE) continues to gain traction with state and national policymakers, researchers, and educators across the country—evidenced by the creation of a federally funded center investigating CTE programs: the Career and Technical Education Research Network. AIR is leading this research network partnership under the direction of principal researcher Katherine Hughes, Ph.D. Hughes answered a few questions about CTE, the research network, and her background.
Project

Promoting Success for Teachers of English Learners Through Structured Observations

ESSA recognizes the important role educators play in improving education outcomes for students of color and students from low-income families—groups that historically have included large numbers of English learners. The Council of Chief State School Officers, Education Northwest, and AIR jointly published a report and tools to promote success for teachers of English learners.
Image of college students in a computer lab
29 Jan 2019
Report

Using Technology to Support English Language Learners in Higher Education: A Study of Voxy’s Effect on English Language Proficiency

Although English language learners (ELLs) have an increasing presence in postsecondary education, their unique needs are often unmet by institutions of higher education. Technology-mediated English language instruction may be a solution to the pressing challenges that postsecondary institutions face in providing personalized instruction to ELLs, because it allows instruction to be tailored to an individual’s English proficiency, academic needs, and professional interests.
GTL Center Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0
16 Jan 2019
Toolkit

Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0: Strategies to Build, Support, and Sustain Teacher Leadership Opportunities

Teacher leadership is one strategy many states and districts are pursuing to facilitate meaningful change and support better outcomes for their students. To support these efforts, the Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0 includes a synthesis of research on teacher leadership, current examples, and useful tools for designing, implementing, and supporting teacher leadership initiatives.
11 Jan 2019
Video

Work-Based Learning Activity State Spotlight: Georgia State-Led Topical Conversations

Georgia has long believed that work-based learning is the best vehicle to teach students employability skills. Learn more about Georgia’s approach to work-based learning standards and how its structure plays a part in the success of their program.
Image of 2018 end of year graphic
4 Jan 2019
Spotlight

At a Glance: AIR in 2018

As the new year begins, we reflect on the efforts of our Professional Services Division to further AIR’s mission of conducting and applying the best behavioral and social science research, evaluation, and technical assistance towards improving people's lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged. Here are just a few highlights of this work across 2018.
3 Jan 2019
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Deborah Moroney

Dr. Deborah Moroney specializes in bridging research and practice, having worked as a staff member for out-of-school programs early in her career. She’s written practitioner and organizational guides; co-authored the fourth edition of “Beyond the Bell®, A Toolkit for Creating High-Quality Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs,” a seminal afterschool resource; and co-edited Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Students.
Image of 2018 end of year graphic
2 Jan 2019
Spotlight

Infographic: 2018 in Review

As we look back over 2018, AIR's Professional Services Division reflects on the progress we’ve made in fulfilling our mission of conducting and applying the best behavioral and social science research, evaluation, and technical assistance towards improving people’s lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged.
Project

Evaluation of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) Approach

The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) is an approach to literacy instruction for students in elementary and middle schools with two primary goals: to improve students’ reading and writing, and to help children become lifelong, confident readers and writers who display agency and independence through work with teachers, collaboration with peers, and independent work. Researchers at AIR conducted a rigorous evaluation in which the reading achievement of schools implementing TCRWP was compared with that of non-TCRWP schools.
Project

Career and Technical Education Research Network

Career and technical education (CTE) prepares students with academic, technical, and employability skills for success in the workplace and in further education. More research is needed to understand its effects on student outcomes. The CTE Research Network seeks to meet this need by increasing the number of impact studies and strengthening the capacity of the field to conduct and use rigorous research.
Project

Special Olympics Global Evaluation

The Special Olympics Unified Schools program creates opportunities for the social inclusion of youth with intellectual disabilities through Unified Sports, Inclusive Youth Leadership development, and Whole School Engagement activities; however, little is known about whether this program has similar effects outside the United States. To support Special Olympics in increasing its evaluation efforts of Unified Schools programs internationally, AIR partnered with Special Olympics International to develop an evaluation framework that will serve as a guide for future international evaluations.
Project

MyTeachingPartner-Secondary: Scaling and Sustaining a Research-Based Teacher Professional Development Program

Effective approaches to improving teacher quality are hard to find—particularly teacher professional development programs. AIR is leading an effort to scale, refine, and test MyTeachingPartner-Secondary, a teacher professional development program created by researchers at the University of Virginia.
19 Dec 2018
In the Field

Identifying and Applying Evidence-Based Practices: Training for State Education Staff

How can state education agencies identify and apply effective practices to achieve their goals? Education research can point to beneficial practices, but finding relevant research can be a difficult and time-consuming process. The Midwest Comprehensive Center partnered with the Minnesota Department of Education leadership to help state education staff understand research design and identify evidence-based practices aligned to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) tiers of evidence.
12 Dec 2018
Service

IL-EMPOWER Launch Package │ The District and School Improvement Center at AIR

Many district and school leaders find it challenging to chart a course to meet continuous improvement goals. AIR’s IL-EMPOWER Launch Package was developed to help Illinois district and school leaders assess their continuous improvement needs and put plans into action to improve educator effectiveness and outcomes for students.
Image of Cleveland district CEO Eric Gordon with students
12 Dec 2018
In the Field

Advancing School Safety, Climate, and Culture in Cleveland

Research tells us that cultivating a culture where students feel safe, engaged, and ready to learn is an important factor in their success both inside and outside the classroom. Learn how the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has made notable progress in building this capacity, spurred in part by a tragedy that has become all too common.
Image of The Ten Series cover
3 Dec 2018
Brief

ESSA and Digital Learning: Closing the Digital Accessibility Gap

Educators have an unprecedented opportunity to rethink how their technology initiatives reach all learners, including those with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. How should they approach this opportunity? What is most important to consider? This edition of The 10 Series answers those questions and more.
30 Nov 2018
Report

Review of Evidence: Arts Education Research Through the Lens of the Every Student Succeeds Act

ESSA includes a wide variety of ways for educators to support student success—including programs and funding streams that can be used to support arts education. In order to access the funding, education agencies must show evidence for how their proposed program can support or improve student outcomes. AIR examined hundreds of reports to identify arts education interventions that meet the ESSA evidence-based standards.
29 Nov 2018
Q & A

A Quick Word With: Courtney Tanenbaum

AIR Principal Researcher Courtney Tanenbaum describes the unique opportunities and challenges associated with The Title III Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) Program, which she and her colleagues evaluated.
26 Nov 2018
Spotlight

Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Students

Safe and supportive school communities foster students’ social, emotional, and academic needs. Educators want actionable strategies and practices to ensure that all students can access equitable learning environments. Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools helps school leaders make sense of the various evidence-based resources and frameworks designed to support the whole child.
Historical photo from project talent
20 Nov 2018
Journal Article

High School Personality Traits and 48-Year All-cause Mortality Risk: Results from a National Sample of 26,845 Baby Boomers

New research finds that high school students’ personality traits may be linked to a heightened or lessened risk of death around 50 years later. These findings, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, come from an in-depth analysis of AIR’s Project Talent, now in its 59th year.
Image of Jameela Conway-Turner
9 Nov 2018
Video

Long Story Short: Why Is Social and Emotional Learning Important for Equity in Education?

In this video, AIR researcher Jameela Conway-Turner discusses how social and emotional learning can improve student outcomes and how districts and schools can use it in their equity initiatives to support all students.
28 Oct 2018
Report

Developing New Indices to Measure Digital Technology Access and Familiarity

As NAEP transitions from a paper-based to a digitally based assessment, the question arises: Are all children are ready for the transition—and would any of them would be disadvantaged by it? To investigate these issues, AIR developed a new set of survey items related to digital technology for the 2015 administration of the NAEP math and reading assessment.
26 Oct 2018
Report

Beyond Accountability: Improving the Use of Information to Support Teaching and Learning Through Continuous Improvement Cycles

States and school districts have made significant investments in systems to measure teacher performance, with the ultimate goal of improving student learning. In this report, AIR experts share their findings from the two-year Beyond Accountability project, in which four school districts identified a specific problem of practice and used plan-do-study-act cycles, an iterative process, to develop, test, and revise their strategies to address that challenge.
Image of students and teacher at whiteboard
24 Oct 2018
Service

Using Networked Improvement Communities to Improve Educational Practice

To improve education at the school and district levels, it takes real-world, face-to-face partnerships among a variety of stakeholders at the school, district, and state levels, with support from researchers. AIR experts support and study networked improvement communities to find out what works.
20 Oct 2018
Toolkit

Supporting Work-Based Learning Implementation: Self-Assessment of Intermediary Practices

Across the country, work-based learning (WBL) is increasingly emerging as an effective strategy for providing authentic opportunities for students to learn, develop, and demonstrate crucial career-readiness skills. The Self-Assessment of Intermediary Practices tool supports the development, improvement, and operationalization of state, regional, and district efforts to use intermediaries or to implement intermediary strategies that contribute to a comprehensive, high-quality WBL system.
Project

College Completion Network

The College Completion Network brings together research teams focused on postsecondary success for students to share ideas, build new knowledge, conduct strong research, and share findings. Specifically, the network is working to refine and evaluate interventions for increasing the number of students who earn degrees in open- and broad-access institutions with the goal of providing college leaders and policymakers with reliable evidence on promising strategies.
1 Oct 2018
Report

What Does It Cost to Educate California’s Students? A Professional Judgment Approach

What is the cost of providing all California public school students with access to the California content standards and achieving appropriate levels of proficiency in accordance with standards established by the California Department of Education? This report presents the results of the professional judgment component undertaken by AIR to answer this question.
24 Sep 2018
Brief

Strategies for Implementing the Teacher Leadership and Compensation Program in Iowa School Districts

The Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) system was designed to provide career pathways and compensation structures to attract, retain, and reward effective teachers; to promote continuous improvement in Iowa’s teaching workforce; and to increase student academic achievement. As part of an independent evaluation, AIR conducted these case studies of six Iowa school districts to identify promising local strategies for implementing TLC.
Project

Maximizing Student Agency: Implementing and Measuring Student-Centered Learning Practices

Student agency, or the ability to manage one’s learning, can have significant effects on academic achievement as students take an active role in seeking and internalizing new knowledge. The purpose of this study was to identify the instructional practices that may be useful for the development of different aspects of student agency (i.e., self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, and persistence) and determine whether these instructional practices are equally helpful for different subgroups of students.
Project

Building Quality in Afterschool

Research shows that when youth participate and engage in high-quality afterschool programs, they experience a variety of positive impacts: academic improvement, social and emotional growth, improved physical and mental well-being, and more. Through funding from the Mott Foundation, AIR supports afterschool network leads, their staff, and ultimately the programs in their states on topics related to afterschool quality.
Image of UNICEF Think Piece report cover
31 Jul 2018
Brief

Quality and Equitable Access Grounded in Local Knowledge: Bringing Pre-primary Education to Scale

The authors of this UNICEF Think Piece explain why focusing on quality and equitable access to pre-primary education is imperative in Eastern and Southern Africa and why it unfortunately does not happen, and explore the implication of the increased focus on access on the provision of quality pre-primary education.
Image: Boy in wheelchair at desk
10 Jul 2018
Report

Fulfilling the Promise of IDEA

In the 40+ years since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted, the law has changed the landscape for students with disabilities. This report is the result of a working meeting of special education experts and stakeholders held to consider the challenges and opportunities for strengthening special education services and improving student outcomes.
5 Jul 2018
Q & A

Dr. Terry Salinger: Using Research to Improve Literacy

How can research inform and improve literacy in the U.S. and around the world? In honor of International Literacy Day 2018, Terry Salinger, PhD, AIR’s chief scientist for literacy research, answered this question and more.
Image of boy with backpack holding his father's hand
2 Jul 2018
Journal Article

Building Schools’ Readiness to Implement a Comprehensive Approach to School Safety

Schools and communities encounter enormous challenges in articulating, synthesizing, and implementing all the complex aspects of a comprehensive approach to school safety. This paper aims to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and the application of that evidence in schools and communities by defining the key components of a comprehensive approach to school safety and describing how schools can assess their readiness to implement a comprehensive approach.
Project

Dual-Credit Education Programs in Texas

As dual credit education has become a popular vehicle in Texas and other states to encourage students to earn degrees and credentials, policymakers have sought to understand the quality, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of these programs. A two-part study was designed to explore these questions.
1 Jul 2018
Report

English Language Program Participation Among Students in the Kindergarten Class of 2010-11: Spring 2011 to Spring 2012

Providing English language instruction has important implications for millions of children nationwide. This Statistics in Brief report uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, focused on the Kindergarten Class of 2010-11, to examine students who participated in English language programs.
Image of smiling young Native American boy in tunnel
29 Jun 2018
Report

Study of the Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program: FY 2011 and FY 2013 Cohorts

The Native American and Alaska Native Children in School discretionary grants program aims to reduce the persistent achievement gap between Native American and Alaska Native youth and their peers in reading and English language arts and college readiness in reading. This qualitative study examined the types of activities grantees funded, and the perceived benefits, challenges, and lessons learned that they experienced in implementing these activities.
Image of boy and girl reading in classroom
27 Jun 2018
Video

English Learners and Close Reading: Providing Scaffolding for Writing

In June 2018, staff from the Center for English Language Learners facilitated a one-hour webinar featuring the writing component of the ACCELL model. The topic focused on scaffolding writing in connection with close reading activities.
Image of infographic thumbnail
19 Jun 2018
Q & A

In Conversation: Insights on Early Childhood Care Costs and Choices

The annual Condition of Education 2018 provides new insight into the costs and availability of child care options. Spotlight author Jijun Zhang, AIR senior psychometrician and statistician, recently discussed the findings with Susan Muenchow, AIR principal researcher in early learning and care.
Image of teacher at chalkboard smiling at student raising hand
12 Jun 2018
In the Field

Better Data May Equal Better Prepared Teachers

The lack of easy data sharing between K–12 systems and teacher preparation may be costly, in terms of the quality of instruction by new teachers. In this report from the field, Jenny DeMonte describes the efforts of some states to actively share data.
Project

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest (REL Southwest)

The REL Southwest serves the education needs of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas through eight research alliances, which bring together practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and others to examine and address high-priority regional needs.
Project

Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest)

The Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest) helps states, districts, and schools systematically use their data systems; conducts and supports high-quality research and evaluation; and assists educational practitioners and policymakers to incorporate data-based inquiry practices into their decision making.
Project

Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies (ECLS)

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies (ECLS) program offers the first nationally representative study of early childhood development and education in the United States. The ECLS program currently has three separate longitudinal studies fielded by the National Center for Education Statistics: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99; the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort; the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of 2010–11.
30 May 2018
Toolkit

Trauma-Sensitive Schools Toolkit

Commissioned by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, AIR developed a collection of guides and online training for college campus health staff caring for students who have experienced sexual assault and other trauma.
29 May 2018
Brief

How Geographic Information Systems Can Help Inform Work-Based Learning Decisions

Nearly five decades of research has demonstrated that the places where individuals live and learn have a dramatic impact on their opportunities and life outcomes. The College and Career Readiness and Success Center has collaborated with several state and local agencies to produce custom-designed maps using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to help leadership teams contextualize their WBL initiatives, that is, to develop a more precise understanding of how resources and socioeconomic factors are distributed.
24 May 2018
Service

Enhanced Early Warning Solution Supports Educators With Customized Indicators, Simplified Implementation

Early warning systems can alert educators that students are struggling well before they fail to meet learning objectives. AIR has led the way in validating early warning indicators to identify those at-risk students—and in supporting educators to use data to provide appropriate interventions to ensure that students are on track to meet educational milestones.
22 May 2018
Brief

The Summer After Kindergarten: Children’s Experiences by Socioeconomic Characteristics

This Statistics in Brief analyzes student's participation in summer activities compared by two socioeconomic characteristics - household poverty status and parents' highest level of education. Data for socioeconomic characteristics was gathered from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 while data related to summer activity participation was collected from interviews with parents or guardians in the fall of 2011.
Image of teacher and student
7 May 2018
Blog Post

Tracking Teacher Effectiveness Gaps Between Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools

Are teachers working in charter schools more effective in improving student outcomes compared to teachers working in traditional public schools? In this blog post, Umut Özek, a principal researcher at AIR, describes a new study in which he and his fellow authors examined the disparities in teacher effectiveness between charter schools and traditional public schools in Florida.
Project

The 2018 NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Study

The 2018 NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Study was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics to better understand the relationship between oral reading skills and reading comprehension for fourth-grade students. Students' oral reading fluency—the ability to read connected text with speed, accuracy, and expression—and foundational skills for fluency (word reading and phonological decoding) was measured digitally using the automatic speech analysis and scoring system.
1 May 2018
Brief

Student Goal Setting: An Evidence-Based Practice

The act of goal setting is a practice that educators can use to help fuel students’ learning-to-learn skills, such as a sense of agency, intrinsic motivation, and capacity to manage their own learning. This resource was developed to support initiatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin related to personalized and deeper learning, including the use of student academic and career plans.
Infographic: Nationally, foundations struggle to measure results
1 May 2018
Service

Supporting Philanthropy, Strengthening Impact

Foundations invest millions of dollars to carry out their missions and change the world. How do they know their investments are working? AIR uses the strongest research evidence and deep experience in systems change across multiple sectors to support foundations, large and small, in fulfilling their missions.
Project

What Works Clearinghouse: Statistics, Website, and Training (SWAT)

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is a leading federal source of evidence-based information about education programs, policies, and interventions that show promise for improving student outcomes. Through the Statistics, Website, and Training contract, AIR is assisting IES in methodological discussions, training, and dissemination, and will help facilitate deliberations about the WWC Standards and Procedures across all WWC contracts.
30 Apr 2018
In the Field

Nurturing the Whole Child: Applying Social and Emotional Learning to Promote Safe and Supportive Schools in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Education is developing several learning goals in the new Social and Emotional Learning Framework. The framework outlines five competencies for social and emotional learning: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
30 Apr 2018
Brief

Iowa College and Career Readiness Indicators Literature Review

This brief presents a review of research and current state practices as they relate to measures that Iowa might consider for its federal accountability indicator of school quality or student success—specifically, for inclusion within a composite index of postsecondary readiness.
20 Apr 2018
Presentation

Early Findings from an Experimental Evaluation of Accelerated Pathways in Texas

Research indicates that students who take developmental (remedial) courses in college often struggle to persist in and complete credit-bearing coursework. These findings have spurred a range of reforms, such as corequisites, which provide developmental education support within the same semester as a credit-bearing course. This presentation describes the early findings from an experimental evaluation of this type of accelerated pathway in Texas community colleges.
18 Apr 2018
Q & A

Transitional Kindergarten Q&A with Karen Manship

Created in 2010 by the Kindergarten Readiness Act, transitional kindergarten (TK) offers younger children in California additional time to prepare for school. AIR undertook a five-year evaluation study of the TK program in 2012. In light of conversations across the country about increasing access to high-quality early childhood education, AIR’s Karen Manship answered a few questions about the TK study and its findings.
Image of report cover
12 Apr 2018
Report

Weighted and Unweighted Correlation Methods for Large-Scale Educational Assessment: wCorr Formulas

This report introduces the methodology used by the wCorr R package for computing the Pearson, Spearman, polyserial, polyserial, polychoric and tetrachoric correlations, with and without weights applied. Simulation evidence is presented to show correctness of the methods, including an examination of the bias and consistency.
4 Apr 2018
Report

Student Access to Digital Learning Resources Outside of the Classroom

Technology has the ability to create new opportunities for students and designing successful practices for using technology can help to increase educational experiences for students. This report draws upon nationally representative data sources, existing research, and relevant state and local intervention efforts to examine the five research areas designated in ESSA, and to provide a comprehensive picture of student access to digital learning resources outside of the classroom.
2 Apr 2018
Guide

Crosswalk: Aligning Evidence-Based Clearinghouses with the ESSA Tiers of Evidence

While states provided direct support to struggling schools in the past, ESSA places more responsibility on districts by requiring them to select evidence-based interventions—which can take the form of programs, policies, or practices—to help these schools improve.
1 Apr 2018
Report

Study of Title I Schoolwide and Targeted Assistance Programs: Final Report

The schoolwide program and the targeted assistance program are two approaches related to the ideas established in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that focused on funding being provided to assist low-achieving students in high-poverty schools. This study compares services and resources provided by each approach and the ways these approaches go about allocating their resources.
1 Apr 2018
Journal Article

Taking Stock of Private School Choice: Lessons Learned from Indiana

The Indiana Choice Scholarship Program, launched in 2011, offers a rich opportunity to study how a large-scale tuition-voucher program works and to analyze the results it has produced in its first few years. This article describes the results of a four-year study of the Indiana program.
Image of smiling African American teacher with student
21 Mar 2018
Brief

Promoting Educator Effectiveness: The Effect of Two Key Strategies

Having a more effective teacher or principal can substantially improve students’ academic outcomes. This brief examines the effects of using research-based performance measures to evaluate educators and provide them with feedback, and of offering them bonuses based on their performance ratings.
20 Mar 2018
Report

Teacher Professional Learning Through Teacher Network Programs

Despite large investments and efforts, schools and districts have long struggled to provide ongoing, effective, and sustained support for teachers’ professional development. This study examined the experiences of teachers in six schools participating in one of three teacher network programs during the 2016–17 school year.
18 Mar 2018
Brief

Tribal Consultation Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), some districts are required to consult with tribal governments on the development of their education plans. This practice brief is intended to serve as an overview of district-level ESEA tribal consultation requirements and as guidance for local education agencies.
7 Mar 2018
Report

New Collaborations, New Approaches: Research for Improvement in Teacher Preparation

Although there is a growing body of evidence designed to facilitate understanding of teacher preparation, the study outcomes emerge long after teacher candidates have left preparation programs. AIR brought together 35 researchers, teacher preparation providers, and school leaders to discuss what kind of research designs would help teacher preparation providers improve their programs; this report shares the results of this effort.
Image of group of college-age English learners
5 Mar 2018
Report

Serving English Language Learners in Higher Education: Unlocking the Potential

Higher education institutions increasingly are faced with the challenge and opportunity of serving English learners (ELs) on their campuses. This white paper describes profiles of three types of English learners in higher education and details the motivations, experiences, and challenges that each EL faces in his or her academic pursuits.
Image of teacher with middle school students
2 Mar 2018
Spotlight

Social and Emotional Learning: Creating Supportive Learning Environments for All

Recent research has demonstrated that when schools and districts focus on social and emotional learning (SEL), students’ academic achievement, prosocial behaviors, and positive attitudes improve, while their behavior problems and emotional distress decrease. Explore these selected resources, tools, and reports to discover our research and technical assistance on SEL practices.
Project

USAID/Latin America and Caribbean Reads Capacity Program (LRCP)

Literacy is a fundamental skill that serves as the foundation for an individual’s future learning and, collectively, for a country’s social and economic development. The USAID/LAC Reads Capacity Program aims to increase the impact, scale, and sustainability of early grade reading interventions in the Latin American and Caribbean region through the development of state-of-the-art knowledge resources.
Project

Indicators of School Crime and Safety

The purpose of this project is to plan, research, design, and execute the annual Indicators of School Crime and Safety, a flagship report co-sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Image of teacher with happy young students
31 Jan 2018
Brief

School Climate and Social and Emotional Learning: The Integration of Two Approaches

School climate and social and emotional learning (SEL) have often been treated separately by researchers and practitioners, but both are necessary to build healthy schools. This brief reviews research on how positive school climates support SEL and how improved SEL contributes to improved school climate in elementary and secondary schools.
Image of high school teacher student at computer
25 Jan 2018
Report

Teacher Value-Added in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools

Over the past three decades, charter schools have become the most popular form of school choice, especially in urban school districts. Using data from Florida, this study investigates the degree to which differences in teacher quality explain the effectiveness of charter schools.
24 Jan 2018
Journal Article

Malleability, Plasticity, and Individuality: How Children Learn and Develop in Context

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of knowledge about how children develop into whole individuals, how they become learners, and how contextual factors nourish or hinder their development. This article shows how a developmental system theories approach provides a framework for viewing the effects of multiple factors within micro- and macro-environments on the shaping of how children learn, change, and grow throughout their development.
24 Jan 2018
Journal Article

Drivers of Human Development: How Relationships and Context Shape Learning and Development

This article uses a relational developmental systems framework, known as Development Systems Theories to synthesize knowledge on the role of relationships and key micro and macro contexts in supporting—or undermining—the development of children and youth. By using a variety of correlational, longitudinal, and causal studies; multiple sources were triangulated to reach the conclusions drawn.
24 Jan 2018
Video

Communicating Research Findings: Making the Case for Competency-Based Education

The Making the Case for Competency-Based Education webinar series is designed to support you in using data to demonstrate the value of CBE programs for students, campus leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
15 Jan 2018
Report

Predicting Early College Success for Indiana’s High School Class of 2014

State longitudinal data systems connect datasets traditionally housed between multiple state agencies, such as a state educational agency overseeing K-12 education with data from a commission for higher education.

13 Jan 2018
Report

Special Education Enrollment and Classification in Louisiana Charter Schools and Traditional Schools

Serving students with an individualized education program, which entitles them to special education services, can be a challenge for charter and traditional schools. This study is an exploratory analysis of special education enrollment rates in charter schools and traditional schools, as well as of factors associated with variations in classification and enrollment rates of students with an individualized education program across school types in the four educational regions of Louisiana that have three or more charter schools.
Project

Examining the Efficacy of Circles on School Safety and Student Outcomes in Boston Public Schools

One approach to creating real change in both school safety and the use of exclusionary discipline practices is to change the culture of the school by using circles and restorative practices to transform student-teacher relationships, peer relationships, and staff culture. With funding from the National Institute of Justice, AIR partnered with Boston Public Schools and Suffolk University Center for Restorative Justice, is examining the effectiveness of the Circle Forward whole-school restorative practices intervention.
Project

Pittsburgh Public Schools Community Schools Evaluation

The Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) Community Schools initiative aims to support students, their families, and the broader school community by creating partnerships among district schools and community-based organizations and providers. AIR conducted an evaluation of the implementation of the Community Schools initiative in PPS with all five schools adopting the community schools initiative during the 2018–19 school year
Project

Creating Aligned Research-Based Social and Emotional Learning Training Materials

Higher Achievement closes the opportunity gap during the pivotal middle school years by leveraging the power of communities through rigorous year-round learning in a safe environment with caring role models and a culture of high expectations. Higher Achievement worked with a team from AIR to develop a series of social and emotional learning SEL-focused trainings and resources for Higher Achievement staff and volunteer mentors.
Project

Early Warning Data Systems (EWDS)

The Early Warning System (EWS) was originally developed by the National High School Center at AIR to calculate automatically the high-yield indicators related to dropout. In collaboration with the Center, the Texas Comprehensive Center adapted EWS to produce a customized database version called the Early Warning Data System.
30 Dec 2017
Report

Scientific Evidence for the Validity of the New Mexico Kindergarten Observation Tool

The New Mexico Public Education Department developed the Kindergarten Observation Tool (KOT) as a multidimensional observational measure of students’ knowledge and skills at kindergarten entry. This study examined the construct validity of the KOT to determine whether data from a field test supported using the KOT to measure six school readiness domains and, if not, what domain structure the data best supported.
Image of arrows showing 2018 new year
29 Dec 2017
Spotlight

Year in Review: Highlights from 2017

From India and Laos to school districts in California, our research, resources, and multimedia provide insight into a wide array of topics across the U.S. and around the world. Explore highlights from our 2017 work.
27 Dec 2017
In the Field

Minnesota LEAPS Ahead in Supports for English Learners

Supporting the mission to provide targeted support for English Learmers, the Midwest Comprehensive Center worked with the Minnesota Department of Education on a cultural competency project. The project had two primary goals: 1) Conduct a listening tour of agency staff to inform recommendations on developing cultural competency within MDE so that MDE is better able to serve districts in this area; and 2) Assist MDE with updating its handbook for linguistically and culturally diverse parents whose children are enrolled in traditional public and charter schools.
Image of teacher with young students
20 Dec 2017
Spotlight

A Network of State Support for Educators

Through the national Comprehensive Centers Program and Regional Education Laboratories, AIR is building states’ capacity to support their districts and schools—and ultimately improve teaching and learning for all students, including special populations such as English learners and those with special needs.
19 Dec 2017
Report

From Combat to Collaboration: The Labor-Management Partnership in San José Unified School District

Amidst numerous issues plaguing the San José Unified School District, the San José superintendent and the San José Teachers Association president came together to find common ground and chart a new path. This report shares the lessons learned over 24 years of collaboration between the district and the union, and the path they are charting moving forward.
Image of principal in a hallway
19 Dec 2017
Blog Post

What Happens When Educators Get More Feedback? In This Study, Student Math Scores Improved.

A study released today by AIR and the Institute of Education Sciences shows that even small amounts of the right kind of feedback to teachers and principals can have an effect on student achievement in math. As Andrew Wayne explains in this blog post, the findings are important for states and districts looking for ways to boost educator effectiveness.
19 Dec 2017
Report

The Impact of Providing Performance Feedback to Teachers and Principals

Educator performance evaluation systems are a potential tool for improving student achievement by increasing the effectiveness of the educator workforce. This report is based on a study on the implementation of teacher and principal performance measures highlighted by recent research, as well as the impact of providing feedback based on these measures.
18 Dec 2017
Report

Identifying, Defining, and Measuring Social and Emotional Competencies

Reviews of social and emotional competency frameworks and indicators increase understanding of what competencies are critical for healthy development and how to measure them. This report summarizes the results of AIR's comprehensive scan and analysis of social and emotional competency frameworks from over 20 areas of study.
Project

Digging Deeper into Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Exploring the SEL Landscape

Social and emotional skills and competencies are essential for young people to succeed in school, work, and life. In the past decade, there has been an increasing number of studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and syntheses that focus on the key role that social and emotional learning (SEL) plays in the success and well-being of children and youth. AIR, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, designed and executed two related activities to explore and describe SEL for practitioners and researchers.
Image of Hispanic teenager at a microscope
27 Nov 2017
Report

Associations Between Predictive Indicators and Postsecondary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success Among Hispanic Students in Texas

Nationwide, Hispanic students continue to be underrepresented among students who complete a four-year degree in science, technology, engineering, and math fields and among workers in those fields. This study, which used data on seven cohorts of Texas students, suggests the importance of Hispanic students taking rigorous high school math and science courses.
27 Nov 2017
Guide

College- and Career-Readiness Standards and Assessment Resource List

The Southeast Comprehensive Center publishes this biannual list of resources that focus on college- and career-readiness standards and assessment. It includes materials from the federal content centers, comprehensive centers, and regional educational laboratories, as well as other organizations with expertise in education policy, research, and technical assistance.
21 Nov 2017
Brief

Iowa’s Teacher Leadership and Compensation Program: Findings From 2016–17

The Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) system was designed to provide career pathways and compensation structures to attract, retain and reward effective teachers; to promote continuous improvement in Iowa’s teaching workforce; and to increase student academic achievement. This report updates the Year 1 implementation and outcome findings based on 2015–16 data.
21 Nov 2017
Report

Time to Proficiency for Hispanic English Learner Students in Texas

English learner (EL) students who do not attain English proficiency and grade-level mastery of academic content by the middle and upper grades are at risk of dropping out of high school or failing to graduate. To better understand the factors that influence EL students’ progress in Texas, this study examined the average time it took the 2005/06 cohort of grade 1 Hispanic EL students in the state to attain English language proficiency and meet state standards in reading and math.
8 Nov 2017
Presentation

Provider Constellations and Its Implications for Readiness Assessment in Pay for Success

Implementation science literature on organizational readiness for delivering evidence-based programs has predominantly focused on single entity providers; however, Pay for Success projects tend to use more complex networks of providers. This presentation from the American Evaluation Association Conference explores the implications of different provider constellations for readiness assessment.
Image of girl drawing outside
7 Nov 2017
Report

Review of Evidence: Arts Integration Research Through the Lens of the Every Student Succeeds Act

Education scholars and researchers have argued that an arts integration approach—linking arts strategies and activities with curriculum and instruction in other subjects—can improve student learning in those subjects. This report examines the relevance of arts integration to the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Project

National Survey of Postsecondary Competency-Based Education

Competency-based Education (CBE) programs are designed to teach students particular competencies, and students advance through a program based on demonstrated mastery of a competency rather than on credit hours or grades. The National Survey of Postsecondary Competency-Based Education is an annual, web-based survey of postsecondary institutions in the United States, geared toward assessing the state of the CBE field, including both institutions that are interested in adopting CBE and those already on the adoption pathway.
Project

Simulated Instruction in Mathematics Professional Development Study (SIM PD Study)

The Simulated Instruction in Mathematics Study is a pilot study of a new professional development program which leverages new technologies for virtual classroom simulation and tests its use in professional development to support strong instructional practice in middle school mathematics.
Project

State Accountability Under ESSA: Fall 2017 Submissions

The Every Student Succeeds Act challenged education policymakers to reinvent their school accountability systems, and to describe how those systems will address ESSA's provisions. Policy experts at AIR have closely reviewed the state plans submitted this fall and summarized the key elements in these concise profiles.
16 Oct 2017
Report

Identifying Text-Task-Reader Interactions Related to Item and Block Difficulty in the National Assessment for Educational Progress Reading Assessment

This study examines the nature of text-task-reader interactions in relation to student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment in order to suggest strategies that NAEP might use to select passages, develop items, and interpret data to more closely approximate the complex nature of reading comprehension.
Project

Understanding the Critical Role of the Adult in Supporting Playworks Implementation

A quality recess is one that is safe, engaging, and empowering. Since 2017, Playworks and a team from AIR have partnered to learn more about how effective recess teams drive strong quality and recess outcomes. Currently they are conducting a study with support from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to better understand the Playworks practices and strategies that support implementation.
Project

Developing a Theory of Change and Measurement Plan for Learning in NatureBridge Programs

At NatureBridge, educators believe that when young people discover the wonder and science of the natural world, they’re prepared for a lifetime of exploration and stewardship of the environment. As the field of social and emotional learning (SEL) has evolved, so too has our understanding of the ways in which to support and integrate social and emotional skill-development. NatureBridge partnered with a team from AIR beginning in 2017 to explore the ways in which evidence-based SEL practices align with NatureBridge’s approach to environmental education.
Project

First 5 California Dual Language Learner Pilot Study

Over 60% of children from birth to age 5 in the state of California are dual language learners (DLLs). The First 5 California-funded Dual Language Learner Pilot Study seeks to identify the range and distribution of learning experiences for DLLs in California and to better understand how these experiences are linked to positive child and family outcomes.
Project

Technology Use in Instruction and Teacher Perceptions of School Support for Technology Use in Iowa High Schools

The rural districts served by the Central Rivers Area Education Agency in Iowa have invested in technology to assist teachers in supporting the devel­opment in students. A recent study from REL Midwest evaluates the extent to which rural Iowa teachers use technology and how they perceive school support for technology use in instruction. In particular, it seeks to determine the extent to which teachers have integrated technology to develop the 21st century skills emphasized by the Iowa Core Standards: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking.
Project

Ready for the Future: Career Preparation in Rural Communities

Students in rural communities face unique opportunities and challenges as they explore and prepare for careers and college. In partnership with Twin Cities Public Television, REL Midwest created a documentary about the unique challenges facing rural communities in Minnesota as students explore and prepare for careers.
1 Oct 2017
Report

Lessons Learned in Massachusetts High School Turnaround: A Resource for High School Leaders

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has an ongoing commitment to improve support provided to all schools, with an emphasis on the lowest performing schools. This report summarizes findings from AIR’s qualitative analyses of turnaround practices that appear challenging for low-performing high schools, as well as promising practices used by improving and higher performing high schools in the state.
1 Oct 2017
Report

The Effects of Mainstreaming Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Under BRAC’s MNCH Programme

To combat malnutrition, BRAC Bangladesh has implemented Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health programming focused on nutrition and early childhood development. This programming is designed to combat malnutrition in pregnant-lactating women and young children, as well as to implement multiple strategies to establish better practices for breastfeeding and child feeding, build capacity for community health workers, and create nutrition service deliveries within communities.
26 Sep 2017
Brief

First-Generation and Continuing-Generation College Students: A Comparison of High School and Postsecondary Experiences

Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with outcomes such as full-time employment and higher pay for young adults. However, college attainment, student persistence through college, and borrowing varies by generation status. This brief examines background and educational characteristics, plans for college, postsecondary enrollment, and postsecondary completion patterns of first-generation college students and their peers whose parents have college degrees.
Adult leaning in to coach student
13 Sep 2017
Video

Leadership Coaching for School Improvement

By increasing the capacity and stability of leaders and teachers, low-performing schools may improve student performance and increase graduation rates. This video explores a leadership coaching program that has produced considerable improvements at an Illinois high school.
13 Sep 2017
Report

Micro-credentials for Teachers: What Three Early Adopters Have Learned So Far

Research on professional development has shown that its effects on teaching and learning are uneven. Micro-credentials are an approach to professional learning that provides teachers with the opportunity to learn and demonstrate competency in new skills, while also getting feedback from an outside evaluator and earning recognition for mastery. In this report, three early adopter states share what they have learned so far.
6 Sep 2017
Report

Career and Technical Education, Inclusion, and Postsecondary Outcomes for Students With Disabilities

Each year, nearly 6.5 million public school students receive special education services as part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; the Act's 2004 reauthorization placed greater emphasis on using these funds to improve the postsecondary outcomes of students receiving special education services. This study used longitudinal data on all high school students in Washington State to investigate predictors of intermediate and postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities.
5 Sep 2017
Brief

Looking Back to Move Forward: Progress and Opportunity in District of Columbia Public Schools

Although DCPS has made measurable progress over the past five years in terms of the goals laid out in the former Chancellor’s strategic plan, gains have not been evenly distributed among all student groups or across all of DC’s eight wards. To summarize the extent to which DCPS met its goals over the past five years and to highlight specific areas for continued improvement, AIR prepared a policy brief reflecting on DCPS’ progress.
Project

AIR Early Math Study

While there are many interventions aimed at boosting young children’s language and literacy skills, there are fewer aimed at improving math learning for young children, and even fewer that target children younger than preschool or kindergarten age. AIR and its partners developed the Math4Littles program to help parents and caregivers better stimulate math learning among their two- and three-year-old children at home and evaluated it's effects on families that used it.
Project

Opportunities for Teacher Professional Development in Oklahoma Rural and Nonrural Schools

Oklahoma is facing a severe shortage of teachers. Professional development is one potential channel for attracting new teachers, increasing teacher retention, and improving retained teachers’ effectiveness. But a dearth of data about professional development in Oklahoma schools is hindering the state’s efforts to plan for and effectively support teacher professional development. The purpose of this study was to fill the gap in statewide information about teacher professional development opportunities in Oklahoma and compare the opportunities in rural and nonrural schools.
1 Sep 2017
Brief

Supporting English Learners and Students with Disabilities: Strategies from Turnaround Schools in Massachusetts

Meeting the needs of English learners (ELs) and students with disabilities (SWDs) is a critical yet challenging responsibility for all schools. This brief highlights four key strategies that emerged from the exploration of practices and systems in place in Massachusetts turnaround schools that successfully provide appropriate interventions to all of their ELs and SWDs.
31 Aug 2017
Toolkit

CBE 360 Survey Toolkit

States, districts, and schools that want to realize how competency-based education (CBE) can directly support students’ college and career readiness must examine the quality of implementation of core CBE features. The CBE 360 Survey Toolkit uses surveys from a recent AIR CBE study to provide a comprehensive picture of CBE implementation in six research-based core areas
Image of SEL coaching toolkit cover
30 Aug 2017
Toolkit

Social and Emotional Learning Coaching Toolkit

Teachers recognize the importance of student social and emotional skill development; however, they often feel as though they do not have the time to support social and emotional learning (SEL). The purpose of this toolkit is to support coaches and administrators as they observe practices that support the development of social and emotional skills in classrooms, and hold critical conversations that include SEL.
23 Aug 2017
Spotlight

Spotlight on School Crime and Safety

Educators, parents, and communities want their schools to be safe havens for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence. Explore these selected reports, tools and informational graphics to learn more about crime and safety incidents in schools, how they are handled, and what approaches may be having a positive effect.
Image of young male student at a desk
8 Aug 2017
In the Field

Sharing Lessons From Reward Schools to Improve Learning in Texas

Decades of research have shown the harmful effects of poverty on student performance. Title I schools in Texas face particular challenges, including high rates of students living in poverty, high student mobility, and large proportions of English learners. Working closely with the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Comprehensive Center set out to answer this question and share lessons learned to benefit students throughout the state.
Image of female student with teacher
8 Aug 2017
In the Field

North Carolina Partnership Supports Stronger Teaching for English Learners

With 100,000 English learners spread across more than 2,500 schools and more than 130 charter schools in 115 school districts, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction needed to ensure that teachers of ELs received the latest professional development available. State officials instead relied on a select group of teachers to train other educators within their regions. This support network of teacher-trainers delivered professional development locally, increasing the Department’s capacity to reach schools and students throughout the state.
4 Aug 2017
Report

Measuring Student Success in Postsecondary Competency-Based Education Programs: Toward a Student Outcomes Metrics Framework

The growth of the postsecondary competency-based education (CBE) ecosystem is contingent on CBE programs demonstrating that they fulfill core value propositions for students, including improving access, success, quality, and affordability. To support program leaders and researchers in building evidence about student outcomes in CBE programs, AIR and the Institute for Competency-Based Education at Texas A&M University-Commerce developed this brief, which proposes a CBE Student Outcomes Metrics Framework for descriptive and evaluative research.
28 Jul 2017
Brief

Fostering Innovation: How User-Centered Design Can Help Us Get the Local Control Funding Formula Right

The Local Control Funding Formula has introduced positive and much-needed change to California’s approach to K-12 education funding, but received criticism for being archaic, cumbersome, difficult to complete, opaque, and incoherent. A new brief from the California Collaborative on District Reform and Pivot Learning, Fostering Innovation: How User-Centered Design Can Help Us Get the Local Control Funding Formula Right, describes an alternative approach to solving policy problems.
19 Jul 2017
Video

Video Series: Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS)

In early warning systems, educators systematically identify students who show signs of being at risk for dropping out of school. This video series, a collaborative effort by the Great Lakes Comprehensive Center and the Michigan Department of Education, covers the process of installing the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS).
19 Jul 2017
Brief

Fostering a New Approach to Research on Teacher Preparation: Results of the First Convening of Researchers, Practitioners, and K–12 Educators

What kind of research designs would help teacher preparation providers improve their programs? On April 11, 2017 AIR brought together 35 researchers, teacher educators, school district leaders, and other stakeholders to discuss research designs that would answer the kinds of questions that providers have about their programs and how to improve them.
Project

City Year Evaluation

City Year partners with public schools with the goal of preparing students with the skills and mindsets they need to thrive and contribute to their communities. AIR and MDRC are conducting an evaluation of City Year's Whole School Whole Child services in 22 middle schools in five large urban school districts. The academic, social, and emotional services are aimed at helping students develop the skills they need to navigate and complete high school.
Project

Student Engagement in Math Blended Learning Study

Increasingly, schools across the United States are using innovative educational technologies to increase students’ learning. However, there is still a lot to learn about these tools and their impact on teaching and learning in the classroom. AIR is conducting a study to better understand student engagement and learning when math instruction combines teacher-directed instruction and a digital learning tool called LearnBop.
Project

Assessing the Efficacy of Online Credit Recovery on Student Learning and High School Graduation

School districts across the country are increasingly using online courses to expand credit recovery options for high school students who need to get back on track toward graduation. In partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, AIR is working to provide evidence for practitioners and policymakers about how a promising use of online learning could help students recovery course credit and successfully progress toward graduation.
30 Jun 2017
In the Field

Minnesota Survey Design and Analysis Support

The Minnesota Department of Education administers about 65 surveys a year. These surveys help gauge needs, gather feedback, inform programs and policy, and fulfill legislative requirements. The Midwest Comprehensive Center partnered with the department in 2015 and 2016 to build the agency’s capacity in survey methodology, enhance overall survey quality, and streamline the coordination of surveys across divisions.
30 Jun 2017
Brief

Course Progression for Students Who Fail Algebra I in Ninth Grade

This research brief, the sixth from the Back on Track study, describes the course progression of students who failed Algebra I in ninth grade in the large urban school district where the study took place, to help determine the importance of Algebra I failure and recovery for student success in subsequent courses and, ultimately, high school graduation.
30 Jun 2017
Brief

The Effect of Online Versus Face-to-Face Credit Recovery in Algebra on High School Credit Accumulation and Graduation

This research brief, the fifth from the Back on Track study, extends the analysis presented in the first brief to compare educational outcomes through the fourth year of high school for students who took an online credit recovery course and those who took a face-to-face credit recovery course.
30 Jun 2017
Report

Playground Physics

Playground Physics is a technology-based application and accompanying curriculum designed by New York Hall of Science to support middle school students’ science engagement and learning of force, energy, and motion.
27 Jun 2017
Video

The Illinois CSI Effect: Leading the Way to Continuous Improvement

The Illinois Center for School Improvement (Illinois CSI) at American Institutes for Research presents the video series The Illinois CSI Effect: Leading the Way to Continuous Improvement. The videos in this series highlight the stories of five rural and urban Illinois districts, providing a sample of the positive changes happening across the state as a result of the multiyear partnership at the district, school, and classroom levels.
Reflections on State ESSA Plans
26 Jun 2017
Spotlight

Implementing ESSA: What Policymakers Need to Know

Now that states have started submitting their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans, the hard work of implementation will soon be underway. AIR experts provide evidence-based policy perspectives on ESSA and states’ strategies outlined in their proposed plans.
24 Jun 2017
Brief

Leading on Leadership: A Profile of the New York City Teacher Incentive Fund Grant That Created Teacher Career Pathways

To address the familiar problem of high-need schools with inadequate resources, the New York City Department of Education created a program to allow the most effective teachers to stay in the classroom while taking on leadership roles to help other teachers. This brief quotes extensively from interviews with the teachers involved to describe the program's challenges and successes.
20 Jun 2017
Brief

Iowa’s Teacher Leadership and Compensation Program: Findings From 2015–16

The Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) system was designed to provide career pathways and compensation structures to attract, retain and reward effective teachers; to promote continuous improvement in Iowa’s teaching workforce; and to increase student academic achievement. This report presents findings on the implementation progress of the TLC.
16 Jun 2017
Service

Pay for Success/Social Impact Bonds

The Pay for Success (PFS) model, also known as the Social Impact Bonds model, is a relatively new way to finance improvements in persistent social problems. PFS brings together investors with local, state, and federal government agencies to fund and improve education, health, and social services. AIR is implementing this approach in many communities around the country.
9 Jun 2017
Brief

Reflections on State ESSA Plans

AIR experts offer reflections on state ESSA plans submitted to the U.S. Dept. of Education as of May 2017. The plans lay out educational priorities for years to come. Highlighted topics include accountability, college and career readiness, and school improvement.
Five Things We Can Learn from Pre-K in Other Countries
5 Jun 2017
Blog Post

Five Things We Can Learn from Pre-K in Other Countries

Which programs and policies can we adopt from other countries to increase access to preschool programs in the U.S.?
Project

Illinois Quality Afterschool

Quality afterschool and expanded learning opportunities broaden learning and provide enriching experiences outside regular school hours.The Illinois Quality Afterschool initiative provides technical assistance and professional development to all 21st Century Community Learning Center grantees in Illinois. The project is designed to ensure that grantees in Illinois receive the necessary assistance to deliver high-quality afterschool programs that strengthen student engagement and academic achievement.
31 May 2017
Brief

Competency-Based Education: Staying Shallow or Going Deep?

Competency-based education is an educational approach that focuses on mastery of an expanded set of competencies—rather than seat time—as a measure of student learning. This brief explores how states and districts can define learner competencies that reflect the full range of knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for students to achieve college and career readiness.
24 May 2017
Testimony

Reforms to Increase Transparency in Higher Education

Read Mark Schneider's testimony to the House Subcommittee on Higher Education at a hearing to examine transparency and accountability in higher education, as well as protecting student privacy.
Teacher Shortages: Top 10 Ideas from the First State ESSA Plans
22 May 2017
Blog Post

Teacher Shortages: Top 10 Ideas from the First State ESSA Plans

How are states going to tackle teacher shortages – and keep their great teachers? Ellen Sherratt analyzed 10 strategies from states’ new ESSA plans.
15 May 2017
Spotlight

Income Share Agreements: An Alternative to Traditional College Financing

Many students rely on student loans as a way of covering college expenses and for many, loan repayments exceed their ability to repay, leading to financial distress or default. Income share agreements are an income-driven college financing option in which an investor provides a student with the funds required to pay for college and, in return, the student promises to pay a percentage of their income for a number of years after leaving school. These resources offer a better understanding of how, and for whom, income share agreements may work.
Did School Improvement Grants Work Anywhere?
11 May 2017
Blog Post

Did School Improvement Grants Work Anywhere?

A rigorous 2017 study found no significant effect of the $7 billion federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program on student outcomes. But the story of SIG is far more complex. In this blog post, Kerstin Carlson Le Floch unpacks the story of SIG, highlighting instances in which program elements worked, and posing important questions about school improvement.
Alternative Teacher Certification: Does It Work?
4 May 2017
Blog Post

Alternative Teacher Certification: Does It Work?

There is a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of selective alternative certification programs like Teach for America and TNTP. In this blog post, Hans Bos and Dean Gerdeman draw on a recent AIR report to examine how teachers who receive credentials through TNTP’s alternative certification program compare to their counterparts with more traditional credentials.
4 May 2017
Report

Impact of TNTP’s Teaching Fellows in Urban School Districts

Urban school districts often rely on alternative teacher certification programs to help address ongoing demands for recruiting and hiring qualified teachers. These programs offer pathways into teaching outside of traditional university-based teacher education programs. This report summarizes a multi-year evaluation of the implementation and impacts of one of those programs, the TNTP’s Teaching Fellows program, in seven large urban districts.
Image of Allison Gandhi
2 May 2017
Blog Post

What Will It Take to Meet New Mandate for Students with Disabilities?

In the more than 40 years since the IDEA was passed, educational outcomes for students with disabilities have improved, but large achievement gaps remain between students with and without disabilities. In this blog post, Allison Gandhi and Louis Danielson explore how states can ensure that students with disabilities receive meaningful educational benefits, as guaranteed by IDEA—and now required by a Supreme Court decision.
Project

The Potential of Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) to Transform Education Systems

The Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) initiative began in 2016 with a shared commitment to a better and more equitable education for each and every child—and a hypothesis that a synthesis of the knowledge from multiple disciplines could provide critical insights and solutions to persistent and growing inequity and underperformance in the U.S. education system. An overarching goal of all SoLD partnerships, projects, and practices is to support the effective learning, educational attainment, and positive development of all children.
Greta Colombi
27 Apr 2017
Video

Long Story Short: What Can Districts and Schools Do to Improve School Climate?

School climate reflects how members of a school community experience their environment. Greta Colombi discusses how to identify and measure the many factors that affect conditions for learning and her work to improve school climate through the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments.
26 Apr 2017
Brief

The Income Share Agreement Landscape: 2017 and Beyond

This final brief in a series about ISAs explores the current state of the income share agreement market and highlights opportunities and threats to expansion.
25 Apr 2017
Report

Getting Students on Track for Graduation: Impacts of the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System After One Year

Many schools now use early warning systems to identify students who are at risk of not graduating, with the goal of intervening early to help students get back on track for on-time graduation. This study examined the impact and implementation of one early warning system on student and school outcomes, and provides rigorous initial evidence that even with limited implementation during the first year of adoption, using a comprehensive early warning system can reduce the percentage of students who are chronically absent or who fail one or more courses.
NAEP Analysis paper report cover
24 Apr 2017
Report

Analyses Using Achievement Levels Based on Plausible Values

Achievement levels are important yardsticks in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) program. In this document, we provide a detailed description of the plausible value method and demonstrate the method by replicating the analyses using SAS and comparing the replicated analysis results with those produced with NAEP Data Explorer. It is intended to provide a complete document for NAEP data users to easily adapt the methodologies with other statistical software packages such as SAS, Stata, R, and so on.
18 Apr 2017
Report

Establishing and Sustaining Networked Improvement Communities: Lessons from Michigan and Minnesota

A networked improvement community is a collaborative research partnership that uses the principles of improvement science within networks of organizations to learn from varied implementation of new ideas across contexts. This report aims to guide other researchers, state education agency leaders, and district leaders as they establish networked improvement communities in different contexts.
10 Steps to Make RTI Work in Schools - Cover
17 Apr 2017
Brief

Ten Steps to Make RTI Work in Schools

After test scores on a state language arts assessment at P.S. 52 Sheepshead Bay School in Brooklyn were unsatisfactory, the school's principal searched for a way to improve academic outcomes for his students. Partnering with AIR, the school used response to intervention, a research-based framework that uses data-based decision-making and three levels of instruction to address a wide range of student needs. Here's what they learned.
15 Apr 2017
Report

College and Career Readiness in Boston: Understanding and Tracking Competencies and Indicators

AIR conducted this research review on college and career readiness indicators for partners at the Boston Opportunity Agenda. The indicators are based on students’ experiences during their years in high school.
Teachers at whiteboard
10 Apr 2017
Podcast

Learning from Mixed Results: What's Next for Teacher Professional Development?

Recent research suggests that intensive, content-focused professional development improves teachers’ knowledge and some aspects of their practice, but not student achievement. Kirk Walters sat down with Mike Garet, who led the research, and three other experts to get their reactions to these findings.
7 Apr 2017
Presentation

Aligning for Learning - Evaluating Connections: Making the Case for Competency-Based Education

Aligning for Learning: Evaluating Connections is the third presentation/video in a four-part series designed to help institutions use data to demonstrate the value of competency-based education (CBE) programs for their students and continuously improve program quality. This webinar presents the importance of alignment in relation to validity of learning and evaluation of program effectiveness, and explores implications for ways to address misunderstandings in the larger field of higher education around high quality CBE programs through communication of internal alignment.
Dia Jackson works in a classroom
3 Apr 2017
Video

Supporting Students Through Response to Intervention

Response to intervention (RTI) is a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and reduce behavioral problems. Dia Jackson describes the importance of implementing RTI with fidelity and how she provides coaching and professional development to schools so that they see gains in student achievement.
Project

Evaluating Title I, Part D Funds and their Impact on Neglected and Delinquent Youth

Title I, Part D of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act allocates funds to states and school districts to improve educational services for neglected and delinquent youth. This study, prepared by AIR for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, was designed to better understand how state and local agencies and facilities use Part D funds for services in support of these youth.
1 Apr 2017
Brief

College and Career Readiness Begins With a Well-Rounded Education: Opportunities Under the Every Student Succeeds Act

By incorporating college and career readiness principles into a well-rounded education, states, and districts can leverage federal funding for a well-rounded education to support college and career readiness strategies.This brief describes how states can develop and implement their own definitions of a well-rounded education focused on improving college and career readiness.
Project

NCES Data R Project - EdSurvey

The released EdSurvey Version 2.6.9 is designed for the analysis of national and international education data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). EdSurvey gives users the ability to process and analyze these data efficiently, taking into account their complex sample survey design and the use of plausible values. EdSurvey is an R statistical package developed by AIR, tailored to the processing and analysis of NCES large-scale education data with appropriate procedures.
Project

Readiness and Capacity-Building Toolkit for Pay for Success Investments

A major challenge in the growth of the Pay for Success model, which brings together investors with government agencies to fund and improve services in the community, is effective assessment of provider capacity. AIR is creating an organizational readiness toolkit, which is informed by a synthesis of the current literature on PFS and implementation science, as well as interviews with leading intermediary organizations and their community partners.
1 Mar 2017
Report

Reflections From a Professional Learning Community for Researchers Working in Research Alliances

One promising pathway to bridge the disconnect between research and practice in education is to form research alliances. This report describes how and why a professional learning community helped REL Midwest researchers address challenges that came with this shift in the researcher’s role and work processes.
1 Mar 2017
Report

Quality Improvement Efforts Among Early Childhood Education Programs Participating in Iowa’s Quality Rating System

States have prioritized documenting and improving the quality of early childhood education programs by developing quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs). This report describes the quality improvement efforts of early childhood education programs participating in Iowa’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system, the Iowa Quality Rating System (QRS). The findings of this study provide an overview of the landscape of quality improvement activities among early childhood education programs participating in the Iowa QRS and their relationship with increased ratings.
1 Mar 2017
Report

Postsecondary Education Expectations and Attainment of Rural and Nonrural Students

Prior research shows that rural students’ education expectations and aspirations, as well as their postsecondary enrollment and persistence rates, tend to be lower than those of nonrural students. This study aims to support policymakers and other stakeholders in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest states by informing policy recommendations for improving postsecondary attainment among rural students in the region.
1 Mar 2017
Report

Impacts of Ramp-Up to Readiness™ After One Year of Implementation

College education is fundamental to students’ upward mobility, states’ economic growth, and the country’s economic competitiveness. To better enable middle and high schools to increase college participation and success rates among their students, the University of Minnesota developed Ramp-Up to Readiness™, a schoolwide advisory program to increase students’ likelihood of college enrollment and completion. This report describes a study of the impacts of the program after one year of implementation and provides information on how it differs from college-related supports in other schools.
Project

Study of California's Transitional Kindergarten Program

California's Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is intended to provide an additional year of early education for younger children, with the goal of promoting their success in school. The Heising-Simons Foundation and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation are partnering with AIR to study the impact of TK on children’s academic and social-emotional skills in kindergarten, and how these impacts are related to program quality characteristics.
24 Feb 2017
Blog Post

What's the Research Behind Head Start's New Rules?

It’s been 40 years since performance standards were substantially revised for Head Start. The newly Revised Head Start Rules were approved and released last September. They include four major changes: increased duration, expanded access, special supports for vulnerable populations, and improved supports for teachers. In this blog post, Eboni Howard offers a run-down on the evidence-base for these new rules.
Steven Hurlburt
23 Feb 2017
Blog Post

Trade-offs of Increasing Contingent Faculty

U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly hiring contingent faculty, or full- and part-time faculty who work on contract. While institutions say doing so saves money, two studies by the Delta Cost Project at AIR find the strategy has not translated into a large overall savings. In this blog post, Deanna Hill and Steve Hurlburt share these results and consider whether long-term unintended consequences may off-set short-term cost savings.
18 Feb 2017
Report

The Intersection of School Climate and Social and Emotional Development

Two related strands of research—social and emotional learning and school climate—provide guidance on how to support students in an equitable, collaborative, and healthy environment. This paper shares propositions from a project with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about how to create healthy, safe, nurturing, and developmentally supportive schools.
9 Feb 2017
Brief

Principal Professional Development: New Opportunities for a Renewed State Focus

Principals influence student learning by leading efforts to improve school climate; recruiting, retaining, and supporting effective teachers; and driving organizational change. Too often, however, states and districts focus on teachers rather than principals when planning for professional supports. This brief offers an easy to digest overview of current school leadership research, and highlights helpful state policy examples.
3 Feb 2017
Podcast

It’s (Not) Academic! Social-Emotional Learning

The Communities for Just Schools Fund's Allison R. Brown speaks with David Osher, vice president and Institute Fellow at AIR, about social-emotional learning and its impact on students and teachers alike over the years.
2 Feb 2017
Blog Post

Making Up for Failing Algebra, Online vs Traditional Summer School

Failing high school algebra can have serious consequences, and students are increasingly turning to online courses to recover algebra credits. What happens when students try to make up algebra credits virtually instead of in a classroom setting? In this blog post, Kirk Walters shares new findings from a study comparing course content and student outcomes for 1,200 Chicago Public School Students in credit recovery courses.
Image of Principals Action Plan Guide cover
1 Feb 2017
Guide

Principals Action Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act: Providing All Students With a Well-Rounded and Complete Education

Principals can use this tool to guide their engagement with states and districts in developing and implementing consolidated plans for ESSA. Developed through a collaborative partnership between the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, this interactive tool offers principals an overview of the concept of a well-rounded and complete education.
1 Feb 2017
Brief

Mentoring for At-Risk High School Students: Findings From a Study of Check & Connect

To improve graduation rates, districts and schools need clear, evidence-based information about the impact of dropout prevention strategies. Check & Connect is a mentoring program designed to promote positive outcomes (including student engagement, progress and persistence, and school completion) through the provision of continuous, individualized student support. This research brief describes a longitudinal study of Check & Connect in a large, urban district in California.
1 Feb 2017
Report

Characteristics and Postsecondary Pathways of Students Who Participate in Acceleration Programs in Minnesota

Acceleration programs are academically challenging courses in which high school students can simultaneously earn credit toward a high school diploma and a postsecondary degree. The results of this study raise several considerations for educators and policymakers, including the potential importance of expanding opportunities for underrepresented students to enroll in acceleration programs and reexamining state procedures for collecting data in order to classify acceleration programs more comprehensively and document differences between types of programs.
1 Feb 2017
Report

The “I” in QRIS Survey: Collecting Data on Quality Improvement Activities for Early Childhood Education Programs

A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a voluntary state assessment system that uses multidimensional data on early childhood education programs to rate program quality, support quality improvement efforts, and provide information to families about the quality of available early childhood education programs. This report describes three versions of a survey that helps states collect data, including how to use it, how it was developed, and how it can be adapted for other states.
1 Feb 2017
Spotlight

Spotlight on Contingent Faculty

Colleges and universities are relying heavily on contingent faculty to increase flexibility and reduce costs. These resources explore this trend to determine where contingent faculty are most often hired and savings actually result in lower overall costs.
1 Feb 2017
Brief

Getting Back on Track: What Math Content Is Taught and Learned in Online and Face-to-Face Algebra Credit Recovery Courses?

This research brief, the fourth from the Back on Track study, evaluates the content provided in online and face-to-face algebra credit recovery courses and reveals possible differences based on instructor preferences and district guidelines.
Gaby Fain on early childhood education
31 Jan 2017
Video

Lessons From Abroad: Ensuring High-Quality Early Care and Education in the U.S.

High-quality early care and education (ECE) provides an important foundation for young children’s success in school and in life. Yet fewer than two of three U.S. children are enrolled in center-based ECE programs. Gabriele Fain examines ECE internationally and the factors that may contribute to the high rate of participation in many European countries.
25 Jan 2017
Brief

Identifying South Carolina Charter Schools That Are “Beating the Odds”

Charter schools have become a widely used alternative to traditional public schools, and play an increasingly important role in state reform efforts. South Carolina stakeholders wanted to broaden their understanding of why some charter schools are more successful than others to inform their consideration of whether to expand this school choice option. This study identifies charter schools that are “beating the odds,” or performing better than expected in math and language arts, given the demographic characteristics of the students they serve.
19 Jan 2017
Toolkit

California School Safety Toolkit

Schools that are safe create conditions for learning and well-being. Drawing on research and best practices, the California School Safety Toolkit allows any school or district to assess its safety system. Districts and schools can use the toolkit to improve how schools use data, apply best practices in school safety, engage students, promote a healthy school environment and reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and referrals to law enforcement that disproportionately impact students of color.
18 Jan 2017
Video

Supporting States to Close the Education Achievement Gap

The achievement gap, which refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students, is a pressing issue facing K-12 education. AIR is supporting states to close academic achievement gaps through strategies including alternative school discipline policies, GIS mapping, improved early childhood education, and culturally responsive instruction. In this video, the four directors of the federally funded regional Comprehensive Centers discuss promising approaches in Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Texas.
18 Jan 2017
Report

School Improvement Grants: Implementation and Effectiveness

The School Improvement Grant program awarded grants to states that agreed to implement one of four school intervention models—transformation, turnaround, restart, or closure—in their lowest-performing schools. This final report builds on the earlier briefs and report by including an additional year of data and by examining whether receipt of SIG funding had an impact on student outcomes.
15 Jan 2017
Brief

Early Warning Systems to Improve Student Outcomes

This brief describes how an early warning system can meet ESSA requirements for states to support the lowest performing high schools in the nation. AIR provided direct aid and support to more than 100 school districts in more than 30 states to build, implement, and evaluate a variety of EWS initiatives. This support has resulted in improved graduation rates for schools, districts, and states.
Boy and man holding hands
13 Jan 2017
Video

Family Engagement: Strengthening Family Involvement to Improve Outcomes for Children

Family engagement seeks better outcomes for children and families by actively involving them in the different systems that serve them. Lacy Wood and Rebecca Ornelas discuss how family engagement may improve both academic outcomes and mental health for children.
2 Jan 2017
Report

I3 BARR Validation Study Impact Findings: Cohorts 1 and 2

The Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive, strength-based approach to education that aims to improve achievement for all students by improving a school’s effectiveness at building relationships, leveraging real-time student data, and capitalizing on the strengths of each student. This report provides findings from the first two years of an evaluation of the BARR program in six schools divided into two cohorts.
Project

Mapping the National AfterSchool Association Core Competencies with Social and Emotional Learning Practices

National AfterSchool Association survey findings suggest that, while organizations and programs value social and emotional learning and many professionals implement SEL practice, many do not feel knowledgeable talking about SEL. NAA and AIR developed SEL to the Core: Building from Foundational Youth Development to Support Social and Emotional Learning as a support for afterschool professionals and leaders.
Project

Stronger, Smarter, Bolder: Girls Take the Lead

Girls and young women face a variety of obstacles to physical and socioeconomic well-being, inequity in educational opportunities, and tend to be discouraged from speaking up for themselves and others. AIR evaluated Girls Inc., founded in 1864, which provides comprehensive, research-based programs and activities for girls at sites across the United States.
Project

Research on Lowering Violence in Communities and Schools (ReSOLV)

A comprehensive approach to school safety requires a focus on the root causes within the school and larger community setting. In support of the National Institute of Justice's Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, AIR—in partnership with Virginia Tech, The Wandersman Group, and a group of nationally recognized school safety experts—is conducting Research on Lowering Violence in Communities and Schools (ReSOLV).
1 Jan 2017
Report

Science of Learning and Development: A Synthesis

Human development can be influenced by a myriad of factors that include individual, biological, contextual, cultural, and historical factors. By synthesizing research across multiple disciples, it is possible to develop new approaches aimed at solving chronic learning and social problems experienced by children and youth.
Project

English Language Acquisition Feasibility Study

English language learners often need additional support to read at grade level by the third grade—a milestone predictive of future educational and occupational success. Yet schools and communities often do not have the resources to provide those supports. AIR is conducting the feasibility phase of a Pay for Success project for the U.S. Department of Education to improve English language acquisition for Spanish-speaking children in pre-K through third grade.
1 Jan 2017
Report

State Strategies to Facilitate Adult Learners’ Transitions to Postsecondary Opportunities

Previous research has demonstrated that some form of education or training after high school is critical to both the upward mobility of individuals and the economic competitiveness of the country. Recent federal policy has recognized the need to address the postsecondary opportunities of nontraditional students and adult learners. The findings of this research were compared with existing research on strategies to address adult basic education transition to postsecondary education and training opportunities.
Most Viewed Videos in 2016
30 Dec 2016
Spotlight

Most-Viewed Video 2016

Covering topics ranging from cash transfers in Africa to school discipline disparities to career and technical education, these were our most-viewed videos from 2016.
19 Dec 2016
Presentation

Evaluation for Improvement: Making the Case for Competency-Based Education

Evaluation for Improvement is the second in a four-part series designed to help institutions use data to demonstrate the value of competency-based education (CBE) programs for their students and continuously improve program quality. In this webinar, participants learned the fundamentals of two continuous quality improvement models—Root Cause Analysis and the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle—and how they applied to improvement within the context of CBE program.
13 Dec 2016
Blog Post

Taking a Page from Education to Improve Healthcare

Education has borrowed many ideas from the medical field. Now a new initiative shows the exchange isn’t just a one-way street. Bookmarking, a widely-used method for establishing student proficiency levels in major education tests—such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress—is being adapted to healthcare so patients and their families can better communicate the severity of symptoms. In this blog post Michelle Langer and Ellen Schultz explain this innovative new approach.
photo of Trish Campie
8 Dec 2016
Blog Post

Transitions to Adulthood: Succeeding in College

At 21, many foster youth “age out” of financial benefits and supports from the child welfare system—before they even finish college. Given the challenges they face, it’s not surprising that only 3 to 10 percent of them earn undergraduate degrees compared with 34 percent of young adults who weren’t in foster care. What can states do to ensure foster youth have the support they need to graduate from college? In this blog post, Patricia Campie provides an overview of the educational challenges foster students face in the transition to college.
5 Dec 2016
Video

Webinar: Bringing Social and Emotional Learning to the Forefront — What Happens When Districts Prioritize SEL

What does social and emotional learning look like in practice? Specifically, what can district and school leaders do to promote it? In this 75-minute webinar, co-hosted by AIR, American Youth Policy Forum, the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning, and the Washoe County School District, audiences heard from a panel of researchers and practitioners on ways in which districts and school leaders have implemented a coordinated and purposeful SEL effort.
1 Dec 2016
Report

Strategies for Estimating Teacher Supply and Demand Using Student and Teacher Data

Every year the U.S. Department of Education reports for each state in the country the grade levels, subject areas, and geographic areas that have experienced teacher shortages. By law the Minnesota Department of Education must conduct a multimethod teacher supply and demand study every two years. This report, a joint effort of the Midwest Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance and REL Midwest, describes the steps in more detail, emphasizing the methods for addressing each research question.
30 Nov 2016
Brief

Leadership Characteristics and Practices in South Carolina Charter Schools

Charter school stakeholders in South Carolina expressed interest in understanding the leadership characteristics and practices of charter school leaders across the state. Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast helped develop an online survey of characteristics and practices that was administered by the South Carolina Department of Education to leaders of all charter schools in South Carolina. This report describes the process for developing the leadership survey and provides descriptive results of the survey.
30 Nov 2016
Brief

Cost Savings or Cost Shifting? The Relationship Between Part-Time Contingent Faculty and Institutional Spending

Colleges and universities are relying heavily on contingent faculty to increase flexibility and reduce costs, yet little is known about whether such savings actually result in lower overall costs or if the money saved on instruction is being spent in other areas. This brief documents the financial trade-offs being made by institutions as they hire more part-time contingent faculty.
30 Nov 2016
Blog Post

TIMSS, PISA, and NAEP: What to Know Before Digging into the Results

In a rare occurrence, PISA, TIMSS, and NAEP assessments are releasing science and math results in the same year. Chances are the results from the various assessments won’t all tell the same story. So what do you need to know to make sense of this bumper crop of assessments? In this latest blog post, George Bohrnstedt and Fran Stancavage offer a quick run-down on how these assessments are similar and different.
Image of Teacher Effectiveness in ESSA guide cover
29 Nov 2016
Guide

Teacher Effectiveness in the Every Student Succeeds Act: A Discussion Guide

Systemic challenges in the educator workforce require thoughtful and bold actions, and ESSA presents a unique opportunity for states to reaffirm, modify, or improve their vision of educator effectiveness. This discussion guide focuses on one challenge that states face as part of this work: defining ineffective teacher in the absence of highly qualified teacher requirements.
21 Nov 2016
Presentation

Planning for Universal Preschool in the City of Oakland Expanding Access and Quality

This presentation was given by AIR staff to stakeholders in Oakland in 2016. It describes a strategy for city leaders and stakeholders to expand access to quality programs to 3- and 4-year-olds in the city, identifying the areas of highest need.
21 Nov 2016
Spotlight

Spotlight on School Turnaround

Better schools help make better communities and improve students’ chances of success. But what does research tell us about what works in school improvement? Explore what our researchers are learning about turning around struggling schools.
17 Nov 2016
Report

An Examination of the Movement of Educators Within and Across Three Midwest Region States

Education leaders have expressed concern about educators’ moving to different schools—within the same state or in another state—because these moves create costs for the home district and have potential impacts on the equitable distribution of effective educators among schools. This study's findings provide initial insights into the intrastate and interstate mobility of educators and whether educators are more likely to move away from certain types of schools, whether some states are losing substantial numbers of teachers to neighboring states, and whether states are obtaining substantial numbers of educators from neighboring states.
15 Nov 2016
Brief

The Shifting Academic Workforce: Where Are the Contingent Faculty?

Contingent faculty—that is, full- and part-time instructors not on the tenure track—now comprise the majority of all faculty at U.S. colleges and universities. The first of a two-part series, the goal of this brief is to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the landscape surrounding changes to the academic workforce, and to identify whether contingent faculty are more likely to be employed in certain types of institutions.
6 Nov 2016
Brief

Does Content-Focused Teacher Professional Development Work?

Federal and local governments continue to invest billions of dollars each year in professional development for teachers. Until recently, there has been little rigorous evidence to inform the design and delivery of these programs. This brief outlines the key findings from three random assignment PD evaluation studies and proposes areas for further research.
2 Nov 2016
Report

Early Implementation Findings From a Study of Teacher and Principal Performance Measurement and Feedback: Year 1 Report

Emerging research suggests some promising features of educator performance evaluation measures, such as additional observations of the same teacher and providing more frequent, specific feedback on classroom practice. This report, which discusses first year results of an evaluation of three performance measures for evaluating teachers and principals, found that the measures provided some information to distinguish educator performance and led to increased feedback.
1 Nov 2016
Presentation

Getting Started with Evaluation: Making the Case for Competency Based Education

Getting Started with Evaluation is the first in a four-part series designed to help institutions use data to demonstrate the value of competency-based education (CBE) programs for their students and continuously improve program quality.

1 Nov 2016
Report

Homeschooling in the United States: 2012

Since 1999, the National Household Education Surveys Program has collected nationally representative data that can be used to estimate the number of homeschooled students in the U.S. This report provides estimates of the number, percentage, and characteristics of homeschooled students in the U.S. in 2012, and provides historical context by showing overall estimates of homeschooling in the United States since 1999.
Matthew Welch
31 Oct 2016
Blog Post

The Right Stuff: What Many Teacher Evaluations Are Missing

AIR recently analyzed 45 teacher evaluation rubrics to see if they aligned with the messages teachers are receiving about improving instruction to support students in achieving higher and deeper standards. Spoiler-alert: as many teachers likely already know—they don’t align and they are often too generic to provide useful guidance for growth. In this blog post, Matt Welch shares the study’s findings and offers three recommendations for policymakers on improving teacher evaluation instruments.
26 Oct 2016
Report

Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States

Dropping out of high school is related to a number of negative outcomes, including lower lifetime earnings, higher likelihood of unemployment, and higher reliance on welfare. This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988.
26 Oct 2016
Report

Race to the Top: Implementation and Relationship to Student Outcomes

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included $4.35 billion for Race to the Top (RTT), one of the Obama administration’s signature programs and one of the largest federal government investments in an education grant program. This final report examines how receipt of RTT grants was related to student achievement over time.
25 Oct 2016
Brief

Aligning Evaluation: How Much Do Teacher Evaluation Rubrics Emphasize Common Core Instruction?

Two efforts that have impacted teachers across the country in recent years are state-mandated teacher evaluation and support systems and statewide adoption of new, more rigorous and focused student learning standards based on the Common Core State Standards. In this brief, AIR explores the level of alignment that exists between these two policies.
Nick Yoder on Social Emotional Learning
24 Oct 2016
Video

Social and Emotional Learning Explained: How SEL Helps Students in College, Career, and Life

Social and emotional learning (SEL) develops people’s ability to make successful life choices, to achieve academically, and to be college and career ready. In this video, Nick Yoder explains how SEL can help students and what research says about its effectiveness.
24 Oct 2016
Report

Connecting All Children to High-Quality Early Care and Education: Promising Strategies From the International Community

High-quality early care and education (ECE) provides an important foundation for young children’s success in school and in life. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AIR conducted a scan of efforts to improve access to quality ECE for low-income, minority families in other countries that might inform learning and practice in the U.S. context.
21 Oct 2016
Brief

When Districts Support and Integrate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

Social and emotional skills undergird student success—and mold better citizens. Results from the Collaborating Districts Initiative suggest that even modest investments can pay off for individuals, schools, and society. In this policy brief, Kimberly Kendziora and Nick Yoder share the results of the evaluation and offer policy six recommendations for states and districts implementing SEL initiatives.
19 Oct 2016
Video

Preventing School Dropout: What You Need to Know

An early warning system allows educators to assign and provide appropriate interventions to at-risk students early on, during the 9th grade year, to prevent dropout before it happens. This video from REL Midwest summarizes research on early warning systems and dropout prevention.
19 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Growing Up in Foster Care: High School and College Prep

Eighty-four percent of foster kids say they want to attend college, but only 20 percent will enroll and, at most, 6 percent will earn a bachelor’s degree. What can be done to help foster youths achieve their educational aspirations? In this blog post, Patricia Campie provides an overview of the educational challenges foster students face and highlights a new program that aims to train foster families to build a college-going culture in their homes.
19 Oct 2016
Report

The Every Student Succeeds Act in Pennsylvania: Recommendations From Stakeholder Work Groups and Associated Research

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, requires that states develop and submit a State Plan to the U.S. Department of Education. To ensure a solid foundation for State Plan development and further stakeholder engagement, the Pennsylvania Department of Education asked AIR summarize working groups’ recommendations and relevant state policy and research in assessment, accountability, educator preparation, and educator evaluation.
19 Oct 2016
Report

Following the Leaders: An Analysis of Graduate Effectiveness from Five Principal Preparation Programs

Principals play a critical role in establishing a school’s climate and culture and in selecting and developing teachers, among other roles. Taken together, the findings in this report suggest that focusing on how to reduce variation in the performance of graduates through training, selection, or other means or how to systematize or better tailor supports may be the keys to success in preparing effective school leaders.
19 Oct 2016
Report

Developing Leaders: The Importance—and the Challenges—of Evaluating Principal Preparation Programs

The role of today’s principal is changing, as is the principal workforce. Understanding how to better prepare new leaders for the role of principal is an urgent policy concern. The George W. Bush Institute and AIR have partnered to evaluate the impact of five principal preparation programs in the United States on student outcomes, and this policy paper presents their recommendations.
19 Oct 2016
Report

Principal Talent Management According to the Evidence: A Review of the Literature

To be successful, state and district efforts to attract and retain great principals require a comprehensive, systematic approach to principal talent management (PTM) that encompasses the entire continuum of a principal’s career: preparation, recruitment and selection, professional learning, performance evaluation, and compensation and incentives. This literature review aims to provide district leaders with an understanding of the research and best evidence regarding the components of effective PTM systems.
19 Oct 2016
Report

A Framework for Principal Talent Management

Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. This Principal Talent Management (PTM) Framework is a guide to help school district leaders and policymakers by supporting efforts to strengthen the policies and practices districts use to attract, support, and retain the best principals.
17 Oct 2016
Brief

On the Path to Success: Early Evidence About the Efficacy of Postsecondary Competency-Based Education Programs

Better evidence about student outcomes in competency-based education (CBE) and how they compare with outcomes in traditional programs is important as institutions and policymakers consider investing in them. This brief presents evidence that CBE programs are on the path to success in fulfilling their value propositions of broadening access, offering paths to credentials, and improving cost and quality.
16 Oct 2016
Report

Santa Clara County Early Learning Master Plan

This Early Learning Master Plan for Santa Clara County presents both a snapshot of the state of early childhood education in Santa Clara County as of 2017 and a roadmap for the future, with goals, milestones, and actions aimed to address the needs of children ages birth to eight, their families, and the providers who teach and care for them. It also provides an overview of progress made since 2010, current needs, and specific goals and steps to address those needs between now and 2024.
Jenny DeMonte
14 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Can More Data Help Improve Teacher Preparation?

The U.S. Department of Education’s new regulations for teacher preparation programs ask states and organizations that prepare teachers to provide much more data about graduates’ competence, their persistence in the teacher workforce, and their impact on student learning. But is this the right data needed to improve teaching? In this blog post, Jenny DeMonte gives an overview of the new requirements and examines whether they are likely to improve teaching.
12 Oct 2016
Spotlight

Postsecondary Competency-Based Education

Postsecondary competency-based education (CBE) is receiving considerable attention from advocates, colleges, and policymakers as a way to help more students complete high-quality postsecondary credentials in less time and at a lower cost—but we're just beginning to build rigorous evidence to understand whether CBE programs are fulfilling those value propositions.
10 Oct 2016
Toolkit

Safe Place to Learn Resource Kit: Preventing, Interceding, and Responding to Sexual Harassment of K-12 Students

The Safe Place to Learn resource package provides a range of materials to support school efforts to prevent and eliminate peer-to-peer sexual harassment and sexual violence. This resource package supports school district and school staff efforts to comply with Title IX sex discrimination prohibitions and create a positive school climate.
9 Oct 2016
Service

Research Practice Partnerships at AIR

Research alliances are long-term partnerships among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners that draw the three groups into close, sustained relationships focused on a shared set of priorities. Members negotiate a research agenda, and a subset of policymakers and practitioners maintains advisory roles on projects staffed with researchers.
6 Oct 2016
Brief

Creating Healthy Schools: Ten Key Ideas for the SEL and School Climate Community

Healthy schools and supportive school environments provide connection, support, engagement, and physical and emotional safety, as well as access to social networks and resources for students. This brief, which evolved from a larger project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, outlines the central principles needed to support students in an equitable, collaborative, and healthy environment.
5 Oct 2016
Toolkit

Student Attrition Lookup Tool (SALT)

The Student Attrition Lookup Tool (SALT) provides empirical estimates of student mobility rates to help researchers plan for student attrition when conducting studies in U.S. public schools. With SALT, researchers can get student mobility estimates for different student and school subpopulations and for different transition periods from kindergarten to grade 12.
4 Oct 2016
Video

AIR Whiteboard: Keeping Social and Emotional Learning at the Center of Teaching and Learning

Have you ever wondered what social and emotional skills look like in practice? If so, watch this whiteboard animation that follows a student throughout her day and ways in which she applies her social and emotional skills.
4 Oct 2016
Report

Degrees of Value: Differences in the Wages of Graduates from Minnesota's Colleges and Universities

Students invest their time and money in postsecondary education for many reasons, but one of the most important is the belief that a college degree will lead to a good job and a higher salary. This report centers on several important findings related to wage outcomes of postsecondary graduates in Minnesota.
2 Oct 2016
Report

Summary of Findings From the Evaluation of CryptoClub With Video Tutorials (2015–16)

CryptoClub is an academic enrichment program designed to give students opportunities to explore their interest in cryptography in informal settings.
Project

Beyond Accountability: Improving the Use of Information to Support Teaching and Learning

States and school districts have made significant investments in systems to measure teacher performance, with the ultimate goal of improving student learning. The Beyond Accountability project aimed to improve instructional quality, increase teacher satisfaction with opportunities or mechanisms to improve their practice, and increase district capacity to engage in improvement efforts.
Project

A Framework for Principal Talent Management

Despite clear research showing the impact that principals can have, more rigorous research and information to guide schools and districts is needed. The George W. Bush Institute partnered with AIR to develop a practitioner's guide that provides districts and policymakers guidance on policies for attracting, supporting, and retaining effective principals—and describes the extent of the evidence supporting these policies. The framework also highlights districts that are implementing examples of these promising talent management strategies.
Project

Evaluating Principal Preparation Programs

Principals are second only to classroom teachers when it comes to impact on student learning. The George W. Bush Institute and AIR collaborated on a two-year study that looks at effective ways to evaluate principal preparation and describe policies to get, support, and keep great principals.
Project

CS for All Teachers

CS for All Teachers is a virtual community of practice, welcoming all teachers from PreK through high school who are interested in teaching computer science. It provides an online home for teachers to connect with one another and with the resources and expertise they need to successfully teach computer science in their classrooms.
28 Sep 2016
Report

Focusing on Mathematical Knowledge: The Impact of Content-Intensive Teacher Professional Development

In an era of increasingly rigorous state standards, teachers at all grade levels face heightened expectations to deepen their students’ understanding of mathematical concepts. This report examines the impact of content-intensive professional development on teachers’ math content knowledge, their instructional practice, and their students’ achievement.
23 Sep 2016
Service

ACCELL-Related Projects for English Language Learners

Attaining Core Content for English Language Learners (ACCELL) supports teachers in implementing routines and scaffolds that serve the dual purpose of helping ELLs meet English language proficiency standards and content standards.
21 Sep 2016
Report

Evaluation of Level 4 School Turnaround Efforts in Massachusetts - Part 2: Impact of School Redesign Grants

In April 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) adopted regulations to formalize the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s approach to engaging with all schools to improve student performance. This impact study found that the disbursement of federal Title I School Improvement Grants in the process designed by ESE have consistently positive effects on student academic achievement.
21 Sep 2016
Report

Evaluation of Level 4 School Turnaround Efforts in Massachusetts - Part 1: Implementation Study

In April 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted regulations to formalize the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s approach to engaging with all schools to improve student performance. AIR conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of how some of the lowest-performing schools use School Redesign Grants (SRGs) and other supports to catalyze improvement and how SRGs, specifically, impact student achievement.
16 Sep 2016
Brief

How Loan-Averse Young Adults View Income Share Agreements

This brief, the fourth in a series about ISAs, addresses evidence that suggests loan aversion may be especially prevalent among underserved and underrepresented students. The brief concludes that ISAs could provide an alternative to student loans—in particular, for loan-averse individuals whose views of student debt are determined primarily by negative experiences with debt among family and friends, thereby removing one key barrier to college-going for this population.
14 Sep 2016
Blog Post

Vision 2026 Sets Course for the Future of STEM

Imagine a STEM education for all students, regardless of neighborhood, race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status or disability, in preschool through high school and beyond—lifelong learning. Imagine high schools housed inside national tech companies; imagine games, simulations, and cognitive tutoring systems; and students learning through activities that invite play, risk, and even failure. In this blog post, Courtney Tanenbaum shares the vision of a diverse group of experts about what STEM should look like in ten years.
14 Sep 2016
Brief

Equality and Quality in U.S. Education: Systemic Problems, Systemic Solutions

This paper enters the debate about how U.S. schools might address long-standing disparities in educational and economic opportunities while improving the educational outcomes for all students. The aim is to spark fruitful discussion among educators, policymakers, and researchers.
Female technical student at whiteboard
14 Sep 2016
Report

STEM 2026: A Vision for Innovation in STEM Education

A strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education is becoming increasingly recognized as a key driver of opportunity. In a series of discussion-based workshops, 30 experts and thought leaders were invited to exchange ideas and develop recommendations for the future of STEM education.
13 Sep 2016
Podcast

The Research to Practice Connection in School Improvement

In these episodes from the Education Policy Center, Kerstin Carlson LeFloch and Catherine Barbour discuss what research tells us about best practices in school improvement. How can teachers and leaders work together to support school improvement? What are three critical components of school improvement?
Project

Cultivating Oral Language and Literacy Talents in Students (COLLTS)

Cultivating Oral Language Literacy Talent in Students (COLLTS) is an early childhood program comprised of units that promote the development of pre-reading skills, oral language proficiency, and background and conceptual knowledge through the use of interactive reading with high-quality children’s literature.
Project

Professional Learning Communities in Corrections Education

Prison education programs have some unique characteristics that require creative thinking. To focus on increasing equity for all inmates receiving education services, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation created the Student Success Initiative, a three-pronged approach to improving instruction. AIR developed and implemented a professional learning community in each of California’s 35 prisons.
Project

Learning with Others: A Study Exploring the Relationship Between Collaboration, Personalization, and Equity

Personalized learning is often equated with individual learning using technology. Yet for many students, learning on their own may not effectively meet their needs. The aim of this study was to explore racial differences in experiences and benefits associated with collaboration.
Kristina Zeiser
31 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Three Studies Show Impact of Deeper Learning

Today, success isn’t just about what you know. It’s also about how quickly you can grasp and apply new knowledge. That’s the theory behind “deeper learning,” a broad term encompassing the goals of an increasing number of U.S. schools and school systems. In a series of reports, researchers at AIR examined whether and how opportunities for deeper learning change high school graduation and college attendance rates for students. In this blog post, Kristina Zeiser, Jordan Rickles, and Mette Huberman share the studies’ results.
29 Aug 2016
Brief

Leveraging the Every Student Succeeds Act to Support State Visions for College and Career Readiness

ESSA provides an opportunity for states to operationalize their college and career readiness vision. This brief provides a policy framework to help states align their college and career readiness definitions with relevant policy provisions under ESSA into one cohesive strategy.
24 Aug 2016
Brief

Key Characteristics of Postsecondary Competency-Based Education (CBE) Programs: A Descriptive Rubric

This rubric, drawn from the expertise of leaders within the postsecondary Competency-based education (CBE) field, is designed to help CBE program leaders, their campus colleagues, and researchers describe key features of their CBE program.
David Blumenthal
17 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Heeding Early Signs to Keep Students on Track to Graduation

School teachers have been taking attendance since there were school teachers. It turns out that the simple act of noting who is missing—and then doing something about it in a systematic way—may be a key element in student success. In this blog post, David Blumenthal shares the latest research and tools for early warning systems that help schools and districts better serve at-risk students.
13 Aug 2016
Report

Independent Evaluation of California’s Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Quality Rating and Improvement System: Cumulative Technical Report

The purpose of the Independent Evaluation of California’s Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge (RTT–ELC) Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) is to inform California stakeholders about the ability of the QRIS to accurately measure program quality, differentiate programs with better learning outcomes for children, and provide quality improvement (QI) supports that meet program improvement needs.
11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Educator Environment

Promoting and ensuring a positive educator environment is one approach to retaining highly effective educators.

11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Teacher Leadership and Career Pathways

Teachers shouldn’t have to leave the classroom and become administrators to advance in their career. Effective teachers need opportunities to grow in their role across their entire career.

11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Teacher Compensation and Incentives

An effective compensation system should directly support district recruitment, hiring, and retention goals by recognizing and rewarding effective teachers and teacher candidates. AIR understands that any adjustments to the structure of educator compensation must be closely tied to robust evaluation, hiring practices, opportunities for ongoing professional development, and opportunities for career advancement.
11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Teacher Evaluation

AIR’s approach to evaluation and growth is to make the performance evaluation process a meaningful experience rather than simply an exercise in compliance. An effective performance management system should

11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Professional Development, Growth, and Learning

AIR assists states and districts in providing high-quality, comprehensive support for teachers to help them become more effective. Educator development is one approach to retaining highly effective educators in the profession.
11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Recruitment, Supply and Demand, and Teacher Shortages

AIR supports districts’ efforts to strategically market their unique characteristics to attract highly effective educators.

11 Aug 2016
Service

Client Services: Teacher Preparation

AIR supports state and local education agencies, institutes of higher education, and non-profit partners to prepare teachers and school leaders for a positive and rewarding career through evaluation, research, and capacity building.
College students in discussion
8 Aug 2016
Spotlight

Earning Success Through Community College

What is the value of community college and does it help students succeed? With “America’s College Promise” proposed by President Obama, the first two years of community college would be free. If implemented, it could affect over 9 million students. Research provides some surprising answers.
2 Aug 2016
Podcast

The National Education Technology Plan: How Technology Can Improve Teaching and Learning

AIR's Ed Tech Download podcast series explores why research is a critical part of technology development, and what developers should be aware of as they begin using research to evaluate and improve their products. These three episodes explore the U.S. Department of Education's National Education Technology Plan, which shares new technology advances and research on how technology and digital resources can enhance teaching and learning.
1 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Latest Child Numbers Offer Good News for Parents

This long, hot summer could use some good news. And we have it. Teen pregnancy, alcohol and tobacco use by students, children’s exposure to second-hand smoke, motor vehicle-related child deaths, and the rate at which young people are victimized by serious crimes have reached 20-year lows. In this blog post, Frank Rider shares uplifting findings from America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2016.
photo of Umut Ozek
23 Jul 2016
Blog Post

Florida Study Shows Immigrant Performance Declines Across Generations

First-generation immigrants perform better in reading and math tests than their second-generation peers, who in turn outperform their third-generation classmates, according to a new study by Umut Özek and Northwestern University’s David Figlio. The pair followed the performance of Asian and Hispanic students in Florida, a population that mirrors national trends. Why do newer immigrants do better than their more established peers? Find out in this blog post.
Susan Therriault
22 Jul 2016
Video

Long Story Short: Can Early Warning Systems Prevent Students From Dropping Out of High School?

High school graduation has large financial and welfare implications for both individual students and society. In this video interview, Susan Bowles Therriault explains how early warning systems can identify students at risk of dropping out and help get them back on track to earn a high school degree.
19 Jul 2016
Report

Identifying Early Warning Indicators in Three Ohio School Districts

A growing number of school districts are using early warning systems in their strategy for improving rates of student on-time graduation. The study used student-level data and a five-step process to identify the most accurate indicators of students’ failure to graduate from high school on time.
19 Jul 2016
Brief

A New Approach to School Turnaround: Charter Operators Managing District Schools

For decades, charter schools and district-run schools have been placed on opposing sides by advocates and policymakers. With support from the state and other partners, the Lawrence Public School District (LPS) state receiver brought these two seemingly opposing ideas together as a turnaround strategy for the district’s lowest performing schools. This policy brief examines the LPS use of charter operators as managers of district schools with a goal of providing recommendations for future district turnaround efforts, drawing from the expertise of charter operators.
12 Jul 2016
Brief

Implementing LCFF: Communicating About District Plans

As they continue to implement the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), California educators find themselves struggling to communicate district plans to parents, teachers, and other members of the school community. This brief, the fourth in a series from the California Collaborative exploring key issues of LCFF implementation, identifies some guidelines for district leaders to make their plans more accessible.
7 Jul 2016
Blog Post

‘Carl Perkins’ Is in the House

In our May 2016 blog, Have You Met Carl Perkins, Chaney Mosley offered five changes to the Perkins Act that Congress might consider, in light of his years of CTE teaching and administration. In this blog post, Mosley addresses those changes based on the new bill and raises a few flags about how the proposal might fall short.
Tajik boy reading
6 Jul 2016
In the Field

Stories from the Field: One Teacher's Experiences in Tajikistan

Through AIR's work with the USAID's Quality Reading Project in Tajikistan, local fourth-grade teacher Guljahon Rahmonova received specialized in-service training. Read about her experiences in her own words.
Project

Connected Leadership Academy

AIR is working with the Powerful Learning Practice to help district leaders navigate the multifaceted challenges behind designing, planning, and implementing a reimagined vision of the role of technology in education. The Connected Leadership Academy was co-created and is led by AIR and PLP. The curriculum will be closely aligned with a body of research done by AIR for the U.S. Department of Education’s Future Ready Leaders project.
30 Jun 2016
Brief

Persistence and Attainment Among Postsecondary Subbaccalaureate Students

This brief examines the 2004-to-2009 rate of persistence and attainment of postsecondary students who were seeking subbaccalaureate credentials in occupational fields of study.
Teacher shortage report cover
30 Jun 2016
Brief

Creating Coherence in the Teacher Shortage Debate: What Policymakers Should Know and Do

Recent media attention has raised significant concerns about our public school system’s capability to staff all classrooms; yet remarkably little research details the nature of teacher shortages. This brief provides a roadmap for policy leaders to hold better informed dialogues on the nature of teacher shortages, and target interventions to rectify teacher shortages where they exist.
Julie Kochanek
30 Jun 2016
Commentary

Repackaging Research Findings is Not Enough: Building Partnerships for a Practitioner-Driven Research Agenda

Repackaging findings in an accessible way for practitioners to understand may be a good first step towards research impact, but without practitioner involvement from the outset, the research may still be deemed irrelevant. In this commentary originally published on the London School of Economics and Political Science's Impact Blog, Julie Kochanek looks at how education researchers have formed partnerships with practitioners to negotiate the research agenda itself.
30 Jun 2016
Report

Primary Early Care and Education Arrangements and Achievement at Kindergarten Entry

Young children experience various types of early care and education environments the year before they enter kindergarten. This report examines data to explore relationships between children’s primary care and education arrangements the year before kindergarten and their academic skills and learning behaviors at kindergarten entry.
29 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Growing Up in Foster Care: Elementary and Middle School

In this second blog post in a series examining educational challenges facing youth in foster care, from early childhood into college, Trish Campie offers some promising solutions to creating pathways to college and career success.
Wendy Surr
29 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Do CBE Schools Benefit Students? Six Core Features May Make the Difference.

Competency-based education (CBE) sets the bar high for all students—but offers personalized support and allows each student to move at his or her own pace. In this blog post, Wendy Surr, an author of AIR’s new study examining CBE policies and practices for ninth graders in 18 high schools in three states, describes the study's findings and calls for core CBE features to happen in every classroom, every day.
Teacher working closely with student
29 Jun 2016
Report

Looking Under the Hood of Competency-Based Education: The Relationship Between Competency-Based Education Practices and Students’ Learning Skills, Behaviors, and Dispositions

Competency-based education makes student mastery of learning goals—rather than seat time—the metric to determine student credit and progression. Take a closer look at how schools implement competency-based education, and how it is related to what students need to learn effectively.
27 Jun 2016
Report

Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers: 2014-15 Evaluation

Research indicates that afterschool programs can significantly improve youth outcomes in such areas as academic performance, student attendance rates, and incidence of disciplinary actions. The Texas Education Agency has implemented a number of state and federally funded afterschool initiatives in Texas, including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, and has been working with AIR since 2007 to understand their implementation and impact.
23 Jun 2016
Blog Post

What’s Next? Fisher II, UT Austin, and Affirmative Action

The Supreme Court recently held that UT Austin’s race-conscious admissions plan is lawful under the Equal Protection Clause. In this blog post, Ben Backes discusses what this does (and does not) mean.
23 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Growing Up in Foster Care: Our Littlest Ones

One-third of the 400,000 children in foster care enter the system before age five, just as they should be making the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Seventy-five percent of kids in foster care must change schools, often multiple times, which means they tend to fall behind their classmates, miss more days in school, and experience lower high school graduation rates and less success in college. In this blog post, Patricia Campie offers five research-based ways to bolster school readiness and reduce risks when early entry into foster care disrupts children’s educational opportunities.
16 Jun 2016
Blog Post

CTE and ESSA: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

Career and Technical Education (CTE) advocates are still eagerly awaiting reauthorization of the Perkins Act. While we wait, two important events could change the face of CTE across the country: 1) the passage of ESSA and 2) a new vision for CTE released by Advance CTE. In this blog post, Chaney Mosely explores whether ESSA will support states in carrying out the new vision proposed by Advance CTE.
Teri Marx
15 Jun 2016
Blog Post

How Can ESSA Help Students With Disabilities?

While the special education community awaits reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), new provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) could have positive impacts on special education, students with disabilities, and possibly the IDEA itself. In this blog post, Teri Marx says that without explicitly addressing the needs of students of with disabilities, ESSA demands that states improve student performance and prepare all students for college and careers.
10 Jun 2016
Report

Development and Implementation of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Midwest Region States

Recent federal and state policies that recognize the benefits of high-quality early childhood education and care have led to a rapid expansion of quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs). This study examined QRISs in use across the Midwest Region to describe approaches that states use in developing and implementing a QRIS. Findings suggest that the process of applying for a Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge grant helped advance the development of a QRIS system.
9 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Texas Data: No Surprise, Most Female Grads Earn Less

Do median wages paid to bachelor’s graduates demonstrate gender differences after “controlling” for choice across high and low paying programs of study? Data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that merges student level data with Unemployment Insurance wage data can provide an initial answer to this question. In this blog post, Mark Schneider (AIR) and Jorge Klor de Alva (Nexus Research and Policy Center) share differences in median wages by gender in ten large college majors
Chaney Mosley
2 Jun 2016
Video

Long Story Short: How Does Career and Technical Education Help Prepare Students for the Workforce?

Career and technical education provides students with the employability and technical skills they need to enter the workforce. In this video interview, Chaney Mosley talks about what elements such educational programs need to successfully prepare students and who benefits the most.
30 May 2016
Report

Girls’ Opportunities to Access Learning (GOAL) Plus - Final Report

The aim of the GOAL Plus project was to build on the success of the previous GOAL project to improve primary school girls’ retention, attendance, and enrollment in 60 schools in Bong, Lofa, and Grand Bassa counties. This final report shows that GOAL Plus was largely successful in meeting its targets.
30 May 2016
Report

Cross-Generational Differences in Educational Outcomes in the Second Great Wave of Immigration

Over the last five decades, the United States has experienced the second largest wave of immigration in its history. This paper presents the first comprehensive look at the relative performance of immigrants; findings suggest early-arriving first generation immigrants perform better than do second generation immigrants, and second generation immigrants perform better than third generation immigrants.
27 May 2016
Journal Article

Researcher and Practitioner Dialogue

The expanded learning field continues to bring multiple stakeholders together to advance program quality and research. This article from the Journal of Expanded Learning Opportunities features a dialogue on the topic of program quality in expanded learning programs between Michael Funk, afterschool division director for the California Department of Education, and Carol McElvain, managing technical assistance consultant at AIR.
26 May 2016
Blog Post

Five Ways States Can Support Dual Language Programs

Unlike transitional bilingual programs that mainly seek to prepare English learners for general education classrooms, dual language programs aim to develop students’ literacy and content area knowledge in both English and a partner language, such as Spanish or Chinese. In this blog post, Andrea Boyle and Lisa Tabaku discuss their latest report which explores how states are developing creative ways to support the expansion of dual language programs.
Preschool teacher with kids
26 May 2016
Brief

Ten Questions Local Policymakers Should Ask About Expanding Access to Preschool

High-quality preschool programs can have far reaching benefits for kids, parents, and communities—and they can provide a high return on initial investments. This 10 Series report summarizes our key findings about local preschool initiatives in 10 U.S. communities.
26 May 2016
Report

Ready to Lead: Designing Residencies for Better Principal Preparation

With so much attention focused on the importance of teachers, the significant role that principals play advancing instructional improvement, educational equity, and success for all students is frequently overlooked. Principal residency is one innovative approach to improving principal preparation that has shown promise for ensuring new principals are ready to lead.
21 May 2016
Report

Evaluating Prospective Teachers: Testing the Predictive Validity of the edTPA

Given the rapid policy diffusion of the edTPA, a performance-based, subject-specific assessment of teacher candidates, it is surprising that there is currently no existing large-scale research linking it to outcomes for inservice teachers and their students. This report uses longitudinal data from Washington State that include information on teacher candidates’ scores on the edTPA to provide estimates of the extent to which edTPA performance is predictive of the likelihood of employment in the teacher workforce and value-added measures of teacher effectiveness.