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District and School Improvement

Image of young adults talking in a libraryBetter schools help make better communities and improve students’ chances of success. Our work in school improvement and effectiveness encompasses a broad range of issues, including comprehensive school reform, high school improvement, turnaround schools, and standards-based reform, as well as policies and practices that influence teacher effectiveness.
 

For more about our client services in this topic area, visit the District and School Improvement Center >>

Latest Work

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.
11 Jan 2021
Spotlight

Spotlight on 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.
Image of kindergarten teacher and student
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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Image of young boy and girl looking at a tablet together
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.
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

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.
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.
22 Oct 2019 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Event

Addressing the Talent Problem: Recruiting and Retaining Effective Educators for All Schools

Join AIR and WestEd for a special panel discussion, where education practitioners and experts will showcase effective talent retention strategies linked to rapid school improvement, as well as overview strategies that federal policymakers can authorize and fund under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
30 Sep 2019
In the Field

Southeast Comprehensive Center Impact Stories

The Southeast Comprehensive Center developed a series of impact stories to highlight key technical assistance support and positive outcomes related to improving teaching, learning, and capacity building in the five states served in its region: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
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.
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.
BARR Model classroom with students
30 Jul 2019
Report

Building Assets and Reducing Risks (BARR) Validation Study: Final Report

BARR is a comprehensive, strength-based approach that uses eight interlocking strategies to build intentional staff-to-staff, staff-to-student, and student-to-student relationships in secondary schools. Read the final report of a large-scale independent evaluation of the BARR model in ninth grade in eleven high schools.
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.
22 May 2019 | 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Event

How Federal Policy Can Empower States and Communities to Provide Whole Child Education For All Students

Decades of research show that whole child approaches to learning, which emphasize a positive school climate; an integrated approach to social, emotional, and academic learning; and wraparound services are essential to students' academic and life success and can reduce the negative effects of poverty on achievement. Speakers at this briefing will examine federal policy levers state and local policymakers can use to invest in research-based whole child approaches to learning.
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.
5 Apr 2019
ESSA

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.
13 Mar 2019
Infographic

Infographic: Seven Years of Supporting the Midwest (2012-2019)

The Midwest Comprehensive Center (MWCC) at AIR, funded through a U.S. Department of Education grant from October 2012 to September 2019, provides technical assistance for the state education agencies of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

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.
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.
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.
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.
10 Dec 2018
Guide

Mississippi Department of Education Sharing What Works Framework

As part of the Mississippi Department of Education’s vision to create a high-quality educational system, the Office of School Improvement developed this framework of effective practices and procedures for supporting schools. Content experts from the Southeast Comprehensive Center at AIR served on the review committee for this guide in conjunction with department staff, Mississippi school district leaders, and representatives from the Mississippi Association of Federal Education Program Directors and Johns Hopkins University.
14 Nov 2018 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Event

How Do Education Systems Differ Around the World? An Examination of OECD's Education at a Glance

On November 14, 2018, AIR hosted a presentation and discussion focusing on the latest international results from the OECD’s 2018 Education at a Glance. The webinar highlighted findings related to the following questions: How much time do students in the United States spend in the classroom compared to their international peers? How do early childhood education systems differ around the world? How do salaries for teachers and school heads vary by country? How can I find and work with these data?
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.
9 Jun 2018
Report

Alabama State Department of Education Plan for Progress in Mathematics

To address multiple challenges, the Alabama State Department of Education collaborated with the Southeast Comprehensive Center to examine instruction and achievement in mathematics using evidence-based research.
14 May 2018 | 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Event

From ESSA Plans to Implementation: A Look at Fifty State Plans and Opportunities to Advance Effective School Improvement

Are you still wondering what is in state ESSA plans? Or what might change in schools as a result? AIR and EducationCounsel met to discuss the trends across ESSA plans and what must come next to significantly improve outcomes for students among lowest-performing schools.
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.
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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.?
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.
10 May 2017
Toolkit

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction English Learner Support Team Appraisal Tool for Professional Growth and Development

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction English Learner Support Team Appraisal Tool is designed to aid users in self-reflection, goal setting, training observations, year-end appraisal, and team membership application.
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.
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.
1 Jan 2017
ESSA

ESSA │Using Data for Improvement

Data are a critical component to state and local improvement efforts. At each stage of an improvement process—from planning, to formative reflections, to summative analyses—data provide insights that should inform decision making. The AIR team works with clients at state and local levels to understand their improvement goals and to capitalize on their current processes for using data to drive improvement efforts.
1 Jan 2017
ESSA

ESSA │4. Accountability, Support, and Improvement for Schools

In this section, SEAs describe their accountability, support, and improvement system including elements of their accountability system (i.e.

1 Jan 2017
ESSA

ESSA │Low-Performing Schools

Efforts to improve conditions and outcomes in the lowest-performing schools and districts remain a high priority for policymakers and for AIR. While policy initiatives, targeted technical assistance, and research findings have yielded some success, students in these struggling schools deserve our perseverance. AIR researchers have conducted ground-breaking research and evaluation of state and federal education policies, including rigorous impact analyses and case studies that reveal contextual details of the school change process.
1 Jan 2017
ESSA

ESSA │Developing and Supporting Leaders

Principals impact student achievement through their influence on classroom instruction, organizational conditions, community support, and setting the teaching and learning conditions in schools. Under ESSA states have additional opportunities to attract, support, and retain effective principals. AIR's researchers have investigated school leadership and supported practitioners to apply best practices to improve state policy, district programs, and school practices aimed at developing and retaining effective leaders.
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.
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.
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.
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.
24 Oct 2016
Brief

School Features and Student Opportunities for Deeper Learning - What Makes a Difference? (Brief)

The Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes found that students attending network high schools with a mature and well-implemented approach to promoting deeper learning experienced different instructional strategies, greater opportunities, and better results on a range of outcomes than did their matched counterparts in comparison sites. This brief examines how teachers’ own beliefs about teaching, their assessment of their peers’ professional culture, and their assessment of the success of the principal in providing instructional leadership and program coherence are related to students’ reports of deeper learning opportunities in their classes.
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
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.
17 Oct 2016
Toolkit

Facilitating Strategic Technical Assistance Toolkit

The Facilitating Strategic Technical Assistance Partnerships Toolkit is a resource for regional comprehensive centers working closely with state departments of education. Toolkit resources are designed to help comprehensive centers facilitate meaningful interactions between state education agency leaders and their technical assistance partners.
17 Oct 2016
Report

School Features and Student Opportunities for Deeper Learning: What Makes a Difference?

In this report from the Study on Deeper Learning, researchers found that while teachers’ own beliefs seemed to have the most consistent and strongest associations with the opportunities students reported experiencing in the classroom, interview data suggest that other school features and external policies can influence teachers’ beliefs about teaching and about their own teaching skills.
14 Oct 2016
Video

Common Core State Standards Video Series │Southeast Comprehensive Center

These videos were created in collaboration with the Southeast Comprehensive Center to support states, schools, and teachers in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The videos were based on states' needs for professional development support for the implementation of the Standards.
GIS map of Texas
12 Oct 2016
Video

School Improvement Explained: The Geography of School Improvement in Texas

School improvement efforts are often influenced by where schools are located. In this video, Trent Sharp talks about his work with the Texas Comprehensive Center to examine the geographic and social factors that affect low performing schools and high performing Title one schools, which serve a large percentage of low-income students, throughout the state.
Children in classroom
12 Oct 2016
Video

School Improvement Explained: How GIS Mapping Can Help Improve Schools

Location can play an important role in school improvement efforts. Trent Sharp talks about how geographic information systems data can be used with school and other demographic and social information to better inform school improvement efforts.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.

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Students with iPads
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 | 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Event

RTI Reaches Adolescence: Will It Make It to Adulthood? A Case for Cautious Optimism

As response to intervention (RTI) grows into its adolescence, questions about efficacy and challenges with implementation have emerged. The Center on RTI hosted a webinar, during which panelists addressed findings from the recent Institute of Education Sciences' evaluation of RTI, as well as lessons learned from state and local evaluations of implementation. Experts discussed how use of increasingly available high-quality resources, combined with intensive, comprehensive implementation, provide reasons for optimism that RTI can indeed progress from a tumultuous adolescence to successful adulthood.
19 May 2016
Guide

Alabama State Department of Education Plan 2020 Data Preparation and Analysis Primer

The Southeast Comprehensive Center partnered with the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) in 2014 to assist in evaluating Plan 2020, mainly focusing on learners and the graduation rate.
17 May 2016
Service

MQI Coaching: Improving the Mathematical Quality of Instruction

Achieving Common Core-aligned mathematics instruction is not easy. AIR has teamed up with the Center for Education Policy at Harvard University to offer high-quality professional development to help teachers, schools, and districts improve their mathematics instruction.
Kerstin Le Floch
14 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Three Things We Learned from the Study of School Turnaround

The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program will expire as ESSA is implemented, but the challenges of low-performing schools have not. SIG provided some promising examples, as well as caveats that can challenge and inform those of us who believe our nation’s most disadvantaged students deserve better. In our latest blog post, Kerstin Carlson Le Floch shares what we’ve learned from case studies of 25 schools included in the Study of School Turnaround.
14 Apr 2016
Report

Case Studies of Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants: Final Report

With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program underwent three major shifts; by increasing the level of funding, better targeting these funds to the persistently lowest-achieving schools, and requiring that schools adopt specific intervention models, the revamped SIG program aimed to catalyze more aggressive efforts to turn around student performance. This report focuses on a small sample of schools receiving SIG over the first three years of the revamped SIG program.
7 Apr 2016
Brief

How Methodology Decisions Affect the Variability of Schools Identified as Beating the Odds

Many states are attempting to identify schools that perform better than schools with similar populations. Such “beating-the-odds” schools offer opportunities to identify promising practices that can be implemented by other schools serving similar populations. This study uses data from the Michigan Department of Education to demonstrate how methodological decisions affect which schools are identified as beating the odds.
Project

Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) Evaluation

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. AIR conducted an evaluation in eleven high schools, divided into three annual cohorts.
22 Mar 2016
Report

Case Studies of Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants: First Year Findings

Our nation’s lowest performing schools have traditionally struggled to offer students the instruction and supports they deeply need. The first phase of the federal School Improvement Grant Program targeted the goal of turning around these schools and improving learning for students. This report examines the first year of SIG implementation in a diverse sample of 25 schools from 13 districts and 6 states.
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9 Mar 2016
Brief

Want to Improve Low-Performing Schools? Focus on the Adults

School improvement policy for the past few decades has been characterized by mandated lists of activities designed to stimulate a dramatic turnaround in student achievement. In the long run, this policy approach did not engender the necessary school-level changes. This brief demonstrates why new policies must aim to get the right people in our schools and to create district and state systems that retain those people and build their knowledge and skills.
Image of Allison Gandhi
7 Mar 2016
Blog Post

What Can Massachusetts’ Wraparound Zones Teach Us About School Turnaround?

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives states the authority and flexibility to turn around their lowest performing schools. In this blog post, Allison Gandhi asks if states can succeed where federal policy requirements have run into walls, using the success of the Massachusetts Wraparound Zone initiative as an example.
19 Feb 2016
Guide

District Guide for Creating Indicators for Early Warning Systems

While research has validated early warning indicators for high school dropout and other educational milestones in many locations, those indicators may vary across contexts. This step-by-step guide was created to help school districts identify and select their own early warning indicators. Included in the guide is a set of templates to document decisions and organize the analysis to identify and select appropriate early warning indicators for your school or district.
Jane Coggshall
11 Feb 2016
Blog Post

The New Title IIA: Scrapped, Diluted, or Fixed?

Did Congress make the right fixes to the rules governing funding for teaching and learning in ESSA? Kind of, according to AIR expert Jane Coggshall, in this blog post.
25 Jan 2016
Brief

Implementing LCFF: Possible Solutions to Emergent LCAP Challenges

The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a central component of California’s Local Control Funding Formula, which requires districts to describe their goals, their strategies to achieve these goals, and the resources allocated to support these strategies. This brief outlines the key challenges undercutting the LCAP’s effectiveness and offers short term and long term solutions to these identified challenges.
19 Nov 2015
Report

The District Role in Graduation Rate Improvement: Promising Practices from Five California Districts

While evidence is mounting about school-level programs and policies that contribute to increased high school graduation rates, little attention has been paid to the role that districts can play in creating conditions for and supporting higher graduation rates. This study chronicles the Stockton Unified School District's response to high schools labeled "dropout factories" and explores how they addressed the issue.
3 Nov 2015 to 5 Nov 2015
| 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Event

Promoting Equitable Access at the State and Local Levels - Regional Institute

The Southeast Comprehensive Center and the Texas Comprehensive Center, hosted the regional institute, Promoting Equitable Access at the State and Local Levels, in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 3–5, 2015. Attendees convened with national experts and other professionals, examined issues related to equitable access, shared opportunities and challenges, and explored methods for improving equity at the state and local levels.
3 Nov 2015
In the Field

Research in Action: Connecting Research With Practice to Improve School Leadership

To stay current on the most effective strategies for school improvement, Catherine Barbour keeps a close eye on new research. At AIR, researchers and technical assistance providers collaborate to put the most authoritative and timely information to practical use.
1 Nov 2015
Service

State, District, and School Support for English Learners

The Center for ELLs at AIR works with states, districts, and schools to collect information about current policies and practices for ELLs, evaluate those policies and practices, and formulate plans of action to make improvements in the education of ELLs.
1 Oct 2015
Report

Descriptions of State-Developed Alternative Intervention Models for School Improvement Grants in Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and Texas

School Improvement Grants are provided by the Department of Education in an attempt to raise the achievement of students in the state’s lowest-performing schools. The purpose of this report is to describe several state-developed alternative intervention models approved by the Department of Education.
29 Sep 2015
Report

Usage of Policies and Practices Promoted by Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants

In response to the Great Recession, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed into law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Education received a total of $100 billion, including $7 billion for two of the Obama administration’s signature grant programs: Race to the Top (RTT) and School Improvement Grants (SIG). This report addresses the following questions: Do states and schools that received grants actually use the policies and practices promoted by these two programs? Does the usage of these policies and practices differ from states and schools that did not receive grants?
17 Aug 2015
Report

None of Us Are as Good as All of Us: Early Lessons From the CORE Districts

District leaders are increasingly recognizing the value of working with their peers in other districts to tackle their most pressing challenges. Without careful attention to the factors that help cross-district learning occur, however, education leaders looking to achieve systemwide change may fail to capitalize on the potential of working together across district lines. This AIR report seeks to identify some of these factors by examining the CORE Districts, a collection of 10 California districts that collectively serve more than one million students by telling the beginning of the CORE story and identifying key lessons.
12 Aug 2015
Report

Focusing on the Whole Student: Final Report on the Massachusetts Wraparound Zones

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Wraparound Zones (WAZ) Initiative is designed to create coordinated district systems that allow schools to proactively and systematically address students’ nonacademic needs. AIR's evaluation of the initiative found that students in WAZ schools experienced greater gains in English language arts and math achievement than students in similar schools that did not receive the grant. These effects were significant after two and three years of implementation, with particularly strong gains in the grades 3 and 4 for limited English proficient students.
12 Aug 2015
Report

Evaluation of Massachusetts District and School Turnaround Assistance: Impact of School Redesign Grants (SRG)

Examining whether students in schools receiving School Redesign Grants (SRG) experienced better academic outcomes and attendance than non-SRG students, this evaluation done for the Massachusetts Office of District and School Turnaround Assistance found consistently positive and generally robust effects on student academic achievement, particularly on standardized state assessments. Results also suggest, however, that SRG receipt does not affect student attendance.
Project

Boston Public Schools: A Study of Expanded Learning Time

Expanded learning time (ELT) is a school improvement strategy in which time is added to the regular school day for additional instruction or enrichment activities for students, and collaboration and professional development for teachers. Boston Public Schools and AIR are collaborating to conduct research about ELT, specifically to determine how these practices affect student outcomes, and to understand keys to the sustainability of effective practice.
elementary children raising their hands excitedly
31 Jul 2015
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.
20 Jul 2015
Blog Post

What Are States Doing to Bring Up All Their Schools?

Turning around our nation’s low-performing schools became a national priority—and central focus of education policy at all levels—in 2001 with No Child Left Behind. Then Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants redoubled the nation’s emphasis on school turnaround, giving states more resources to advance improvement efforts within federal requirements. But, ask Courtney Tanenbaum and Cheryl Graczewski, are states ready for the challenge? If so, how are states building the capacity needed to do the job?
Project

Michigan Focus Schools Networked Improvement Community (NIC)

A networked improvement community (NIC) is a group of individuals or organizations that uses principles of improvement science to learn about how different interventions work in varying contexts. REL Midwest and a group of practitioners convened a NIC to work on narrowing inequality in schools in Michigan with the largest achievement gaps.
Project

Hawaii Race to the Top Evaluation

The Race to the Top (RTTT) initiative provided an unprecedented amount of federal competitive grant funding to push educational systems toward innovation using coherent and comprehensive reforms. AIR's evaluation of the grant in Hawaii found that, although student achievement in Hawaii has continued to improve during the course of RTTT, those gains did not appear to be the result of the grant, but rather the continuation of a trend of improvement that started earlier.
27 May 2015
Report

What Happens When Schools Become Magnet Schools? A Longitudinal Study of Diversity and Achievement

Magnet schools are best known for offering unique programs or curricula to attract students from outside a school’s neighborhood; many started off as neighborhood public schools but converted with the goals of increasing student diversity and achievement. A nine-year AIR study of 21 magnet schools found that while there was limited evidence that the schools were successful in increasing diversity, there was inconclusive evidence of increased student achievement.
19 May 2015
Report

From Accountability to Prevention: Early Warning Systems Put Data to Work for Struggling Students

Early warning systems offer a way to use available data to identify students at risk and drive targeted interventions that help them get back on track. This issue paper includes lessons learned from more than seven years of working with individual schools, school districts, and state education agencies as they design, develop, implement, and refine early warning systems.
19 May 2015
Toolkit

Principal Observation Tool Strengthens School District Leadership

Principal observation tools are used to accurately evaluate principal performance by helping principal supervisors and coaches improve instructional leadership. This piece describes how using the right tools is helping principals in the U.S. Virgin Islands develop such evidence-based coaching and performance evaluations.
Image of Peter Cookson
14 May 2015
Blog Post

Place Matters: So Do Schools and Teachers

If place heavily impacts social mobility, could strengthening schools be the key to overcoming the effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood? Peter Cookson, AIR principal researcher, explores this question in a blog post for the Education Policy Center.
5 May 2015
Brief

State Capacity to Support School Turnaround

One objective of the U.S. Department of Education’s School Improvement Grants and Race to the Top program is to help states enhance their capacity to support the turnaround of low-performing schools. This brief documents states’ capacity to support school turnaround as of spring 2012 and spring 2013. It examines capacity issues for all states and for those that reported both prioritizing turnaround and having significant gaps in expertise to support it.
30 Apr 2015
Report

New Science Standards: A Readiness Assessment for State Boards of Education

State implementation of new standards (revising, adapting, and adopting new standards) is a significant undertaking. Many states are just beginning to consider whether to modify existing science standards, adapt standards being used in other states, or develop new ones. This document is intended to guide state boards of education through this complex process.
15 Apr 2015
Video

Title I and the Role of Federal and District Policy

Examining the role that policy plays in shaping Title I, Elizabeth Grant, vice president of education at AIR, and Monique Chism, U.S. Department of Education discuss the roles of federal, state, and district policy in ensuring that the Title I program helps provide equal opportunities and accountability for all students.
17 Mar 2015
Brief

Still Learning from the Past: Drawing on California’s CLAS Experience to Inform Assessment of the Common Core (2015)

As California approaches a new system of academic standards, instruction, and assessment, it enters familiar territory.

11 Mar 2015
Policy Brief

Brief: Title II, Part A: Don't Scrap It, Don't Dilute It, Fix It.

Washington is taking a close look at Title II, Part A (Title IIA) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as Congress debates reauthorization. A new Title IIA would make certain that state, district, and school leaders have the capacity required to manage professional development activities and resources more effectively to achieve Title II’s vital student achievement goals. This brief lays out what Title IIA is and what it could be and points to some district and school leaders who are figuring it out for the rest of us.
15 Feb 2015
Report

How Methodology Decisions Affect the Variability of Schools Identified as Beating the Odds

Schools that show better academic performance than would be expected given characteristics of the school and student populations are often described as “beating the odds.” State and local education agencies often attempt to identify such schools as a means of identifying strategies or practices that might be contributing to the schools’ relative success. The results of this study demonstrate that different technical decisions can lead to different identification results.
Kerstin Le Floch
28 Jan 2015
Blog Post

Up for Vote #2: Lessons Learned From Research and Practice in SIG Schools

Successive federal efforts to tackle the entrenched challenges of persistently low-performing schools have fallen far short of their goal. In this blog post, Kerstin Le Floch and Catherine Barbour offer three ways ESEA can build capacity in low-performing schools.
15 Dec 2014
Spotlight

Profiles of School Turnaround Strategies in Selected Sites

The School Improvement Grants program provides grants to support rigorous interventions aimed at turning around the nation’s persistently lowest achieving schools. AIR has worked with the Department of Education to develop profiles of state-, district-, and school-level strategies to build capacity for turning around the lowest-performing schools.
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9 Dec 2014
Video

Long Story Short: Why Should School Districts Collaborate?

School districts play a pivotal role in creating the conditions for learning and many are going through a time of intense change. Joel Knudson, an AIR senior researcher, explains how collaboration can help school districts face shared challenges and partner together to continuously improve.
1 Dec 2014
Report

Building Leadership Capacity in California’s Public Education Systems: Lessons From the SCALE Initiative

Educators and other stakeholders in the education field recognize the power of school systems to create the conditions for student success in our public schools; however, these approaches rarely focus on the capacity of system leaders themselves. The Stuart Foundation California Leaders in Education (SCALE) Initiative is an effort to build the individual leadership capacity of system leaders in several of California’s traditional public school districts and charter management organizations. This paper describes how SCALE evolved and what we can learn from it.
26 Nov 2014
Brief

Building Teacher Capacity to Support English Language Learners in Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants

Federal School Improvement Grants support turnaround efforts in the nation’s lowest-performing schools, including many that serve a large number of English Language Learner Students. This brief focuses on 11 of these schools with high proportions of ELLs, describing their efforts to improve teachers' capacity for serving ELLs through staffing strategies and professional development.
20 Nov 2014
Brief

LCFF Implementation: Building Capacity to Realize the Promises of California’s New Funding System

California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has introduced changes that alter the conditions under which educators, administrators, and community leaders approach their roles in the K-12 education system.

5 Nov 2014 to 7 Nov 2014
| 1:45 PM - 1:45 PM
Event

Supporting High-Quality Rural Education - Regional Institute

The Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) and the Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC) hosted the Regional Institute, Supporting High-Quality Rural Education, at the Embassy Suites Austin - Central Hotel in Austin, Texas, on November 5–7, 2014. This institute was by invitation only for educators at state-level agencies and organizations who are engaged in efforts to support rural education.
5 Oct 2014
Brief

Operational Authority, Support, and Monitoring of School Turnaround

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on turning around our nation’s low-performing schools, with substantial investments from the U.S. Department of Education into new and continuing awards under the federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. This brief focuses on the implementation of SIG by examining three interrelated levers for school improvement: school operational authority, state and district support for turnaround, and state monitoring of turnaround efforts.
Project

Going Beyond the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS): A New Way to Evaluate Early Learning Programs

Brain development is critical during children's early years, yet nationally less than 50 percent of children enter Kindergarten ready to learn. AIR and Excellent Schools Detroit developed the Early Learning Scorecard, which provides families and the community with information about climate and culture as part of a high-quality early care and learning program.
1 Sep 2014
Service

Client Services in State and Local Evaluation

AIR’s state and local evaluation projects marshal a broad range of expertise and resources to support state education agencies and district offices as they decide whether to retain, revise, or end a policy or program. The projects address challenges in district and school reform, educator quality, special education, school financing, STEM, literacy, virtual learning, extended learning, English learning, early childhood education, and college and career readiness.
31 Jul 2014
Brief

Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Implementation: Early Lessons From the Field

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) represents a fundamental transformation of the way California allocates state funds to school districts and the ways the state expects districts to make decisions about (and report on) the use of these funds. This brief identifies some early lessons about how best to use the new system to meet student needs, especially the traditionally underserved.
photo of Aaron Butler
29 Jul 2014
Blog Post

The “Sink or Swim” Reality: Learning From Turnaround Principal Preparation

With Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s announcement of the Excellent Educators for All initiative earlier this month, putting excellent principals at the helm of high-need schools remains critical. To better prepare the new principals, Aaron Butler contends in this blog post, state- and district-level leaders should make leadership development and coaching a budget priority and support both programs that zero in on school turnaround and transformation and ongoing coaching for principals to enhance their abilities to lead school turnaround and transformation.
22 Jul 2014
Report

Working Together: Building Effective School Turnaround Partnerships

For struggling schools, partnerships with external experts can seem like a critical lifeline. The reality of school turnaround partnerships, however, does not always resemble the ideal. What qualities of an external partnership indicate a greater likelihood for success? What actions by school administrators may make these relationships more effective?
Project

Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program Evaluation

Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) is administering a five-year, $50 million multifaceted initiative called Quality Education for All, the goal of which is to implement programs that help recruit and retain high-quality teachers and leaders for Duval County Public Schools. The Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program is a part of this effort. AIR will provide JPEF with ongoing formative feedback about the implementation successes and challenges, and summative feedback about the program’s impact on teacher and student outcomes.
Teacher with students
19 Jun 2014
Report

Examining Spillover Effects from Teach for America Corps Members in Miami-Dade County Public Schools

What impact do Teach for America (TFA) members have on other teachers' performance? A strategy to "cluster" TFA members in high-need schools contributed to large gains in math achievement, but was found to have little effect on reading skills and no spillover effect on other teachers.
Darren Woodruff
2 Jun 2014
Video

Long Story Short: How Can Schools Help Reduce the Achievement Gap?

Disparities persist in educational achievement for students of color and low-income students. In this video interview, Darren Woodruff, principal researcher at AIR, explains how schools can create a climate to help reduce the achievement gap and help all students learn.
Project

Study of English Language Learners in Massachusetts

Research by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has shown that the majority of English language learners (ELLs) who entered Massachusetts public schools in kindergarten were reclassified within three years; however, most still struggled with reading and math in later grades. AIR conducted research and analysis on Massachusetts state data that will provide a profile of ELLs and policy recommendations for improving their outcomes.

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.
28 Apr 2014
Blog Post

Moving Schools from Toxic to Transformative

The overarching theme repeatedly heard over the two-day Black Male Summit at Morehouse College recently: African American males feel disconnected, misunderstood, and inadequately supported by teachers, principals, and others involved in running their schools. In this blog post, Darren Woodruff details some of the alarming data that emerged from the Summit.
17 Apr 2014
Brief

A Focused Look at Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants That Have High Percentages of English Language Learner Students

Federal School Improvement Grants (SIGs) support turnaround efforts in the nation’s lowest-performing schools, including many that serve a large number of English Language Learner Students (ELLs). This evaluation brief examines 11 high-ELL SIG schools’ capacity and efforts to address the unique needs of ELLs.
19 Mar 2014
Blog Post

My Brother’s Keeper: The Urgency of Now

Recent research shows that while the overall achievement gap between African-American and white males is narrowing, the rate of progress is glacial. In this blog post, Peter Cookson discusses the President's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative and what needs to be done to make it a success.
14 Mar 2014
Spotlight

Regional Educational Laboratories

Regional Educational Laboratories serve the education needs of designated regions, using applied research, development, dissemination, and training and technical assistance, to bring the latest and best research and proven practices into school improvement efforts.
Teachers conferring at chalkboard
5 Mar 2014
Index

AIR Index: Teachers and Evaluation Reform

Quick facts about school reform, teacher satisfaction and teacher evaluations.
Project

Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast (REL Southeast)

The states in REL Southeast's region include schools in rural, suburban, and urban settings which face high poverty, growing populations of English learners, and low graduation rates. At the same time, states are committed to meeting the challenge of higher student standards.
21 Feb 2014
Brief

21st Century Educators: Developing and Supporting Great Career and Technical Education Teachers

Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers are uniquely positioned to improve college and career readiness for all students, and yet major federal and state education reforms, such as the Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluation and ESEA flexibility have paid insufficient attention to d

book cover improving teacher quality
16 Feb 2014
Book

Improving Teacher Quality: A Guide for Education Leaders

Improving Teacher Quality: A Guide for Education Leaders addresses the specific roles education leaders have in ensuring that each classroom has the most effective teacher. Each chapter is tailored to an individual audience and focuses on the key policies they can influence. Improving Teacher Quality includes vignettes, strategies, and realistic action steps to give readers a jumping off point to begin what can seem like an overwhelming endeavor. Every chapter ends with a checklist to facilitate next steps.
Project

Say Yes to Education

Since 2008, AIR has been a pro bono investment partner with Say Yes to Education, a national nonprofit organization committed to dramatically increasing high school and college graduation rates for our nation’s inner-city youth. AIR has produced three papers that look at districtwide education reform in Syracuse.
28 Jan 2014
Report

Foundation Investment in Education Reform

Foundations in the United States make substantial investments in public education, nearly $5 billion in 2010. They do so for a variety of reasons that include improving educational conditions and outcomes, supporting innovation, and increasing access for the underserved.

28 Jan 2014
Report

Community Collaboration on Education Reform

Theory about community-integrated education initiatives (e.g., community schools, Harlem Children’s Zone, Promise Neighborhoods, Strive Partnership) suggests that community school partnerships can increase community engagement with a school, make more efficient and effective use of limited and so

28 Jan 2014
Report

Uses of Data in the Community-Based Reform Initiative

During a period of four years, Say Yes to Education developed data resources and tools reflecting a commitment, as part of a community-based reform initiative (Say Yes Syracuse), to identify needs, monitor implementation, certify results, provide transparency and engage stakeholders. This paper reviews the program and describes lessons learned.
empty desks in a classroom
30 Oct 2013
Spotlight

Three Decades of Education Reform: Are We Still "A Nation at Risk?"

In 1983, A Nation at Risk laid bare the state of American education and exposed what that meant for individuals and the country. Here, seven education experts from AIR weigh in on whether the report made a difference and where education is today.
Project

Developing a Strategic Plan for Indiana

The Indiana Department of Education requested the Great Lakes Comprehensive Center's support as it designed and implemented the planning process to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, and staff commitment to its success, to effectively address the education challenges the state faces.
Project

Oklahoma Rural Schools Research Alliance

The Oklahoma Rural Schools Research Alliance sought to investigate three research topics: effective professional development strategies in rural schools, use of data to inform instruction in rural schools, and challenges American Indian students face in rural schools. This research focus will be applied to identify and address the factors that contribute to or impede school performance in rural areas, with particular attention to challenges and solutions for strengthening college and career readiness among rural students.
1 Oct 2013
Report

Persistently Improving Schools in Michigan: Moving Past a History of Low Performance

Over the past decade, the Michigan Department of Education has sought to implement a support system to break the cycle of low performance in the state’s schools. This study documents the progress of six schools that made significant progress within five years.

Project

Strengthening Conditions for Learning in Cleveland Public Schools

Following a school shooting in 2007, the City of Cleveland and its school district commissioned AIR to conduct a needs assessment and make recommendations for school improvement. In 2013, a follow-up assessment led by AIR and funded by the Cleveland Foundation was commissioned by the school district to guide continuous quality improvements.
20 Aug 2013
Report

Are Personalized Learning Environments the Next Wave of K-12 Education Reform?

AIR examines 16 successful applications from the Race to the Top District awards. Four trends mark grantees' efforts to implement teaching and learning innovations, including blended learning environments, individualized career readiness plans, and empowering stakeholders.

8 Jul 2013
Report

Urban Students in Milwaukee Public Schools Demonstrate Improved Reading Achievement after READ 180 ® Instruction

As a part of the Striving Readers program supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Milwaukee Public Schools implemented the Read 180 program in five schools in an effort to provide targeted literacy supports to struggling students. This evaluation update details the results of the evaluation, which show that the program had a significant impact on students’ academic performance in reading..
Project

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Network to Transform Teaching Project

The Network to Transform Teaching (NT3) initiative is designed to (1) increase the number of candidates submitting their first certification component and (2) increase the percentage of National Board Certified Teachers in instructional leadership roles. The initiative aims to establish collaborative processes for continuous improvement in the partner sites that will be sustained beyond the grant period. AIR is charged with providing a formative evaluation of program implementation and an outcomes evaluation of the instructional leadership of National Board Certified Teachers.
Project

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards ATLAS Evaluation

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards launched Accomplished Teaching, Learning, and Schools (ATLAS), an online platform to provide video exemplars and corresponding written reflections of National Board Certified Teachers to help train new teachers. American Institutes for Research is conducting a formative evaluation to study ATLAS implementation and a summative evaluation to estimate the impact of ATLAS use on teacher performance and student achievement.
Project

Evaluation of the New York City Department of Education Core Curriculum Options and Citywide Curriculum Professional Development

The New York City Department of Education contracted with AIR to evaluate the extent to which the Common Core curriculum has been implemented in schools and to examine the impact of professional development.
Project

Evaluating Education Reform in Hobbs Municipal Schools

This project is a mixed-methods evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the Hobbs Municipal Schools Common Core State Standards Initiative. AIR's evaluation includes a descriptive review of district reform and student performance history from the early 2000s through 2013 and an evaluation of the implementation of the Common Core in Hobbs, the relationship of Common Core reform with other district reforms, and the impact of Common Core implementation on student opportunity to learn, as well as academic and other outcomes.
Project

Indiana Diagnostic Assessments Study

In 2008, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) launched a diagnostic assessment program in which teachers in Grades K–8 classrooms administered commercially available interim assessments to their students. Results from each test were available to teachers, who were expected to use them to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses and adjust their instruction accordingly. AIR's evaluation of the program provided mixed evidence regarding the value of using interim assessments to monitor student progress to guide instruction and increase student achievement.
12 Feb 2013
Toolkit

Special Education Start-Up and Implementation Tools for Charter School Leaders and Special Education Managers

This user-friendly guidebook and toolkit was developed by special education experts to support charter school leaders and special education managers as they build special education programs to serve students with disabilities.

Project

Internationals Network Project RISE (Realizing Internationals Support for English Language Learners)

Project RISE (Realizing Internationals Supports for English Language Learners) aims to improve the educational outcomes of English language learners (ELLs) in Grades 9–12 in two schools identified as persistently low performing by changing teachers’ instructional practices and several key structures in which students and teachers are organized. AIR is providing ongoing, formative evaluation of program implementation and, during the project’s last year, will provide a summative evaluation of Project RISE’s impact on the educational outcomes of ELLs.
8 Oct 2012
Report

Race to the Top–District Guidance and Action Brief

AIR and Turnaround for Children have authored two white papers to support districts who are applying for the Race to the Top – District (RTTD) competition. The two white papers provide guidelines for establishing foundational conditions as outlined by RTTD and for using a specific set of metrics to measure their effectiveness and impact.

Project

Linking Teacher Evaluations in Ohio to Professional Learning

Since October 2012, the Great Lakes Comprehensive Center has been building the organizational capacity of the Ohio Department of Education to support districts and schools in the design and implementation of professional learning opportunities for teachers based on teacher performance evaluation results.
Project

Implementing the Iowa Core

Iowa’s statewide academic standards, the Iowa Core, were adopted in 2008 to provide students, parents, and teachers with a clear understanding of what students in kindergarten through 12th grade should know and be able to do in five content areas: mathematics, science, literacy, social studies, and 21st century skills. The Midwest Comprehensive Center worked as a thought partner and technical assistance provider with the Iowa Department of Education to support a standards revision process.
Project

DC Public Charter School Board Consulting

Accountability is a necessary and critical focus in education. In 2012, the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board (DCPCSB) did not have an accountability system in place to monitor adult education public charter schools. AIR consults with DCPCSB, using its expertise in developing, advising on, and updating accountability systems to support the board in creating a fair and appropriate accountability system. AIR provides insights into policy changes in adult education and the changing needs of the DCPCSB accountability system.
Project

Open Educational Resources to Support STEM Teaching and Learning in Adult Education (OER STEM)

As the national economy expands in areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the teaching of this content has become vital for adults to succeed in the workplace. AIR developed new and innovative ways to improve the teaching of STEM content to adult education students using open educational resources (OER).
1 Jun 2012
Report

Fresno–Long Beach Learning Partnership: Series Overview

The leaders of two of California’s largest urban school districts—Fresno and Long Beach—entered into a formal learning partnership with the goal of preparing all students for success. This is an overview of four briefs developed by AIR about different aspects of the partnership, and calls out key lessons for district leaders, policymakers, funders, and researchers.
30 Apr 2012
Report

The Ripple Effect: A Synthesis of Research on Principal Influence to Inform Performance Evaluation Design

After providing a short historical overview of the changing role of school principals, the brief presents two policy perspectives on principal effectiveness and, finally, introduces a research-based framework for defining principal effectiveness. It finds that principal evaluation systems should not be based solely on student achievement gains, but rather on the quality of a principal’s school-level leadership and performance.
Project

Chicago Public Schools Community Schools Initiative

A key component of the Chicago Public Schools' Community Schools Initiative is ensuring that the needs of the school community are identified, and that high-quality programming and services are provided that address these needs, particularly the academic, social, and emotional needs of students enrolled in Initiative schools. In 2011, CPS contracted with AIR and its partner Diehl Consulting Group to conduct a comprehensive, mixed-methods evaluation of the CPS CSI.
Project

Boston Public Schools: Turnaround Using Increased Learning Time

Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the National Center on Time & Learning partnered to turn around two low-performing Boston middle schools by implementing the Turnaround Using Increased Learning Time model. AIR examined program implementation to provide formative feedback to BPS and partner organizations and to document the implementation process.
13 Feb 2012
Guide

Reauthorizing ESEA: Students with Disabilities Pocket Guide

The Reauthorizing ESEA Pocket Guides are written by AIR experts to assist policymakers and educators as they consider changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

14 Jan 2012
Brief

Texas Comprehensive Center Briefing Papers

These Texas Comprehensive Center briefing papers address topics requested by our partners at the Texas Education Agency. Center staff collected information regarding research and practices related to these topics and summarized that information so that educators could use it to support their work at the state, district, and campus level to meet student needs more effectively.
Project

Study of School Turnaround

The U.S. Department of Education has invested substantial funds in turning around the nation’s lowest performing schools and has contracted with AIR to examine how schools’ receiving federal school improvement grants (SIGs) are changing over time.

Project

Jefferson County Strategic Compensation Evaluation

In 2010, Jefferson County (Jeffco) Public Schools in Colorado was awarded a five-year grant to implement the Jeffco Strategic Compensation (StratComp) Initiative. StratComp, which provides professional supports to all educators, is a new teacher evaluation observation system in which administrators and peers conduct observations, job-embedded professional development is aligned to observation ratings and delivered by master teachers and instructional coaches, and groups of teachers work together in teacher-teaming activities to improve instructional and student achievement goals. AIR is conducting a formative evaluation to study StratComp implementation and a summative evaluation to estimate the impact of the StratComp program on teacher performance and student achievement.
Project

Evaluation of Amarillo Independent School District’s Vision 2020 Grant Program

Amarillo Independent School District’s federally funded Vision 2020 Virtual Learning Strand grant program provides funding to increase participation in the Texas Virtual School Network. The primary goal of Vision 2020 was to provide staff development and technology-based resources and support aimed at increasing the district’s technology content knowledge as well as access to and use of technological resources, all with the goal of improving student outcomes. AIR's comprehensive, district-focused evaluation helped the school district determine the fidelity of program implementation and the impact of the program on content knowledge and instructional practices of high school teachers.

Project

Denver Teacher Residency Program Evaluation

The Denver Teacher Residency program is a preservice, alternative certification program designed to train teachers to serve in high-need Denver Public Schools. AIR is conducting a five-year evaluation of this program, which is designed to monitor program implementation, measure program effectiveness, and explore program mechanisms.
Project

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Project Lead Strong

The Miami-Dade County Public Schools Project Lead Strong was designed to develop leadership capacity in chronically low-performing schools. Assistant principals and principals in higher performing schools are formally trained to lead turnaround schools by participating in professional development and job-shadowing experiences. AIR is conducting an evaluation of this initiative, tracking program implementation and measuring program effectiveness in improving student performance. Evaluators are using surveys, interviews, and extant program documents to examine program implementation and to track program effectiveness in improving intermediary outcomes, including school working conditions and quality of instructional leadership.

1 Oct 2011
Report

Making the Move: Transition Strategies at California Schools with High Graduation Rates

AIR, as a partner in the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, worked with the K-12 Innovation and Improvement Office (formerly the Middle Grades Improvement Office) at the California Department of Education to conduct a study on student transitions from the middle grades to high school.

8 Jul 2011
Report

Educational and Operational Efficiency Study of the Clark County School District

The Clark County School District (CCSD) requested AIR and Gibson Consulting Group conduct an educational and operational efficiency study. The study identified areas that the district should focus on to increase efficiency and effectiveness in its programs and services through district-level interviews, extant data review, and a comparative district analysis. The results of this study show that the district could better meet student needs through repurposing its spending in academic areas, implementing cost reduction opportunities, and improving management practices.
Project

Educational Innovation in Teacher Incentive Fund Grants

Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants support the use of performance-based compensation and other human capital strategies that enhance and sustain performance-based compensation, in order to increase students’ access to effective educators in high-need schools. AIR provides technical support to the Center for Educational Innovation in New York City, which manages four TIF grants that serve groups of independent charter schools in New York City, Buffalo, and New Jersey.
Project

Wraparound Zone Initiative Evaluation

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Wraparound Zones (WAZ) Initiative is designed to create coordinated district systems that allow schools to proactively and systematically address the nonacademic needs of students. AIR conducted an evaluation of how well the WAZ Initiative achieved these goals, which found improvements in student behavior, family engagement, and the student referral process, and that students in WAZ schools performed better on the English language arts and mathematics assessment as compared with students in comparison schools.
Project

Ohio Race to the Top Evaluation

The Ohio Department of Education recently developed two pilot initiatives: the Ohio Performance Assessment Pilot Project (OPAPP) and the Formative Assessment Middle School (FAMS) Pilot Project. Through OPAPP’s professional development, teachers learned how to transfer learning tasks and assessment tasks into their classroom instruction. Similarly, FAMS was designed to train middle school teachers of English language arts or mathematics to learn about and implement formative assessment methods and processes in their classrooms. AIR concluded that both projects were effective in increasing teachers’ use of formative assessment practices and their ability to use these practices effectively. Teachers also generally reported that their use of formative assessment practices had a positive effect on student engagement.
4 Feb 2011
Report

Beyond the School: Exploring a Systemic Approach to School Turnaround

This brief uses the experience of eight California school districts—all members of the California Collaborative on District Reform—to suggest a more systemic approach to school turnaround.

Project

English Language Learner District Curriculum Audit

Pursuant to the accountability requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act), New York City’s Community School District 5 wanted to determine which practices and strategies enabled some elementary and middle schools within the district to reach high levels of performance for English language learners (ELLs). The district contracted AIR to conduct a curriculum audit focused on schools where ELLs had been successful as well as schools that had consistently failed to make adequate yearly progress for the ELL subgroup.
Project

Clark County Educational and Operational Efficiency Assessment Study

The Clark County School District requested AIR and Gibson Consulting Group conduct an educational and operational efficiency study. The study identified areas that the district should focus on to increase efficiency and effectiveness in its programs and services through district-level interviews, extant data review, and a comparative district analysis.
Project

Evaluation of the Early Childhood Readiness Demonstration Projects and School Readiness Certification System

The Texas School Ready! (TSR!) Project consists of communities in which independent districts, Head Start agencies, and child care providers agree to collaborate as partners in providing high-quality instruction to 3- and 4-year-old, income-eligible, at-risk children to promote their readiness for school. AIR was one of three organizations that conducted a comprehensive evaluation of TSR! to assess program implementation, fiscal management, and student outcomes of the program, as required by Texas State Legislature.
Project

Evaluation of Michigan’s System of Support for High-Priority Schools

In response to the federal mandate to devise strategies that are effective in fostering and sustaining improvement among their lowest performing schools, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) devised layers of support to schools identified as high priority. AIR and its partner, the University of Michigan, conducted a three-year study to address questions related to the implementation, coherence, and impact of the supports that MDE designed for its lowest performing schools. The evaluation team conducted a mixed method, longitudinal study, collecting multiple years of data through online surveys and interviews from numerous actors within the system, including leadership coaches, process mentors, and principals.

10 Aug 2010
Testimony

Testimony on K-12 School Turnaround Models

This testimony summarizes recent and ongoing research studies conducted by AIR and others for the U.S. Department of Education on school turnaround.

27 Jun 2010
Report

School Restructuring: What Works When (Third Edition)

The third edition of School Restructuring: What Works When—A Guide for Education Leaders provides information for school and district leaders to choose the intervention model that will work best to improve their schools.

Project

California Collaborative on District Reform

The California Collaborative on District Reform, an initiative of AIR, joins researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders in ongoing, evidence-based dialogue to improve instruction and student learning for all students in California’s urban school systems. In particular, the group recognizes the key role that districts play in supporting educational improvement.
Project

AIR Helps Advance the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

AIR is available to assist states in their efforts to improve education for all their students under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and is committed to applying our expertise in educational programs to helping all students succeed.

Project

Milwaukee Public Schools Striving Readers Evaluation

As a part of the Striving Readers program supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Milwaukee Public Schools implemented the Read 180 program in five schools in an effort to provide targeted literacy supports to struggling students. AIR's evaluation found that the program had a significant impact on students’ academic performance in reading.
1 Mar 2010
Report

Raising Expectations for Mathematics Instruction in California: Algebra and Beyond

This brief draws on dialogue and investigation among the district practitioners, researchers, and policymakers participating in the California Collaborative on District Reform. It discusses ways in which districts can approach mathematics education given the current fiscal and political context in California.

1 Feb 2010
Report

The School Leadership Triangle: From Compliance to Innovation

The School Leadership Triangle sharpens the reader’s understanding of why and how our education system must change by creating a framework for promoting the conditions that foster real innovation.

18 Dec 2009
Report

Academic Achievement and School Climate in Anchorage and Other Alaska Schools: 2006 to 2009

AIR surveyed school climate in 33 Alaska school districts between 2006 and 2009. Overall school climate increased in these districts at the same time that statewide achievement test results declined—especially for math. This report explores the nature of the relationship between school climate and student achievement over time, concluding that, at a district level, improvements in school climate buffered the decline in achievement.

7 Dec 2009
Report

What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities

This report found that absences, course failures, course credits and GPA all can be used to accurately predict whether ninth-graders with disabilities will graduate from high school. Identifying these early warning indicators is especially crucial for students with disabilities, who drop out of high school at alarming rates.

1 Dec 2009
Report

Perspectives of District Leaders (Special Series on the Fresno-Long Beach Learning Partnership)

This fourth and final brief in the California Collaborative on District Reform series examines how the Fresno-Long Beach Learning Partnership uses data to inform work across and within the districts. The Partnership is a collaboration that aims to improve student outcomes, accelerate achievement for all students, and close achievement gaps by capitalizing on shared systemic capacity-building across two high-need districts.

Project

Early Language and Literacy Classroom Evaluation

The Ohio Department of Education wanted to assess the quality of the literacy instruction received by students in state-funded early learning and preschool programs and to provide teachers with information to improve their practice. AIR conducted more than 1,400 observations of early learning environments across the state using the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit.
1 Nov 2009
Report

State Support for School Improvement: School-level Perceptions of Quality

Building on existing external school support literature, this brief offers a set of indicators for assessing the quality of support provided to low-performing schools, with respect to the No Child Left Behind Act.

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Project

The National High School Center

Millions of high school students—particularly those with disabilities, with limited proficiency in English, or from low-income backgrounds—need additional support in order to succeed. To address this challenge, the National High School Center promotes the use of research-supported approaches that help all students learn and become adequately prepared for college, work, and life.

Project

National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR)

AIR is investigating the large-scale implementation of research-based comprehensive school reform models as a strategy for increasing student achievement. Using qualitative and quantitative data, the study seeks to measure the effects of CSR models on student reading and mathematics achievement in elementary and middle schools.

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Project

The Preschool Research and Technical Assistance Project for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

The purpose of the five-year Preschool Research and Technical Assistance Project for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has been to offer research-based technical assistance to state and local entities on how to phase in access to high-quality preschool to all children in California, beginning in the neighborhoods with the greatest need.
Project

Understanding the Impact of a Ninth-Grade Transition Program in Texas

The Texas Education Agency created the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program to ease the transition of at-risk students into high school and increase the likelihood that they graduate on time and are prepared for college and careers. The comprehensive evaluation conducted by AIR and its partner found that the program significantly increased the English and mathematics assessment scores of participating students compared to similar students who did not participate in the program.
Project

Teacher Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL)

At present, over 70% of employers want to hire people with good writing abilities, and it’s been estimated that by 2020, 70% of occupations will require math skills to be successful. The TEAL project developed materials to increase the knowledge, skills, and abilities of instructors, administrators, and other adult education staff for adult learners with diverse backgrounds and needs. There were two iterations of this project, one that focused on writing instruction and another on math instruction.
1 Dec 2008
Report

Final Report on the Evaluation of the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP)

The Texas Legislature passed a mandate to create several school interventions designed to develop strong and effective school leaders, and funded the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP) to improve student academic achievement, graduation rates, and teacher retention by improving leadership skills. Specifically, the program was designed to help principals learn sound business and management practices. In this evaluation report, AIR concluded that TxPEP improved principals’ leadership capabilities, although no evidence was found of a positive program impact on student performance.
10 Oct 2007
Report

Approaches to Dropout Prevention: Heeding Early Warning Signs With Appropriate Interventions

This report outlines steps that schools can take to identify at-risk students and provide the necessary support systems and relevant interventions to assist students in obtaining a high school diploma.
18 Sep 2007
Report

Evaluation Study of California’s High Priority Schools Grant Program Reports

Overall, performance of low-performing schools (both those participating and not participating in the HPSGP) is improving in an era in which state and federal accountability systems have been introduced.

Project

Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP) Evaluation

The Texas Legislature passed a mandate to create several school interventions designed to develop strong and effective school leaders, and funded the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP) to improve student academic achievement, graduation rates, and teacher retention by improving leadership skills. Specifically, the program was designed to help principals learn sound business and management practices. AIR concluded that TxPEP improved principals’ leadership capabilities, although no evidence was found of a positive program impact on student performance.
24 Jun 2007
Report

Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06

National and state level on student enrollment by grade, numbers of high school completers, and the averaged freshman graduation rate for 2004-05.

5 Nov 2006
Report

CSRQ Center Report on Elementary School Comprehensive School Reform Models

This report is intended to serve as a consumer guide that helps decision makers sort through claims about which approaches could truly meet the needs of students. It is the most extensive and comprehensive review of elementary school CSR models ever issued.

29 Oct 2006
Guide

A Field Guide to Student Success in Mathematics and Science

This Field Guide should be used by schools and districts to assist them in developing well-articulated and widely shared plans for creating middle schools where all students succeed.

11 Apr 2005
Report

Measuring and Explaining the Fidelity of CSR Implementation

Comprehensive school reform (CSR) is only as effective as its implementation. By using data collected for the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform, this study explores how CSR model implementation varies as well as what factors predict CSR model implementation.

11 Apr 2005
Report

The Implications of NCLB Accountability for Comprehensive School Reform

Each year, when states release assessment results, new schools join the ranks of those identified for improvement under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Associated with this identification are mandated actions which have the potential to derail or redirect existing school reform efforts. The question remains of how to reconcile the implementation of NCLB accountability mandates with ongoing CSR efforts.

11 Apr 2005
Report

The Lifecycle of Comprehensive School Reform

In September 2000, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a grant to AIR to conduct the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR). The NLECSR is a quantitative and qualitative study of behavior, decisions, processes, and outcomes.

11 Apr 2005
Report

Adoption: Exploring the Initiation of Comprehensive School Reform Models

The process through which a school adopts a comprehensive school reform (CSR) model has been suggested to be a key element in the lifecycle of school reform, contributing to stakeholder buy-in and subsequent implementation. In this paper, we study the model adoption process, both on a national scale with survey data and in closer depth with qualitative case study data.

11 Apr 2005
Report

Sustainability: Examining the Survival of Schools’ Comprehensive School Reform Efforts

By examining how comprehensive school reformers complete their life course, this paper highlights the importance of studying sustainability as well as the importance of being clear about what is being sustained.

11 Apr 2005
Report

The Role of Social Capital in Comprehensive School Reform

Using data from a large-scale program evaluation of comprehensive school reform (CSR), the authors of this report examine the role of social capital in the context of CSR.

11 Apr 2005
Report

A Multi-Method Approach to Evaluating Elementary School Comprehensive School Reform Models

The purpose of this paper is to 1) present a multi-methods approach of evaluating comprehensive school reform models, 2) describe the Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center’s standards for evaluating CSR effectiveness; and 3) provide pilot data and results from one comprehensive school reform model provider.

11 Apr 2005
Report

Evaluating the Implementation of Comprehensive School Reform and Its Impact on Growth in Student Achievement

This study examines the relationship between the implementation of comprehensive school reform (CSR) and growth in student achievement.

16 Jan 2004
Report

Exploring Assignments, Student Work, and Teacher Feedback in Reforming High Schools Report

AIR researchers and leaders at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began a nationwide study of teaching and learning in foundation-supported schools with a pilot study in Washington State.

30 Jun 2003
Report

Evaluation Study of the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program and the High Achieving/Improving Schools Program of the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999

As part of recent reforms, states and districts are designing new approaches to holding schools and districts accountable for moving their students closer to achieving state standards in key academic domains. AIR and its partners contracted with the California Department of Education to conduct an independent evaluation of the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) and the High Achieving/Improving Schools Program (HA/ISP) of the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) of 1999.
12 Apr 2003
Report

Charting a Course: Evaluation Design of the National School District and Network Grants Program

Over the past decade, a number of reform efforts have aimed at reducing the size of the learning communities in the nation’s schools. This paper describes the framework underlying our evaluation design of a large-scale, multifaceted school reform initiative and identifies some of the methodological challenges inherent in work of this kind.
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Kerstin Carlson Le Floch

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