Keane Alavi

Keane Alavi has extensive experience in supporting educator talent development at the state, local, and national level. He supports states and districts in strengthening educator recruitment and retention, with an emphasis on the special educator workforce. He specializes in helping education agencies improve educator workforce data use, address staffing shortages, and implement evidence-based strategies that expand and stabilize educator pipelines. 

Alavi has contributed to multiple U.S. Department of Education–funded initiatives, providing technical assistance on educator recruitment, educator workforce data systems, human capital management, and educator preparation systems and pathways tailored to local needs. He currently coordinates AIR’s Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, and supports the CALDER Recruitment & Retention Center’s national leadership and outreach activities.

Alavi entered the field of education through a school-based special educator Grow Your Own program. This, as well as his experience as a first-generation Middle Eastern American, led to his interest in supporting the recruitment and retention of a high-quality educator workforce with an emphasis on improving pipelines for educators serving students with disabilities. 

Recently, he coauthored Raising the Bar on Teacher Pay in collaboration with the Teacher Salary Project, which provides a case for state and district leaders to design teacher salary policies as a necessary condition for a more comprehensive suite of human capital policies and practices.