School Quality Reviews: Using School Monitoring to Build Evidence and Improve Education Systems of Support

AIR is a leader in district and school improvement. To support state- and district-wide school-monitoring processes and strategic and effective school improvement efforts, AIR conducts school quality reviews that are grounded in research and informed and refined by practice. Experienced researchers and educators from AIR work collaboratively with states and districts to implement a school monitoring process that relies on rigorous research methods and is designed to build sustainable systems for schools, including those identified for Comprehensive and Targeted Support and Improvement.

Our Approach

AIR partners with schools and districts to systematically monitor school improvement progress and identify specific evidence-based strategies that will drive continuous improvement for individual students, schools, and communities.

AIR’s School Quality Review process uses resources efficiently and gathers evidence from a range of stakeholders without overburdening school staff. Our process typically includes at least a half day of on-site data collection. Participating schools receive specific, contextualized, actionable feedback aligned with strategies and practices proven to improve student outcomes. Our process has three primary goals:

• Support schools and districts in a monitoring and continuous improvement process focused on evidence-based school improvement practices;
• Provide schools and districts with independent, valid, user-friendly reports focused on strengths and areas for improvement; and
• Build a body of evidence about the specific school improvement practices and strategies that are most relevant to individual schools and contexts.

Data and findings from our school quality reviews, collected systematically across schools and over time, provide systemic feedback to schools and districts about areas of both strength and need. These data can be maintained to support low-cost, low-burden research projects focused on answering key questions about school improvement (see AIR’s implementation studies from 2016 and 2017, conducted for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).

Please contact us at SQR@air.org to learn more about AIR’s school quality reviews.