Elizabeth Spier is a principal researcher at AIR. She has over 20 years of experience designing and managing large-scale, policy-relevant studies examining the effectiveness of programs, and interventions designed to improve developmental and educational outcomes for children. Her expertise includes child development, safe and supportive learning environments, child and family ...
Christopher A. Cody is a principal researcher at AIR, where he works on the Education Statistics Services Institute Network project as director of the postsecondary administrative data division task. As director of the postsecondary administrative data division project, Dr. Cody also serves as a survey director for the Integrated Postsecondary ...
David Blumenthal is a researcher at AIR. His work focuses on helping schools and districts set up systems to support students in meeting educational milestones such as on-time graduation and college and career readiness.
Blumenthal’s work includes policy analysis, program evaluation, and technical assistance for state education agencies, school districts, and ...
Rekha Varghese is a managing researcher and deputy lead for the Evaluation, Methods and Analytics Program Area of the AIR Health Division. She is a health economist with more than 20 years of experience in domestic and international program evaluation and policy analysis. She has subject matter expertise in Medicare ...
Tammy Kolbe is a principal researcher at AIR, specializing in evaluating the resources and costs associated with effectively implementing policies and programs in PK-16 educational organizations. A particular focus of her work has been funding and costs for special education programs for children with disabilities, having led multiple projects that ...
Samuel E DeWitt is a senior researcher at AIR. Previously, he spent 7 years as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s (UNC Charlotte) Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology. During his time at UNC Charlotte, Dr. DeWitt served as a co-PI for a National Institute ...
Tonie Sadler is a researcher in the Workforce Division at AIR and has over 10 years of research and practice experience in human services working with the disability community focused on disability equity and improving disability programs and policies. Her research focuses on understanding how disability policies and health services ...
Jessica Heppen, a nationally recognized expert in education research, policy, and practice, is the president & CEO of AIR. Dr. Heppen been with AIR for 20 years and, in that time, has held several key roles during her tenure.
Young Yee Kim is a principal psychometrician/statistician at AIR who has expertise in advanced psychometrics, such as multidimensional item response theory, as well as educational policy and research. Dr. Kim has extensive technical and practical expertise in issues related to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). She is currently ...
Amy Syvertsen is a principal researcher in AIR’s Youth, Family, and Community Development area. Dr. Syvertsen is an applied developmental scientist, and a content expert in positive youth development in childhood and adolescence with an emphasis on the developmental processes and contextual supports that undergird strong youth-adult relationships and civic ...