Katie Rich is a senior researcher at AIR. She leads and supports a variety of projects related to mathematics and computer science education. She is currently serving as a coaching and technical assistance lead for the Engagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership within the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest, ...
Melissa Yisak is a senior researcher at AIR. She specializes in mixed-methods program evaluations and research studies and her main areas of interest include teacher preparation, youth development, and restorative justice. Her responsibilities include conducting interviews and focus groups and analyzing the data, conducting descriptive and inferential analyses with extant ...
Lee Thompson is a principal TA consultant at AIR. Her primary responsibilities include leading health care research, technical assistance, and evaluation projects. Drawing on her 20 years of experience in the fields of health and aging, she has expertise conducting outreach to and engaging a variety of stakeholders, including healthcare ...
Natalya Gnedko-Berry is a principal researcher at AIR. Since the beginning of her research career in 2006, she has led or contributed to a range of evaluations and experimental and quasi-experimental studies with the primary focus on education. Equally skilled in quantitative and qualitative methodologies, Dr. Gnedko-Berry contributes to the ...
Jordan Rickles is a principal researcher at AIR. Dr. Rickles has fifteen years of education research and evaluation experience, including work within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the University of California National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST). He specializes in research design ...
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 ...
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 ...
As a principal researcher at AIR, Emily Elstad leads teams in conducting health behavior and health services research projects. Dr. Elstad is an expert in patient-provider communication and qualitative and mixed methods. Her research has focused on understanding and optimizing patient-provider decision making, including health information seeking and receipt of ...
Robert Nathenson is a senior researcher at AIR. He has over 10 years of experience in the execution of rigorous econometric and behavioral science techniques to applied policy questions in the postsecondary education, pre-k-12 education, and health fields. Dr. Nathenson regularly conducts research using both experimental and quasi-experimental designs. His ...