Kathleen L. Pfannenstiel is a senior researcher at AIR and provides technical assistance and professional development to states and school districts with an emphasis on improving results for students with disabilities. Dr. Pfannenstiel is the principle investigator for an Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) model demonstration grant. She works ...
Paula Dias is a qualitative senior researcher at AIR with over 10 years of research experience in the development sector. She has extensive experience in qualitative methods, including ethnography and participatory methods. At AIR, she leads and contributes to a variety of mixed-methods evaluations on the topics of social protection, ...
Yibing Li a principal researcher at AIR, has experience in education research and evaluation and specializes in research design and advanced quantitative methods. Her methodological specializes include randomized controlled trials and various quasi-experimental designs, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, and longitudinal data analysis She directs and co-directs large scale research and ...
Cecilia Xuning Zhang is an interdisciplinary researcher with years of mixed-methods research experience and a wide breadth of content knowledge in the areas of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Technology-Based Learning Supports. She has rich technical expertise in collecting and analyzing extant data to inform enrollment trends and population estimates, leading user ...
Jennifer Anthony, a senior researcher at AIR, has worked on a range of research and evaluation projects for local, state and federal agencies. Her areas of expertise include early childhood education and child development, and secondary school policy and reform. She is experienced in designing and conducting needs assessments, data ...
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 ...
Yuan Zhang is a senior researcher in the Education Statistics program at AIR. She has over five years of experience providing expert support for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) longitudinal studies branch, including data analyses for various NCES reports, such as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class ...
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, ...
Maria Payri is a researcher in the Youth, Family, and Community Development program at AIR. Payri has over 10 years of experience as an evaluator with expertise in qualitative research and survey design for large-scale federal studies such as the National Household Education Study (NHES), where she serves as qualitative ...
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.