This brief explores how some California district leaders have responded to the initial and continuing COVID-19 crisis, using the reflections of superintendents in the California Collaborative on District Reform to reveal patterns, themes, and lessons.
With the 2012-2013 school year, California established a new grade level—Transitional Kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students who turn five between September 2 and December 2. When TK began, there were many questions from parents and other stakeholders. This is the third in a ...
What kind of research designs would help teacher preparation providers improve their programs? On April 11, 2017 AIR brought together 35 researchers, teacher educators, school district leaders, and other stakeholders to discuss research designs that would answer the kinds of questions that providers have about their programs and how to ...
Researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders are increasingly aware of the powerful potential for summertime experiences and the need to design, implement, and continuously improve summertime experiences for all.
Reducing chronic absence goes hand in hand with cultivating positive conditions for learning. This brief discusses how education leaders, community partners and policymakers can use chronic absence data to address inequities and improve student outcomes.
Implementing skills-based hiring practices can expand the talent pool, improve staff retention, and increase diversity.Today’s economy is marked by the rapid evolution of technology leading to labor shortages and evolving skill needs across the labor market. Finding and retaining a skilled workforce is key to an organization’s growth, yet many ...
Youth engagement is a “win-win proposition”—it benefits young people, adults, and organizations. AIR interviewed six youth development organizations in Chicago to learn about their youth engagement strategies. This brief highlights five youth engagement strategies.
President Obama’s proposed federal budget would increase funding for many education initiatives, programs for homeless veterans and disabled workers, technology training for teachers, and other programs. What does research and evidence say about these programs' effectiveness and value?
School climate and social and emotional learning (SEL) have often been treated separately by researchers and practitioners, but both are necessary to build healthy schools. This brief reviews research on how positive school climates support SEL and how improved SEL contributes to improved school climate in elementary and secondary schools. ...
This research brief, the second from the Back on Track study, describes the role of in-class mentors in the online classrooms and examines whether students benefited from additional instructional support from their in-class mentors.