AIR evaluates early care and education programs and policies at the federal, state and local level. AIR evaluations help identify best practices and lead to recommendations for improving program quality and outcomes, with an eye toward system-wide implementation.
Research alliances are long-term partnerships among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners that draw the three groups into close, sustained relationships focused on a shared set of priorities. Members negotiate a research agenda, and a subset of policymakers and practitioners maintains advisory roles on projects staffed with researchers. ...
Career and technical education (CTE) prepares students with academic, technical, and employability skills for success in the workplace and in further education. More research is needed to understand its effects on student outcomes. The CTE Research Network seeks to meet this need by increasing the number of impact studies and ...
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.
Principals influence student learning by leading efforts to improve school climate; recruiting, retaining, and supporting effective teachers; and driving organizational change. Too often, however, states and districts focus on teachers rather than principals when planning for professional supports. This brief offers an easy to digest overview of current school leadership ...
Jessica Barnier is a project specialist at AIR. She has more than 15 years’ experience in project management and serves as a project manager for several projects in workforce and education. Her primary responsibilities include managing projects for contracts with federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Education and ...
At NatureBridge, educators believe that when young people discover the wonder and science of the natural world, they’re prepared for a lifetime of exploration and stewardship of the environment. As the field of social and emotional learning (SEL) has evolved, so too has our understanding of the ways in which ...
The U.S. education system faces many challenges, though perhaps the most pressing are the COVID-19 pandemic and inequities in learning opportunities, experiences, and outcomes. There is growing evidence from the science of learning and development that can help us address these daunting challenges. AIR hosted a webinar on Wednesday, April ...
Recent federal efforts to expand access to early childhood education for six million children by 2020 have also increased attention about quality programming. In this video interview, Ann-Marie Faria, principal researcher, explains the role that Quality Rating and Improvement Systems have in communicating about quality to parents, programs, and policy ...
Aligning for Learning: Evaluating Connections is the third presentation/video in a four-part series designed to help institutions use data to demonstrate the value of competency-based education (CBE) programs for their students and continuously improve program quality. This webinar presents the importance of alignment in relation to validity of learning and ...