John Spence is a senior technical assistance consultant at AIR. He has over 17 years of experience directing large-scale initiatives in public education with a solid track record of expanding operations, initiating and maintaining strategic partnerships, managing technical assistance and professional development for educators, developing and sustaining meaningful relationships with ...
Public pension systems in many U.S. states face large funding shortfalls. Movement toward defined contribution (DC) pension structures may reduce the likelihood of future shortfalls. We address some limitations of the existing literature by studying public-sector employees who are enrolled in either a defined benefit (DB) plan or hybrid DB-DC ...
Research shows that integrating arts into early childhood education has great potential for improving student learning in multiple disciplines. This brief builds on the results of a randomized-controlled trial of Wolf Trap’s Early Childhood STEM Learning Through the Arts program. Findings from the study show that participation in the program ...
Both the formal and informal education communities are increasingly focused on fostering opportunities for social and emotional learning (SEL) and the link between SEL and youth outcomes. This self-reflection tool is designed to help afterschool program staff reflect upon their own social and emotional competencies and their ability to support ...
This study linked school-reported transcript data to student item responses on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to examine the relationships between high school coursework and end-of-high school mathematics achievement. The findings showed that high-level coursework in mathematics and science were significantly related to mathematics achievement even ...
The Plan, Do, Study, Act Process is central to the improvement of instructional routines. Watch one of the Better Math Teaching Network members in real time and in a real classroom setting introduce the Plan, Do, Study, Act, or PDSA, process.
New national standards documents have been developed over the past few years in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and are leading to major changes in state curricula and assessments. This study provides information primarily on the extent of alignment between the Next Generation Science Standards and National ...
Despite being the nation's largest racial/ethnic minority, Hispanics are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)—both in college and the workplace. This REL Southwest report reviews the research to identify K–12 factors that predict students' postsecondary STEM success, particularly for Hispanic students. ...
A quality recess is one that is safe, engaging, and empowering. Since 2017, Playworks and a team from AIR have partnered to learn more about how effective recess teams drive strong quality and recess outcomes. Currently they are conducting a study with support from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation ...
Jameela Conway-Turner is a senior researcher at AIR. Dr. Conway-Turner provides research and evaluation support to research practitioner partnerships and programs with a focus on youth development, social and emotional learning, and justice-related issues. This work includes K-12 education, out-of-school time, and youth programs. Dr. Conway-Turner works to bridge the ...