Bobbi Newman is a principal researcher and director of AIR’s practice area for standards and assessments. She has more than 15 years of experience in research and evaluation of school reform efforts. Dr. Newman has worked at every level of the education system, from the classroom to the state. As ...
David Bamat is a senior researcher in the Education Statistics program at AIR. Dr. Bamat’s primary responsibilities include leading and supporting NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) research projects. His work focuses on studying and leveraging statistical methods to overcome small sample limitations in large-scale assessment (LSA) research. It also ...
Niu Gao is a principal researcher at AIR specializing in K-12 education policy. Her current work focuses on COVID-19 and education, and she is leading multiple projects to examine the impact of the pandemic on K-12 education and identify effective strategies to help students recover—and recover equitably. Her other areas ...
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.
Robyn Madison is a senior technical assistance consultant in the Education Systems and Policy program at AIR. Her primary responsibilities include supporting many AIR project teams with advancing diversity-equity-inclusion and cultural and linguistic competence through their work with each other as colleagues and with our external constituency. Dr. Madison works ...
Alison Hauser is a researcher with AIR focusing on early childhood. She is currently the survey task lead in the Evaluation of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Program and assisted with survey development on the Edwin Teaching and Learning project for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Hauser is has ...
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 ...
Whitney Cade is a senior researcher at AIR. She currently supports multiple projects, including two Institute for Education Science grants and the Regional Education Laboratories Southwest. Her recent work focuses on understanding the impacts of 8th grade algebra on school trajectories and college readiness, evaluating UTeach teacher characteristics and program ...
Daniel Frederking is a senior technical assistance consultant at AIR. His work centers around district and school improvement practices including needs assessments, strategic planning, and progress monitoring. He has served in this capacity as a consultant to school districts, higher education institutions, and state departments across the country. He also ...
Beth Ratway is a principal technical assistance consultant in state services at AIR. She works with Great Lakes and Midwest Comprehensive Centers to assist state education agencies and intermediate school districts with implementation of the Common Core State Standards and developing innovative 21st century systems that improve academic achievement for ...