What impact do Teach for America (TFA) members have on other teachers' performance? A strategy to "cluster" TFA members in high-need schools contributed to large gains in math achievement, but was found to have little effect on reading skills and no spillover effect on other teachers.
Research by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has shown that the majority of English language learners (ELLs) who entered Massachusetts public schools in kindergarten were reclassified within three years; however, most still struggled with reading and math in later grades. AIR conducted research and analysis on Massachusetts ...
Principal observation tools are used to accurately evaluate principal performance by helping principal supervisors and coaches improve instructional leadership. This piece describes how using the right tools is helping principals in the U.S. Virgin Islands develop such evidence-based coaching and performance evaluations. ...
The overarching theme repeatedly heard over the two-day Black Male Summit at Morehouse College recently: African American males feel disconnected, misunderstood, and inadequately supported by teachers, principals, and others involved in running their schools. In this blog post, Darren Woodruff details some of the alarming data that emerged from the ...
The Clark County School District requested AIR and Gibson Consulting Group conduct an educational and operational efficiency study. The study identified areas that the district should focus on to increase efficiency and effectiveness in its programs and services through district-level interviews, extant data review, and a comparative district analysis. ...
The Texas Education Agency created the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program to ease the transition of at-risk students into high school and increase the likelihood that they graduate on time and are prepared for college and careers. The comprehensive evaluation conducted by AIR and its partner found that ...
Following a school shooting in 2007, the City of Cleveland and its school district commissioned AIR to conduct a needs assessment and make recommendations for school improvement. In 2013, a follow-up assessment led by AIR and funded by the Cleveland Foundation was commissioned by the school district to guide continuous ...
In 2008, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) launched a diagnostic assessment program in which teachers in Grades K–8 classrooms administered commercially available interim assessments to their students. Results from each test were available to teachers, who were expected to use them to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses and adjust ...
The Denver Teacher Residency program is a preservice, alternative certification program designed to train teachers to serve in high-need Denver Public Schools. AIR is conducting a five-year evaluation of this program, which is designed to monitor program implementation, measure program effectiveness, and explore program mechanisms. ...
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.