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 ...
A strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education is becoming increasingly recognized as a key driver of opportunity. In a series of discussion-based workshops, 30 experts and thought leaders were invited to exchange ideas and develop recommendations for the future of STEM education. ...
Since 1998, the Alabama Reading Initiative has captured the attention of many who are interested in reading and educational reform. This report is a descriptive study of the Initiative in secondary schools and how the secondary component of the Initiative fared, especially amid decreased state funding for education in Alabama ...
Dena D. Slanda is a senior TA consultant in the Education and Instruction division at AIR. Dr. Slanda provides technical assistance and professional development to states and school districts with an emphasis on improving results for students with high-intensity needs. She does this by strengthening educator and administrator professional learning ...
If place heavily impacts social mobility, could strengthening schools be the key to overcoming the effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood? Peter Cookson, AIR principal researcher, explores this question in a blog post for the Education Policy Center.
Since 2007, the MTSS Center has been a national leader in supporting states, districts, and schools across the country in implementing tiered support systems that address students’ academic, behavioral, social, and emotional needs.
The CompuPower program was developed by Kimberly Scott and her colleagues at Arizona State University to address a need for culturally responsive computing courses. AIR served as the project’s external evaluator to evaluate the CompuPower program’s impact on students’ social-emotional skills and academic achievement, as well as examine whether the ...
Researchers from AIR's Center for Economic Evaluation supported North Carolina with an alternative market rate model study as well as creating the North Carolina Child Care Cost Estimation Tool to inform state decisions around child care policies.
Amanda Danks is a senior researcher at AIR with extensive experience supporting investigations aimed at enhancing equity and opportunity for learners of all backgrounds and abilities. Dr. Danks is the associate director of the Economic Evaluation of Policies and Programs (EEPP) Methods Hub at AIR, that ensures all economic evaluations ...
Disparities persist in educational achievement for students of color and low-income students. In this video interview, Darren Woodruff, principal researcher at AIR, explains how schools can create a climate to help reduce the achievement gap and help all students learn.