To improve research around pathways into the workforce for rural learners, Ascendium Education Group provides funding for six research projects and has partnered with AIR to serve as the organizing partner. AIR works collaboratively with Ascendium in developing the RFP, selecting the grantees, and organizing the researchers to share ...
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.
Tamara Linkow is a senior director at AIR. In this role, she provides direction and support across AIR’s portfolio of federal education evaluation studies. With over 15 years of experience in research and evaluation, she has led impact and descriptive studies that inform foundation, state, and federal decisions.
Her areas ...
Ensuring that secondary students are adequately prepared for college and career pathways after high school remains a critical priority for schools, education systems, and policymakers. In response to policy mandates for more explicit College and Career Readiness (CCR) requirements in K–12 academic standards, states have responded with varied approaches to ...
Emily Loney is a senior researcher at AIR with more than nine years of experience working in education research and policy. At AIR, Ms. Loney serves as project director of operations for a multi-year, technical assistance and evaluation project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation designed to identify ...
Erika Kessler, Ph.D., is a researcher at AIR with expertise in climate change and environmental education and employing advanced statistical analysis techniques with large-scale, complex survey data.Dr. Kessler brings a breadth of work experience and expertise across a diverse array of topics to AIR. She has particular interest and experience in the ...
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 ...
Recognizing the need to learn more about how institutions in the United States transform their practices to improve college student success, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invested in a major initiative to support and study the Frontier Set—a network of 29 institutions and two state systems that included community ...
AIR supported the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the development of a consensus study report that examines the status of Department of Defense research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. The report examines the methods and means necessary to advance research capacity at these ...
AIR conducted a systematic review of the literature, scanning advising policies and practices that colleges use to improve student outcomes, and conducting a gap analysis that compares the findings from the scan and from the systematic review to identify gaps in the research evidence.