Project Talent is the largest, most comprehensive study of high school students ever conducted in the United States. Since its launch in 1960, researchers have continued to collect data on the original participants and now its data are helping AIR researchers study possible risk and protective factors of Alzheimer’s disease ...
The Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study is a demonstration and rigorous evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth grade readers.
AIR’s Standards for the Economic Evaluation of Educational and Social Programs aim to help decisionmakers optimize the use of limited resources to improve outcomes. AIR experts discuss why the standards were developed, how they can be used, and what makes them particularly relevant now.
Marlene Darwin is a senior researcher who has been with AIR since 2003. Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Darwin spent 15 years as a reading specialist in middle and high schools in Virginia and Georgia. She spent seven years on the management team for the Reading First Monitoring Project, where ...
A federal higher education grant program designed to improve postsecondary educational opportunities, particularly for underserved populations, is meeting and sometimes exceeding its goals, according to a study of the program completed by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) for the U.S. Department of Education. ...
How can research inform and improve literacy in the U.S. and around the world? In honor of International Literacy Day 2018, Terry Salinger, PhD, AIR’s chief scientist for literacy research, answered this question and more.
It is increasingly clear that targeting beginning readers is not enough to ensure that students will have access to advanced education and will become economically successful citizens who fulfill their obligations for social and civic participation. In this paper, the author describes characteristics of programs developed for adolescents who are ...
For Americans age 65 and over, the prevalence of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, decreases with educational attainment, according to a new report produced with key assistance from experts at the American Institutes for Research.
A December 2015 AIR study finds that Transitional Kindergarten, the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for young five-year-olds in California, appears to improve children’s school readiness in critical areas of academic learning and development. Researchers Karen Manship and Heather Quick explain how and suggest next steps. ...
The First 5 LA Family Literacy Initiative is a comprehensive program to promote language and literacy development, parenting knowledge and skills, and economic self-sufficiency among low-income families in Los Angeles County. Findings from the eight-year evaluation of this Family Literacy Initiative have shown significant growth in language and literacy skills ...