AIR - Key Persons
Aaron Butler, a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR, has nearly 20 years of experience supporting school improvement in public education through his work in rural, suburban, and urban districts as well as supporting multiple state departments of education. Dr. Butler serves as the deputy director and individualized technical assistance ...
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Researcher
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal Researcher
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Consultant in the Workforce Program Area
Anne Tillema Seguin is a senior technical assistance consultant in the Workforce Program Area at AIR. Her primary responsibilities include providing leadership for a remote, cross-functional team of 50 to implement complex solutions while managing a national project. Seguin independently establishes goals, objectives, strategies, and budget requirements for successful completion ...
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal Economist
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- Principal Technical Assistance Consultant
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 ...
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- Industrial / Organizational Researcher
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Researcher
Bridina Lemmer is a TA Consultant at AIR with more than 15 years of experience in science and STEM education, project-based learning, and assessment. Her primary responsibilities include partnering with clients at the school, district, and state levels to provide support in aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards specializing ...
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Chief Legal Officer, Secretary to the Board, and Ethics Officer
Catherine Jacques conducts research and design professional learning supports for teachers that help advance their careers, including alternate endorsements or licensure in areas like CS. She also works on projects focused on personalized learning and use of technology in instruction.
Job Titles:
- Principal Researcher
- Deputy Director for the Health Learning Translation
As a principal researcher at AIR, Coretta Mallery Lankford is the deputy director for the Health Learning Translation and Quality Measurement group responsible for leading the design and implementation of work to develop and implement quality measures and has specific expertise in developing measures for people with disabilities. Dr. Lankford's ...
Dr. Frederking is interested in assisting K-12 education systems increase CS opportunities for students.
Job Titles:
- Researcher With Expertise in K - 12
Danielle Ferguson is a senior qualitative researcher with expertise in K-12 science, and large-scale assessment development, scoring, and reporting. Her primary responsibilities include serving as the lead science content expert for item development for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). She conducts science content reviews and provides technical support for the ...
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- Becomes President and CEO
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- Becomes AIR 's Sixth President and CEO
- Board of Directors
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- Senior Vice President, International Development Division
Diana Oh believes family and community supports play an important role in computer science education.
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- Managing Director and Special Education Expert
Dr. Louis C. Danielson, a managing director and special education expert at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), received the Council for Exceptional Children's prestigious J.E. Wallace Wallin Lifetime Achievement Award on April 11, 2012 during the organization's annual convention in Denver, CO. ...
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Researcher
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- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
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- Consultant in the Workforce Program
Gina Wells is a senior TA consultant in the Workforce program at AIR. Her primary responsibilities include serving as a senior advisor, subject matter expert, and director on projects related to the expansion of the U.S. Registered Apprenticeship system. She also supports states in their efforts to increase equity in ...
Job Titles:
- Principal Researcher in the Health Division
Jack Jordan is a principal researcher in the Health Division at AIR. His primary responsibilities include leading the analytics support for the Convergence HQIC contract including designing the process to deliver data to stakeholders in dashboards, perform analysis to find leverage points, and use that data to advise Convergence HQIC ...
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Researcher
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Board of Directors
- President
Jizhi Zhang is an educational psychologist, and a principal research scientist at AIR. Dr. Zhang is currently working on a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) research study on achievement gaps and previously she led a content research study to compare the 2011 Grade 8 NAEP and the Trends in ...
Dr. Knudson's work focuses on the district role in school improvement. He is particularly interested in system-level strategies to understand and support access to CS at scale, especially for students who have not historically been represented in CS courses and careers.
Job Titles:
- Engineer
- Director, CS@AIR
Dr. Wilson is an engineer, STEM educator, and computer science (CS) education advocate. He believes CS is both an incredible vehicle for creative exploration and a fundamental literacy in the 21st century, and that all students should have access to high quality CS education experiences.
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- Senior Vice President, Human Services
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- Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
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- Senior Project Specialist
Dr. Rich conducts research and supports computer science teachers across K-12, with a focus on the K-8 grade band. She is particularly interested in elementary CS and the integration of CS with mathematics.
Kim Pattillo Brownson joined the Los Angeles office of the Ballmer Group as the organization's first Director of Strategy and Policy. Pattillo Brownson guides Ballmer Group's county and state policy and advocacy strategy. In this new role, Pattillo Brownson will launch the organization's early childhood grantmaking in California, and help ...
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Researcher
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- Vice President, Business Development
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- Chairman of the Board of Directors
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- Senior Vice President, Human Resources
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal TA Consultant
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- Chief Communications Officer
- Senior Vice President
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- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Vice President
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- Indigenous Education Researcher
Marissa Spang's interests involve designing computer science teaching and learning in ways that align with and grow non-dominant student STEM identities and knowledges, e.g., Indigenous sciences and languages.
Marlene Darwin, a senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), will discuss ways educators can use research during a presentation on May 18 in Washington, D.C. Darwin will present on behalf of the Doing What Works (DWW) initiative to the Research and Analysis Committee of the Committee for ...
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 ...
Marshal Conley is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR. His current work focuses on policy, practice, and knowledge utilization related to digital and blended learning and integration of learning technologies with instructional practice for learners of all ages. Conley is also an expert in the design, implementation, and facilitation ...
Dr. Burns' computer science interests are collaborating with districts and research partners to expand CS into lower grades and more content areas.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal Researcher
Job Titles:
- Becomes President and CEO
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Economist
Job Titles:
- Becomes President and CEO
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- Becomes Director of AIR Equity Initiative
- Vice President and Executive Director of the AIR Equity Initiative
Rashawn Ray, a nationally recognized expert on racial and social inequity, becomes the AIR Equity Initiative's second leader on Feb. 1, 2023. Before joining AIR full time, Ray served as an AIR Institute Fellow and helped guide some of the Equity Initiative's early work. Ray was a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park for more than 10 years and served as executive director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research, which focuses on critical issues of public concern, including policing and community relations. He was also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and served on the national advisory committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Policy Research Scholars Program.
Schwarzhaupt's research interests include exploring how non-cognitive factors (e.g., efficacy) can influence the recruitment of CS teacher and the implementation of high-quality CS instruction for all students.
Dr. Torbey believes that all children in grades K-12 should learn computer science. It empowers students to be creators instead of just consumers in our digital age.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal Researcher
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- Managing Director
- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal Researcher
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- Senior Researcher in the Health Division
Sarah Pedersen is a senior researcher in the Health Division at AIR. Pedersen is an expert qualitative and mixed methodologist with experience managing, developing, and implementing programs and policies that contribute to maternal and women's health, health equity, health care quality and access, and person- and family-centered care. She uses ...
Job Titles:
- Becomes President and CEO
- Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- TA Consultant
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior TA Consultant
Stephanie Cronen is a managing researcher at AIR. Dr. Cronen's work during the past 20+ years has focused largely on managing and conducting large-scale research studies, including survey research, experimental studies, and mixed-methods studies in adult education, professional development, and workforce preparation. ...
Susan Lapham is a vice president at AIR, contributing her expertise in program and talent management and quality assurance. Lapham also co-directs Project Talent, a nationally representative longitudinal study of 400,000 Americans who were first surveyed in 1960. She serves as principle investigator on several grants from the National Institute ...
Taletha Mae Derrington is a senior researcher at AIR with over 25 years of experience in research and technical assistance (TA) projects focused on child and family health, development, and well-being. She is currently leading the Healthy Students Learn Better component of Promoting Equity Funding for Schools Facing Adverse Health Circumstances ...
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal TA Consultant
Tracy Long is a senior TA consultant at AIR. Her primary responsibilities include providing technical assistance, expertise, and conducting trainings to support youth with disabilities for state and federal education agencies. Long is also responsible for the dissemination of knowledge and development of tools for state and federal agencies and ...
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Economist
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Researcher