American Institutes for Research

American Institutes for Research

Motto	Making research relevant
Founded	1946
Founder	John C. Flanagan
Type	Nonprofit research, assessment, and technical assistance organization
Focus	Education, student assessment, health, human development, international development, work and training
Location	Washington, D.C.
Origins	Critical Incident Technique, Project Talent
Area served	United States and international
Key people	John C. Flanagan, David Myers (current president and CEO)
Employees	More than 1,800
Mission	AIR’s mission is to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving peoples’ lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged.

American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan behavioral and social science research, evaluation, assessment and technical assistance organization based in Washington, D.C.^{[1] [2]} One of the largest social science research organizations in the world,^[1] AIR has more than 1,800 staff in locations across the United States and abroad.^[3]

In 2010^[4] and 2011,^[5] The Washington Post selected AIR as one of the top ten nonprofit firms in the Washington metropolitan area.

History

AIR's founder, John C. Flanagan, a pioneer in aviation psychology,^[6] is known for developing the Critical Incident Technique, an innovative method for screening and selecting personnel. Flanagan developed the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) while working for the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as an aptitude test to identify potential combat pilots.^[7] Later the technique was adapted for other industries, and CIT is still a model for numerous organizations and researchers.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Flanagan established American Institutes for Research in 1946.^[12] He focused on education research and launched Project Talent, a longitudinal study following 400,000 high school students across the U.S.,^[13] which has continued for the past 50 years and provided data for hundreds of researchers and publications.^[14][15]

Mission statement

"AIR's mission is to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving peoples' lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged."^[16]

Areas of Work

AIR Assessment

develops student tests, score reports, and online reporting tools for students, teachers, parents, and administrators in states across the U.S. Psychometricians and statisticians provide data and analysis for policy and curriculum decisions.

Research and Evaluation, Technical Assistance and Policy, Practice & System Change - Domestic and International

AIR practice areas include early childhood; P-12 education including teacher, school and district leadership; social development; health and well-being; higher education and career readiness; and adult learning and workforce issues.

Some of the work Flanagan and AIR are known for includes: Project Talent, the largest and most comprehensive study of high school students ever conducted in the United States; core evaluations for U.S. Department of Education programs, including major assessments of the No Child Left Behind Act,^[17] Title I, Title III and others; Project A, the largest personnel survey in the history of the U.S. Army; ^[18] partnering with states to provide student assessment testing design and administration to schools across the U.S.;^[19][20] and projects including Regional Education Labs (RELs) and Comprehensive Centers, National Center for Family Homelessness, Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), College and Career Readiness and Success Center, Center for English Language Learners, among others. ^[21]

Leadership

Education researcher David Myers is AIR's president and CEO and serves on its board of directors. Previously, Myers was senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Mathematica Policy Research.^[22][23]

The twelve-member board of directors is led by chair Patricia B. Gurin, professor of social psychology at University of Michigan and vice chair Lawrence D. Bobo, a professor of social sciences at Harvard University.^[24]

References