American Institutes of Research Partnership w/ DEW

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce has commissioned the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to perform a comprehensive study to better understand the programmatic needs of students who are economically disadvantaged and the corresponding cost of supporting these needs. This study was commissioned at the direction of the General Assembly in the recently enacted state operating budget. A key study component is to leverage the knowledge and experience of expert educational practitioners to develop school-level program designs that will provide economically disadvantaged students an opportunity to achieve state educational goals.

To accomplish this task, AIR will conduct meetings with professional judgment panels consisting of K-12 educational practitioners from across Ohio. During the meetings, the panels will draw upon their professional expertise to develop school program designs that will provide an opportunity for students who are economically disadvantaged to meet state educational standards. Participation requires that panelists attend five two-hour virtual meetings and complete an activity in the week between each meeting. The virtual meetings will convene between April and June this year.

We encourage you to nominate educators to serve on a panel to add their voice to this important work. Each panel will consist of up to eight members, each representing one of the following roles:

• Superintendents/chief academic officers
• Principals and teachers at all grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school)
• Economically disadvantaged student specialists (such as Title 1 directors, coordinators of services for economically disadvantaged students, etc.)
• School business officials/chief financial officers

We are particularly interested in receiving nominations for individuals who have been successful in promoting the educational outcomes of economically disadvantaged students.

Please nominate yourself and/or someone else as a panelist by completing the forms provided in the links below. Feel free to forward this invitation to other expert educators in Ohio. The deadline to apply is April 19.

• Professional Judgement Panel Self-Nomination Form
• Professional Judgement Panel Nomination Form for Someone Else

While participation on the panel is voluntary and involves significant effort, it serves as an excellent opportunity for panelists to collaborate with other expert practitioners from around the state and engage in a research study that has real potential to impact Ohio state education policy and supports for economically disadvantaged students for years to come.

For more information, view a short study overview. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Dr. Jesse Levin, Principal Research Economist at AIR, at jlevin@air.org or (650) 376-6270.

Best regards,

Aaron Rausch, Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Budget and School Funding

Valerie Kunze, Administrator, Office of Whole Child Supports