About Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to connect those who create policy with credible scientific evidence on pressing educational issues.
About the SEE Forums
The Scientific Evidence in Education (SEE) Forums, conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), offer events and resources based on scientific evidence that can be used to address pressing education issues. The Forums provide a common venue for policymakers, practitioners, and the research community to engage in important, evidence-informed policy discussions.
For more than 60 years, AIR (www.air.org)—a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization—has conducted behavioral and social science research and delivered technical assistance on important social issues both domestically and internationally in the areas of education, health, and workforce development.
The SEE Forums draw on AIR's experience gained in conducting large-scale evaluations of prominent school improvement efforts, operating national research and technical assistance centers, leading national outreach and social marketing campaigns, creating user-friendly publications and websites, and convening national education conferences, forums, and meetings that promote evidence-base policy and practice.
Key Staff
Rebecca Herman
Managing Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research
Project Director, Scientific Evidence in Education Forum Series
Dr. Rebecca Herman is a managing research analyst at the American Institutes for Research. She specializes in evaluating the evidence for school reform, including turnaround strategies. She chaired a panel to produce the Institute for Education Science’s practice guide on turning around chronically low performing schools.
As the project director for the first phase of the What Works Clearinghouse, from 2002 to 2007, she was responsible for the U.S. Department of Education’s flagship project to set standards for educational research and use those standards to identify effective educational programs, practices, and approaches. Dr. Herman developed a guide for school practitioners on how to recognize and use evidence of effects, issued by the U.S. Department of Education in response to the call for "scientifically based research." Further, she was an invited speaker at the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education’s panel on scientifically based research. She also was an invited member of the BEST national blue ribbon panel on best practices in pre-K through 12th grade. Dr. Herman was project director of the Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform, which provided a critical look at the research and implementation of the most prominent and promising comprehensive school reform efforts in this country. The Guide developed standards for the quality of research on comprehensive school reform. She provided congressional testimony and many invited presentations on this and related work.
Dr. Herman has an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from Johns Hopkins University.
Juliette de Sousa
Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research
Deputy Project Director, Scientific Evidence in Education Forum Series
Juliette-Marie deSousa specializes in school reform technical assistance, evaluation, and research. As a Research Analyst at AIR, Ms. deSousa works with federal, state and local departments of education to identify and help implement effective, research-based programs and reforms.
In addition to helping provide leadership for the SEE Forums, she is currently the Deputy Director for the AIR work with the Great Lakes West Comprehensive Assistance Center. Other experience includes being Deputy Director of the Supplemental Educational Services Quality Center; Task Leader on the Ohio High School Transformation Initiative evaluating small school implementation; and team member of the Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center analyzing school reform models. Ms. deSousa has also delivered presentations to parent and community organizations, including Parent Information Resource Centers.
Ms. deSousa has fifteen years of experience in education, mental health, and business consulting. She has extensive experience working with children and parents in the areas of education and clinical psychology. Ms. deSousa holds a Bachelors Degree in International Affairs from Georgetown University and a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Catholic University.
Becky Powell
Senior Communications Specialist, American Institutes for Research
Director of Communications, Scientific Evidence in Education Forum Series
Becky Powell is a Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). In this capacity, Ms. Powell works with educators, researchers, and families to identify research-based practices and strategies. She is experienced in managing strategic outreach campaigns, including overseeing constituency relations, designing and managing websites, and coordinating and presenting at national education conferences. At AIR, she serves as the Director of Outreach for the National High School Center and leads communications and external outreach initiatives for the National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI).
From 2003-2007, Ms. Powell managed the day-to-day outreach and communications efforts for the What Works Clearinghouse, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide evidence of effectiveness of educational interventions to educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public.
Prior to joining AIR, Ms. Powell was the Director of Outreach for New American Schools. In this role, Ms. Powell worked with educators to identify solutions to increase student learning, led the organization's strategic plan for constituency outreach, coordinated and directed the organization's participation in national education conferences and comprehensive school reform design fairs, and managed overall outreach activities. She received her master's degree in Policy, Planning, and Administration from the School of Education at Boston University.
Maria Stephens
Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research
Lead Technical Writer, Scientific Evidence in Education Forum Series
Maria Stephens is a Senior Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research. In this capacity, Ms. Stephens provides analytic, writing, and other technical support for projects, with a focus in recent years on coordinating international activities in the area of assessment and indicators. In particular, Ms. Stephens directs the project that provides technical support to the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) International Activities Program (IAP), especially in their participation in the OECD International Indicators of Education Systems (INES) Project
In addition to her work managing the international support contract, Ms. Stephens has served as writer and editor on numerous projects, including the SEE Forums. A sample of other work includes: technical reports comparing the content of national and international mathematics and science assessments; an article for the Canadian and International Education journal on indicators of education outcomes; a chapter in the book Key Competencies for a Successful Life and a Well-Functioning Society; and a primer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on measuring learning outcomes in developing countries. She also is co-editor of Comparing Learning Outcomes: International Assessment and Education Policy (2004) and From Students of Teaching to Teachers of Students: Teacher Induction Around the Pacific Rim(1997). Ms. Stephens received her Master’s degree in Public Policy with a specialization in Social Policy from the University of Maryland.
Dory Seidel
Research Assistant, American Institutes for Research
Project Manager, Scientific Evidence in Education Forum Series
Dory Seidel, a Research Assistant at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), has experience in the fields of juvenile justice education, mental health, foster care, as well as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) implementation and empirical research. In addition to her work on the Scientific Evidence in Education Forum Series, she works as a State technical assistance liaison and data team member for the Neglected and Delinquent Technical Assistance Center (NDTAC). Dory received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Chicago.