
The Achievement & Assessment Institute
AAI and its centers partner with numerous agencies to improve the lives of children and adults through academics, employment, career advancement, and building healthy environments, and to enhance the capacity of organizations that help children, adults, and communities succeed.
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AAI Centers
Read more about each AAI center and discover how they impact our communities.
Grant Support
Learn about our life cycle grant support for AAI researchers and KU faculty.
Celebrating 10 Years of AAI
Learn about our origins and how we have grown over the last 10 years.
AAI in the News

Turning Data into Action: Interactive Pathway to Advance Child and Family Well-Being in Kansas
Center for Public Partnerships & Research, on behalf of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, is developing an interactive Child and Family Well-Being Pathway for Kansas. The tool will include a statewide dashboard and action-oriented toolkit to help communities assess needs, track progress, and improve outcomes for kids and families. Co-designed with community input, it’s set to launch in late 2025.

Paperback release expands reach of Montessori handbook co-edited by CLARA Director Angela Murray
A paperback edition of the Bloomsbury Handbook of Montessori Education, an accessible guide to Montessori education edited by Angela Murray, director of the Achievement & Assessment Institute’s Center for Learner Agency Research and Action (CLARA), and colleagues is now available for purchase.

AAI’s Center for Evaluation & Educational Leadership Expands School Support through Business Partnerships
The goal of the Center for Evaluation & Educational Leadership (CEEL), a center within the Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas, is to help school district leaders navigate challenges to foster effective, well-balanced learning environments for students. One of the primary ways Director Bart Swartz accomplishes this is through a network of business partners that can help districts with their needs.

KU faculty awarded AAI Arts & Humanities Grant to expand art-based aging project
The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas has awarded the 2024 AAI Art & Humanities Grant to Sarah Jen, associate professor in the School of Social Welfare, and Liz Langdon, a lecturer in the Department of Visual Art, for their project, “Untold Stories of Aging in Action – Revealed and Traveled.” The project’s aim is to create and document the influence of an art-based intervention among communities of older adults and intergenerational audiences.