Aaron R. Butler, Ph.D is a principal technical assistance consultant at American Institutes for Research (AIR). He has more than 15 years of experience in public education spanning rural, suburban, and urban districts.  Currently, Dr. Butler is the task lead for individual technical assistance for the State Support Network and provides leadership training and equitable access support to states and districts for the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL) and REL Midwest at AIR. Dr. Butler’s primary areas of focus at AIR include strategic planning, resource allocation, leadership development and coaching, and district and school improvement.  In addition, he has extensive experience with training school leaders on the effective use of data, developing progress monitoring systems, and providing review and feedback to states in the design of school improvement supports for their ESSA consolidated plans. Dr. Butler has written multiple blog posts for the GTL Center on leadership issues, was a contributing author for Enduring Myths that Inhibit School Turnaround (2017), and has presented at multiple national and regional conferences. His dissertation focused on the relationship between resource allocation patterns and student performance in Missouri public schools.  Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Butler served as a turnaround administrator, director of federal programs, and high school mathematics teacher. Dr. Butler earned his Ph.D in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.