AERA Highlights: AERA Issues Statement in Support of Teachers and Educators, 2022 Annual Meeting Presidential Program Theme Released, and More

AERA Issues Statement in Support of Teachers and Educators

As the end of the school year draws near, we want to acknowledge the incredible creativity, resilience, and hard work of educators this year. It has been a time like no other. Read more

2022 Annual Meeting Presidential Program Theme Released; Call for Submissions Coming May 12

The 2022 Annual Meeting Presidential Program theme—“Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century”—calls on us to “identify, study, and enhance existing efforts to move systems toward equity to support all learners across the lifespan, from early childhood to K-12 to higher education and adult learning.”

AERA 2020 President Shaun Harper Calls on Researchers to Accept Responsibility for Educational and Social Problems

In this year’s Presidential Address, “We Share Responsibility,” 2020 AERA President Shaun R. Harper inspired researchers to accept individual and collective responsibility for complex educational and social problems. Read more

Preeminent Scholar Edmund Gordon Named AERA Honorary President

On April 12, AERA installed distinguished education researcher Edmund W. Gordon as AERA’s honorary president during a special ceremony at the association’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. Read more

AERA Council Votes to Keep Association Meetings Out of States that Pass Anti-Trans Laws

On April 8, AERA determined that it will hold no conferences or public events in states or any other locations enacting anti-trans laws until such time as the laws are rescinded or AERA otherwise revisits the issue. Read more

AERA-ICPSR PEERS Data Hub to Hold Workshop on Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Methods on May 20—No Fee, Register Now

The AERA-ICPSR PEERS Data Hub will hold a no-fee workshop on “Introduction to Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Methods: Achieving STEM Equity and Inclusion through Syntheses” on May 20, 1:00 pm–4:00 pm ET. Read more

Eight Education Researchers Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Eight education researchers, including three AERA presidents, have been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The academy announced the 2021 election of 252 individuals as new members on April 22. Read more

More than 13,000 Education Researchers Gather for 2021 AERA Virtual Annual Meeting

The 2021 AERA Virtual Annual Meeting brought together nearly 13,300 scholars, graduate students, policy leaders, and practitioners from 68 countries for the largest education research conference in the world. Read more

Major Annual Meeting Lecture Speakers Examine Significant Topics in Educational Equity

The 2020 AERA Distinguished Lecture and the 2021 and 2020 Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lectures featured prominent scholars engaging attendees in important conversations about educators’ responsibility, racial education, and community colleges at this year’s virtual Annual Meeting. Read more

Presidential Sessions Engage Attendees in Key Issues in Education Research

This year’s AERA Presidential Sessions provided rich and compelling content for Annual Meeting attendees to reflect on the meeting theme of “Accepting Educational Responsibility.” Read more

Research and Science Policy Forum Features Key Federal Agency Leaders, Recent Research Publications

The 2021 AERA Virtual Annual Meeting featured 18 invited sessions in a Research and Science Policy Forum that included conversations with leaders of federal education research agencies and discussion on research directions in recent reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and on the development of education research infrastructure. Read more

New RRE Volume Explores What Constitutes Quality Evidence in Education Research

The 2021 volume of Review of Research in Education, titled “Quality of Research Evidence in Education: How Do We Know?” raises questions about how to address the persisting disparities in education by rethinking assumptions, study designs, the quality of research collected, and who participates in research teams and in studies. Read more

AERA Recognizes 2020 Outstanding Reviewers

Editors of AERA journals have named 59 scholars as Outstanding Reviewers for 2020, recognizing individuals who rendered outstanding professional service to the journals, to AERA, and to education research. Read more

President Biden Releases FY 2022 “Skinny” Budget Request with Large Increases for Education Department, NSF, NIH

On April 9, the Biden administration released a summary of topline budget requests for federal agencies for FY 2022. The full budget request is expected to be released in May. Read more

American Jobs Plan Proposes Significant Investment in Federal Research

On March 31, the Biden administration announced details of the American Jobs Plan, the first of two proposals on infrastructure. The American Jobs Plan would provide significant investments in federal research and development programs, including $50 million for the National Science Foundation. Read more

National Academies to Conduct Three Studies on IES

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will be conducting three studies directed by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) this year, with the purpose of providing recommendations on the agency’s programs. Read more

AERA Members who have recently passed away

Melvyn Semmel, 89, died on February 25. He was a professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s department of education, from which he retired in 1994. Read more

Robert Slavin, 70, died on April 24. He was director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University and a co-founder of the Success for All Foundation. Slavin, an AERA Fellow, received several association awards, including the Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award in 1988 and 2008, the Review of Research Award in 2009, and the AERA Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award in 2019. He was a member of Division C–Learning and Instruction and Division H–Research, Evaluation, and Assessment in Schools. Read more

Recent media coverage of AERA and AERA-published research

• Colorado’s public colleges may be going test optional. Will it help more students graduate?
  Chalkbeat, April 28
• Later school start time gave small boost to grades but big boost to sleep, new study finds
  Hechinger Report, April 26
• Gifted Education Comes Up Short for Low-Income and Black Students
  Education Week, April 23
• ‘High-Surveillance’ Schools Lead to More Suspensions, Lower Achievement
  Education Week, April 21
• Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says
  Hechinger Report, April 19
• Test-Optional Admissions Yields Benefits
  Inside Higher Ed, April 19
• A switch to test-optional led to modest gains in underrepresented students: study
  Higher Ed Dive, April 13
• Study links later middle, high school start times to better student achievement
  K-12 Dive, April 13
• Science Teaching and Learning Found to Fall Off in Pandemic
  Education Week, April 12
• Cameras Are Being Used To Punish Students, Not Stop School Shooters
  Forbes, April 11
• Want To Stop Charter Schools Cherry-Picking The ‘Best’ Students? Use The Carrot Not The Stick.
  Forbes, April 9
• Growth Mindset: The Classroom ‘Gimmick’ That Could Be The Real Deal
  Forbes, April 8
• AERA Stands in Support of Transgender and Non-Binary Community in Statement Before Annual Meeting
  Diverse Issues in Higher Education, April 7
• Science is rescuing us from COVID—it’s time for the US to return the favor
  The Hill, April 2