Contact: Tony Pals, [email protected] (202) 238-3235, (202) 288-9333 (cell)
Victoria Oms, [email protected] (202) 238-3233, (505) 850-3907 (cell)
Washington, D.C. April 6 – Please see below for a chronological list of selected key sessions at the AERA 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 8 to 12.
ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING The American Education Research Association’s Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of education researchers in the world. The 2016 Annual Meeting includes more than 2,500 sessions and will draw more than 15,000 attendees. Each year, the AERA Annual Meeting is a showcase for ground-breaking, innovative studies in a diverse array of areas, from early education through higher education. The theme of this year's meeting is "Public Scholarship to Educate Diverse Democracies." The hashtag for the 2016 Annual Meeting is #AERA16.
WHERE Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, D.C.
MEDIA REGISTRATION Please complete this Press Registration Form by 5 p.m. EDT Friday, April 8. The press room will be located in the Convention Center, Room 204A, Level Two. Additional information about press registration and the press room can be found here.
Key Sessions, Listed Chronologically--
Public Scholarship on Global Migration, Structural Inclusion, and Democratic Civic Education Across Nations Friday, April 8, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chairs: James A. Banks Confirmed participants include: Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Dafney Blanca Dabach, Rania Al-Nakib, Yun-Kyung Cha, Audrey Helen Osler, Angela M. Banks, Joseph E. Kahne Across the globe, students from ethnic, racial, linguistic, and religious minority groups often have weak connections with their nation-states, in part because they feel structurally excluded within their schools, as well as the larger community. This session brings civic and multicultural researchers together with researchers to discuss the design and implementation of promising civic education practices in different nations that can help students develop a sense of structural inclusion. Each case study of innovative civic education programs will profile an effective teacher working with minority groups to develop a sense of structural inclusion within the nation-state and to enhance their national identities.
Where Might the 2016 Election Year Take Us? Exploring the Implications of Political Framing for Future Education Legislation Friday, April 8, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 201 Chair: Kevin G. Welner Confirmed participants include: Pedro A. Noguera, John Jackson, Judith Browne-Dianis Despite all of the attention to politics in 2016, education has received relatively little attention. With the passage of the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), state governments will have increased flexibility to implement policies that promote educational innovation and progress. In this session Pedro Noguera, John Jackson, and Judith Browne Dianis will engage in a lively discussion of the constraints and opportunities created by ESSA. They will also consider how the presidential candidates of both parties should be challenged to address education and the huge challenges created by increasing racial and class-based inequality.
AERA Distinguished Lecture: Linda Darling-Hammond Designing the "New Accountability": How Public Scholars Can Contribute to a Productive Policy Framework for Education Friday, April 8, 4:05 to 5:35 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: Jeannie Oakes Register for the live-stream
Writing Our Way Into the Public Sphere Saturday, April 9, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: Anthony A. Berryman Confirmed participants include: Mike Rose, Lorrie A. Shepard Register for the live-stream No field is more central to the social good than education, yet typically educational researchers have limited influence on policy and public deliberations about education. How can we write our way more effectively into the public sphere? In this presentation, Public Scholar Mike Rose will provide insights on writing the opinion or commentary piece, as well as long form writing and select new media forms. He will discuss the meaning and urgent need of writing for diverse audiences, and the personal and professional benefits of doing such writing. He will then describe courses he has developed to teach public writing, and conclude with thoughts about public writing, our faculty reward system, and the ways our profession defines itself. University of Colorado School of Education Dean Lorrie Shepard will reflect on the implications of the presentation for universities and public scholarship overall.
The Role of Philanthropy in Education Research Saturday, April 9, 12:25 to 1:55 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 201 Chair: Vivian Tseng Confirmed participants include: Michael S. McPherson, Frederick M. Hess, Frederick J. Frewlow
Researchers Meet Community Organizers: Can Public Scholarship Contribute to Struggles for Immigration Rights, Community Schools, and Public Institutions in Neoliberal Times? Saturday, April 9, 12:25 to 1:55 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: Ben R. Kirshner, Michelle Renée Valladares Confirmed participants include: Ruth Maria López, Tina M. Trujillo, Pauline Lipman, Fahd Ahmed, Zakiyah Ansari, Dmitri Holtzman How can researchers and scholars better meet the knowledge needs of education justice movements? In this session we will flip the script by asking community organizers working on topics such as immigration rights and public community schools to suggest to scholars how their work can better meet the needs of the education justice movements. The community organizer presentations will be followed with interactive facilitated discussions led by scholars, in which session attendees and organizers will discuss existing research and identify new public scholarship projects that could both meet the needs of the community organizers and advance education research. Discussion leaders and session chairs will synthesize the discussions and suggest next steps at the conclusion of the session.
Ed Talks Session 1: Fostering Equitable Policy Outcomes Saturday, April 9, 12:25 to 1:55 p.m. Talks include:
Ed Talks Session 2: Relationship and Research Use in Policymaking Saturday, April 9, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. Talks include:
Public Scholars on the Social Impact of School-Related Inequalities: Perspectives from Multiple Disciplines Sunday, April 10, 8:15 to 9:45 a.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: William H. Schmidt Confirmed participants include: Greg Duncan, Jennifer Jennings, Debra Satz, Bob Wise, Michael Cohen Register for the live-stream Recent research provides strong evidence that unequal educational outcomes between richer and poorer students are due in part to curricular inequalities occurring within schools and between schools. Accordingly, rather than ameliorating background inequalities, the U.S. educational system may be exacerbating them. This session premiers a new short video—an artifact of public scholarship that communicates these research findings. Scholars from multiple disciplinary perspectives (sociology, economics, political science, and educational theory) will discuss implications of this research. They also consider how public scholarship focused on schooling inequality; its relationship to larger social, political and economic inequalities; and the public’s understanding of what a commitment to equality requires can inform and be informed by insights from different intellectual perspectives.
Public Scholarship and Teacher Education for Diverse Democracies Sunday, April 10, 8:15 to 10:15 a.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 207 B Chair: Marilyn Cochran-Smith Confirmed participants include: Kara Mitchell Viesca, Lorretta Chavez, Karla J. Esser, Peter M. Vigil, Wayne Au, Katy Swalwell, Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Rebecca H. Stern, Juan Gabriel Sanchez, Andrew Frederic Miller, Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, Maria Beatriz Fernandez Cofre, Wen-Chia Claire Chang, Molly Cummings Carney, Stephani Burton, Megina Baker, Kevin Kumashiro This session features four very different examples of public scholarship related to teacher preparation: evidence-based public advocacy work to shape state regulations regarding teaching for multilingual learners; an equity-centered educational magazine that bridges scholarship and policy/practice; a National Education Policy Center policy brief that assesses the claims and evidence behind teacher education accountability initiatives; and recent cross-institutional and cross-state efforts in teacher education to work collectively and publicly to challenge federal regulations. The last segment of the session will feature interactive discussion with the audience about: the conditions that make public scholarship possible in teacher education, the impact it has at multiple levels, the range and variation of this work, and the current limited resources that support teacher educators in this work.
Increasing Educational Opportunities and Improving Outcomes for English Learners: Partnerships between Public Scholars and School Leaders Sunday, April 10, 8:15 to 10:15 a.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 201 Chair: Peggy Estrada Confirmed participants include: Karen Thompson, Peggy Estrada, Ilana MariceUmansky, Claude N. Goldenberg, Claudio Sanchez, Cynthia Lim, Hilda Maldonado, Katherine G. Hayes, Christina Mei-Yue Wong, Laura P. Wentworth, Tara House, Patricia C. Gándara, John Q. Easton, Sean F. Reardon, Patrick M. Shields, Haiwen Wang, Timea Farkas, Soyoung Park, Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz, Kenji Hakuta, Robert T. Linquanti, Claudia Rodriguez Effectively assisting English learner (EL) students to achieve English proficiency and grade-level content standards within a reasonable time period is urgent. This session presents the work of the EL Partners--three university-district partnerships committed to improving EL policies, practices, and outcomes by investigating problems of practical and research significance. Participants will share findings, policy recommendations, and lessons learned from their collaborative research. In both small and large districts, the partnerships have investigated such thorny issues of practice as reclassification to English proficient, access to core content, language program models, and achievement. Findings across the partnerships make a compelling case for recommendations to improve EL classification and reclassification, collecting and using EL data, and EL access to core content, bilingual instruction, and highly qualified teachers. Lessons learned focus on aspects critical to partnering success.
AERA E.F. Lindquist Award (2015) Lecture: Howard Wainer Four Easy Pieces Sunday, April 10, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 206 Chair: Gerunda B. Hughes
Public Scholarship and Immigrant Students and Families: Leveraging Community and Research Partnerships Sunday, April 10, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 201 Chairs: Ruth Maria López, Jaime Del Razo, Jaein Lee Confirmed participants include: Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Roberto G. Gonzales, Laura M. Bohórquez García, Apolonio Morales, Sandra Lucia Osorio, Samuel Orozco Focusing on the education of undocumented students and students from mixed-status families, this panel of educators, immigrant advocates, political leaders, journalists, lawyers and researchers examines the potential of public scholarship to advance equitable, research-informed immigration and education policies. Undocumented students and their families, and increasingly the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, face enormous risks in the U.S. Moreover, our nation’s legacy of failed immigration policies creates barriers for undocumented students’ pathways toward higher education and authorized immigration status. This policy failure is compounded by challenges researchers face to inform public debate and policy deliberations about more constructive approaches through the use of empirical evidence. Public scholarship, developed and disseminated in the context of research-public sector partnerships, is greatly needed to understand and address the complex conditions of undocumented students.
Public Scholarship on the Witness Stand: The Impact of Research and Expert Testimony in Educational Reform Litigation Sunday, April 10, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: Bill Koski Confirmed participants include: Eric A. Hanushek, Bruce D. Baker, Patricia C. Gandára, Kathleen Gebhardt, Marisa Bono The thoughtful and methodical process of educational research could not be more different from the hurly-burly of the courtroom. Yet, many scholars have used the expert witness stand to shape the outcomes of landmark legal cases (think the Grutter v. Bollinger affirmative action case), and work with advocates to effect important policy change through the courts. Members of the academic and legal community will examine the challenges, risks, and significant opportunities of public scholarship on the witness stand. They will provide candid insights about the uncomfortable contentious process of moving scholarship through the judiciary. They discuss the tensions in navigating burden-of-proof standards, explaining and interpreting complex research, and diving into the adversarial process and the surrounding public arena.
AERA Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award (2014) Address: Douglas Fuchs and Lynn Fuchs Sunday, April 10, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 207 A Chair: Ann E. Austin
Can Public Scholarship Help School Finance Policy Meet the Challenge of Increasing Diversity? Sunday, April 10, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: Sophie Anne Fanelli Confirmed participants include: Bruce D. Baker, David G. Hinojosa, Michael Rebell, Anthony Rolle, Gloria M. Rodriguez, Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos Register for the live-stream Public school funding is central to providing a high quality compulsory K-12 education in a democratic society yet it is one of the most entrenched and antiquated systems resistant to change. This challenge exists alongside the reality that our K-12 student population has seen dramatic demographic shifts in the past 100 years making our country more culturally and linguistically diverse. This “Town Hall” Session will demystify public school finance policy and practice by engaging researchers and stakeholders in a moderated discussion. AERA members, education and political leaders, and the general public will participate both in person and through social media.
Making Knowledge Public: Books as Public Scholarship Sunday, April 10, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 B Chair: Brian Ellerbeck Confirmed participants include: Elizabeth Branch Dyson, Joel Westheimer, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Penny B. Sebring, Claudio Sanchez This workshop will provide educational researchers with detailed guidance on how to communicate research findings in book form in a manner that can reach a broader public and influence how issues of educational policy and practice are understood and discussed. The workshop panel will include editors from book publishing houses and authors of books whose research-based works have enjoyed broad visibility. Panelist will share insights about integrating research findings into books that will attract readers beyond the educational research community. Session participants will learn how to prepare research-based books to “make scholarship public,” and time will be given for audience participation and feedback.
AERA Presidential Address: Jeannie Oakes Public Scholarship to Educate Diverse Democracies Sunday, April 10, 4:35 to 5:50 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chairs: Kevin G. Welner, Michelle Renée Valladares Register for the live-stream
AERA Early Career Award: Brendesha M. Tynes Monday, April 11, 7:45 to 9:15 a.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chair: Annemarie S. Palincsar
Public Scholarship to Inform Equity and New Accountability: The Iterative Relationship Between Research and Policy Monday, April 11, 7:45 to 9:45 a.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chairs: Jennifer A. O'Day, Jeannie Oakes Confirmed participants include: Linda Darling-Hammond, Paul K. Leather, Marshall S. Smith, Patrick M. Shields, Barnett Barry, Amanda Beaumont
This session will examine the iterative relationship between research and policy. We begin with two cases from California: a pioneering set of teacher investments and, later, one of the nation’s most progressive school funding and accountability policies. We then turn to the national level where, building in part on California’s new approach and research on innovations in other states, researchers, practitioners, policymakers and advocates designed a set of principles for a new accountability system that has made its way both into the Senate ESEA bill and federal “flexibility waivers” under ESEA and into the emerging accountability systems of numerous states.
#BlackGirlsMatter: Public Scholarship Engaging with the Race/Gender Interaction in Schools Monday, April 11, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chairs: April L. Peters, Terri Nicol Watson Confirmed participants include: Bettina L. Love, Lori Patton Davis, Adrienne D. Dixson, Melissa Harris-Perry Register for the live-stream In 2014, the White House’s Council on Women and Girls issued a report highlighting the progress of women and girls of color, most notably in education. Along with an increase in high school and college graduation rates it was reported, “Since 2009, both fourth and eighth grade math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the largest nationwide assessment, have improved for all girls of color” (p. 2). Absent from this conversation, however, were the distinct challenges based on the intersection of race and gender that left Black girls with the least growth across all categories and contexts. This session seeks to open up new avenues of scholarship focused on the promises and perils Black girls and women encounter in PK – 20 systems. The session will also explore how such scholarship could inform policy-based solutions to improve the academic success and life chances of Black girls and women.
Ed Talks Session 3: Broadening Conceptions of Learning Monday, April 11, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Talks include:
AERA Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award (2015) Address: Andrew C. Porter Monday, April 11, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 207 A Chair: Chandra Muller
Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture: Warren Simmons Increasing the Relevance of Education Research: Building a Place-Based Agenda for Obtaining Equity and Excellence Monday, April 11, 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chair: Jeannie Oakes
AERA Distinguished Public Service Award Lecture (2016) Monday, April 11, 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level One, Room 146 B Session Hashtag: #AERAServe Chair: A. Wade Boykin Presenter: Shirley Malcom
Public Scholarship and #BlackLivesMatter: New Directions for Research and Policy, K Through College Monday, April 11, 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chairs: Michael D. Harris, Terri Nicole Watson Confirmed participants include: David Johns, Constance Iloh, David O. Stovall, Prudence L. Carter, Walter R. Allen Register for the live-stream If we believe that Black lives matter; education research must engage the entire spectrum of factors that marginalize and limit Black students’ educational opportunities and outcomes. This interactive dialogue moderated by the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, examines topics like the school to prison pipeline, post-traditional student experiences and nontraditional college pathways, Black student protest in the K-College Pipeline, and the educational opportunities Black students do and do not have. Accordingly, this session aims to change the narrative by focusing on the “unheard” and “overlooked” in the Black student research agenda, towards new scholarly and policy approaches for k-12 and higher education.
The Power of Public Scholarship to Transform Policy and Practice: Five Award-winning Books Monday, April 11, 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 201 Chair: Ann E. Larson, Valerie Strauss Confirmed participants include: Linda Darling-Hammond, Michael Fullan, Andy Hargreaves, Diane Ravitch Five recent Grawemeyer Award winners articulate their theories of scholarship-in-action and discuss their experiences working with policymakers and practitioners to use their work to prompt educational change. The University of Louisville’s prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Education, celebrating its 30th anniversary, recognizes annually a work most likely to have an impact on practice worldwide. Each award-winning work provides a theoretical perspective, grounded in empirical evidence, and offers implications for reform in districts, schools, teacher education, and/or professional development. The session will be facilitated by an educational journalist who will frame questions that engage the scholars in discussing the impact of both their work and the award on their efforts to bridge research to policy and practice in communities and schools.
Special Event: Dr. Jill Biden Operation Educate the Educators: Recognizing and Supporting Military-Connected Students Through University-Based Research, Community Partnerships, and Teacher Education Programs Monday, April 11, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chair: Jeannie Oakes, University of California - Los Angeles Discussants: Ron Avi Astor, Catherine Bradshaw, Mary Keller NOTE: Questions during this session will be restricted to AERA members only. Register for the live-stream
Career Threats and Opportunities: What Is the Role of Social Media in Public Scholarship? Monday, April 11, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chair: Julian Vasquez Heilig Confirmed participants include: Diane Ravitch, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Frederick M. Hess, Nolan L. Cabrera Register for the live-stream Researchers will discuss social media approaches to public scholarship that can democratize education knowledge. Panelists will focus on how social media can advance academic scholarship discussions but also may pose threats to academic careers, particularly for junior scholars. Questions from audience-generated social media will be discussed by the panelists, as both conference participants and streaming viewers from across the nation and world contribute comments and questions in advance and in real-time via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, using the hashtag #AERAPubScholar.
Public Scholarship in Campaigns to Change Hearts, Minds, and Policy: Discipline Disparities and the School-to-Prison Pipeline Monday, April 11, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Chairs: Kavitha Mediratta, Russell J. Skiba, Daniel Losen Confirmed participants include: Catherine Lhamon, Russell J. Skiba, Daniel Losen, Kavitha Mediratta, Thena Robinson Mock, Lisa Thomas, Anurima Bhargava, Kathryn Elizabeth Wiley For three years, the Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative—a national initiative involving researchers, educators, community organizers, and policy-makers—galvanized national attention and action (including through a national conference, Congressional briefing, and briefing paper series) and advanced an intervention and policy agenda to address disparities in school discipline by race, gender, and sexual orientation. This Presidential session will explore the impact of this collaboration on the research agenda, focusing on the process of moving from evidence to public discourse to policy and action. Presenters will identify remaining challenges and areas of future work. Session attendees will participate in facilitated table discussions to identify opportunities for engaging as public scholars with diverse stakeholders in their own work. Reception to follow.
How Public Scholarship Helped Put School Integration Back on the Public Agenda Monday, April 11, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chair: Susan Eaton, Derek Black Confirmed participants include: John Brittain, Nikole Hannah Jones, Sara Carr, Jennifer Jellison Holme This conversation-style session brings together journalists, scholars and advocates to offer perspectives on public scholarship about one of the nation’s most intractable and complex challenges. After decades of near silence, high-impact media reports have shone new light on racial segregation in schools and neighborhoods as a driver of inequality and social division. They also point to racially equitable integrated schools as an alternative for engendering opportunity, cohesion and fairness. What role have researchers played in putting segregation and integration back onto the cultural and policy agendas? To what extent did collaborative relationships between scholars and advocates help "move" the research into the public sphere via media? What’s next for engaged scholars?
Ed Talks Session 4: Increasing the Education and Life Chances for the New American Majority Monday, April 11, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Talks include:
Social Justice in Education Award Lecture Monday, April 11, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A Session Hashtag: #AERASJ Chair: Kofi Lomotey Presenter: Kevin Kumashiro
How Much Testing and for What Purpose? Public Scholarship in the Debate about Educational Assessment and Accountability Tuesday, April 12, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chair: Matthew R. Lavery Confirmed participants include: Linda Darling-Hammond, Eric A. Hanushek, Lorrie A. Shepard, David C. Berliner, Wayne J. Camara Register for the live-stream An unprecedented number of tests, often with high stakes for students, teachers and schools, have been driven by decades of policy. American students spend considerable school time taking and preparing for standardized tests. The U.S. is not alone, as international educators, scholars, and policymakers wrestle with similar questions. Session participants will respond to the questions and concerns that students, parents, teachers, and other diverse stakeholders have raised in the public debate on testing. How much testing is appropriate? Who should be tested, how frequently, and on what content? How should the results of these tests be used? Crowdsourced questions will inform this session, with discussion starting months prior to the Annual Meeting, tagged with #AERAHowMuchTesting. Participants will also consider the role and impact of research in a policy arena so infused with politics and ideology.
Ed Talks Session 5: Inclusive Education Practices Tuesday, April 12, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Talks include:
Public Scholarship Broadening Participation in Computer Science Education Tuesday, April 12, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C Chair: Janice Cuny Confirmed participants include: Monica Sweet, Diane Baxter, Art lopez, Susan S. Yonezawa, Nan Renner, Katrine G. Czaijowski, Roman Enrique Del Rosario, Karen Flammer, Julie Flapan, Jane S. Margolis, Joanna Goode, Sarah Jean Wille, Jeanne Century, Miriam Pike, Brenda Wilkerson This symposium on public scholarship tackles race- and gender stratification in the field of computer science. Learn how the National Science Foundation (NSF), higher education, and K12 collaborated on a multi-million dollar investment in broadening computer science opportunities. Stories from district-university partnerships illustrate how these collective efforts ignited an explosion of computer science courses for underrepresented students. While much work remains, efforts to improve equitable computer science access—by leveraging the influence, resources, and know-how of federal, university, and K12 partners—demonstrate how educational disparities can be addressed via equity-minded curriculum, teacher development, district scale-up, policy advocacy, research and evaluation.