Outstanding early career scholars and researchers gathered in Washington, D.C., for the AERA Grants Program Fall Research Conference on October 8–10. This invited conference featured papers from scholars funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported AERA Grants Program and the AERA-Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Dissertation Fellowship supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The AERA Grants Program is directed by a Governing Board of senior scholars and researchers, who also participated in the conference.
The research conference is part of the professional development and research capacity building activities AERA provides to early career scholars. Evan K. Heit, director of NSF’s Division of Research on Learning, discussed the agency’s role in and support for quantitative research on STEM education. NSF continues to align its support of research that advances STEM and the overall knowledge development. The Governing Board and the early career scholars engaged in a dialogue with Heit to better understand NSF research priorities and concerns.
The dissertation students and early career scholars are addressing important education research issues and questions on topics such as STEM participation, equity in education, and the social context of education. Each of the studies uses large-scale, federally funded data sets such as the Educational Longitudinal Study, High School Longitudinal Study, and the U.S. Census. Other studies use the MET data to examine classroom experiences. The table below lists the early career scholars and their program.
The Governing Board interacted and worked with the grantees throughout the conference and provided feedback on the papers presented. Governing Board member Barbara Schneider (Michigan State University) opened the conference with a discussion on developing a research agenda using the large-scale datasets.
Ongoing dialogue between the Board and the early career scholars addressed topics such as setting research priorities, navigating research support, and research and publishing productivity. Board members Heather Hill (Harvard University), Marta Tienda (Princeton University), and Margaret Burchinal (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) participated and provided additional mentorship during the entire conference.
“AERA is deeply committed to this kind of activity that brings together new members of the research community with other more experienced researchers and scholars. The work these scholars are doing is important, at all levels, and may have far-reaching implications for the education of students,” commented Felice J. Levine, AERA Executive Director and Grants Program Principal Investigator.