AERA leadership gathered in Washington, D.C., from October 23–25 for the 2015 Coordinated Committee Meeting (CCM). CCM provides an opportunity for AERA’s committees to not only address their individual goals, but also to come together collectively to further AERA’s mission. AERA President Jeannie Oakes presided over the meeting.
Attendees gathered to address this year’s AERA Common Task—“Contributing to the Success of the AERA Knowledge Forum”—selected by Oakes and Executive Director Felice Levine. During the opening general meeting, Levine outlined for members the aims of the upcoming AERA Knowledge Forum and the hope that CCM members would provide their insight to help make that event a success.
Central to this goal, CCM included two general meetings that featured 10 preview “Ed Talks” from several of the researchers who attended last month’s Scholar’s Retreat, an intense two-day speaker training session held in Santa Fe, NM, for AERA members selected to participate in the Knowledge Forum.
Presentations were given by Patricia Alexander (University of Maryland), Alfredo Artiles (Arizona State University), Mark Berends (University of Notre Dame), Michelene Chi (Arizona State University), Dorothy Espelage (University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign), Kara Finnigan (University of Rochester), Megan Franke (University of California–Los Angeles), Vivian Gadsden (University of Pennsylvania), Elizabeth Moje (University of Michigan), and Sean Reardon (Stanford University). Following the Ed Talk presentations, attendees provided feedback to AERA leadership about the structure and usage of these talks for the Knowledge Forum.
Another highlight of CCM included a panel with education reporters Dan Berrett (Chronicle of Higher Education) and Sarah Sparks (Education Week), chaired by AERA Communications Director Tony Pals.
The panel provided an opportunity for attendees to learn more about how researchers can make their scholarly work more “newsworthy” and explored best practices for building relationships with journalists.
Berrett and Sparks provided insight into what they look for in assessing the news value of new research and made suggestions on how experts can present their information in a way that is both honest and compelling. The discussion was another excellent opportunity for members to address ways to engage in public scholarship and connect research to practice and policy.