ES SIG is pleased to announce a call for nominations for the 2014 Educational Statisticians SIG Annual Service Award.  The Educational Statisticians SIG Annual Service Award is designed to recognize individuals who have provided exceptional contributions to the field of Educational Statistics and to the associated AERA special interest Group.  The Award Winner will be announced at the AERA/Educational Statisticians’ SIG business meeting.  The awardee will be asked to give the invited address at the following year’s AERA/Educational Statisticians’ SIG business meeting.

Eligibility Criteria:

1.  The nominee must have contributed a significant amount of high quality service to the field of educational statistics and to the Educational Statisticians’ SIG.
   
2. The nominee must be a current member of the Educational Statisticians’ SIG.
   
3. The nominee must have been a member of the Educational Statisticians’ SIG for a minimum of five years.

The nomination must include the following two items:

1. A letter of nomination from at least one professional colleague who  is an Educational Statisticians’ SIG member providing evidence of the nominee’s service contribution to the field of Educational Statistics and to the Educational Statisticians’ SIG.
2. Nominee’s curriculum vita. 
   

Rationale for establishing the Award:  The award is designed to encourage graduate students to prepare and present research papers at the annual conference. 

Eligibility Criteria: In selecting a winner, the following guidelines will apply.

1. The nominee must be a current member of the Educational Statisticians SIG.
2. The nominee must be first or sole author on a paper presented at the annual AERA conference (and be listed in the program as presenting author on the paper in either a paper presentation or roundtable session).  The nominee may have faculty or other graduate students as co-authors but, in this case, must be listed as first author on the paper and be presenting the paper.

Nomination Process and Timeline:

A nominating/award committee will be formed each year. This committee will be formed by September the year before the award will be given. The same nominating committee that is formed for the other SIG sanctioned award, the Service Award, will also serve in this role. The committee will ask the membership (communicated using the SIG’s newsletter and listserv) to submit nominations for the award. Nominations must be submitted by the paper submission deadline prior to the AERA annual conference.

 The nomination must include the following item:

1. An electronic copy of the submitted paper.

The nominating committee will review the nominated papers and select the winner prior to the AERA annual conference. Any members of the nominating/award committee who have a conflict of interest (i.e., is the mentor for a student who is under consideration), will be recused from discussing the specific paper.

Composition of the Award Committee: The nominating/award committee will consist of four Educational Statisticians’ SIG members, including: the current Educational Statisticians’ SIG Program Chair, the previous year’s winner of the Educational Statisticians’ SIG Service Award, and two members selected by the Educational Statisticians’ SIG Chair.

Process of Appointment of Award Committee Members: As noted, two members will be appointed ex officio (the Program Chair and previous year’s Service Award recipient). The Educational Statisticians’ SIG Program Chair will also be the Chair of the Award Committee. The two additional members appointed to the Award Committee by the SIG Chair should be two individuals who have been active members of the SIG for at least the last five years.

Review/Selection Process: The Award Committee will review all nominated papers.

1. By individual ballot, each committee member will make a global ranking of the papers based on the quality and usefulness of the research contained in the paper.
2. These rankings will be sent to the Chair of the Award Committee.
3. The Chair of the Award Committee will then distribute the Award Committee’s ranks to the committee members and will hold a conference call with Award Committee members to reach consensus about the award recipients (the two best papers will be selected).

Selection Criteria: The nominees should be assessed in terms of the quality of the research and the usefulness of the paper to the field of educational statistics and research.

Form of Recognition:  Up to two awardees will each receive a check for $150.

Form of Announcement of Award Winner: The Award Winners will be announced at the AERA/Educational Statisticians’ SIG business meeting.

Frequency of Conferral of the Award: Given sufficiently meritorious nominees and sufficient funds, the Award will be conferred annually.