Division A - Administration, Organization, & Leadership
Division A - Main Website
Division A is the AERA division devoted to scholarship in the areas of school administration, organizational behavior, educational leadership for social justice, and the study of policies that engage leadership for learning. Graduate students in Division A can participate in a wide range of opportunities designed to cultivate skills in leadership, service to the profession, and scholarship. These include leadership positions on the graduate student council and on standing committees within Division A and AERA; awards for outstanding dissertation research; scholarships to present outstanding papers at the annual meeting of AERA; and an annual fireside chat devoted to connecting graduate students with well-known scholars around current topics in educational leadership. In addition, Division A graduate students are encouraged to apply to participate in the Barbara Jackson scholars program, David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar and the AERA Division A Graduate Student Scholarship. Also your Division A representative about the Division A Outstanding Dissertation Award.
For the first time, Division A has committee members to extend outreach and mentoring to graduate student members of our division. The committee members are: Virginia Snodgrass, Educational Administration Department, University of Texas-Austin; Marcia Ranieri, Teaching and Leadership, Syracuse University; and Tiffany Harvey, Educational Leadership, Arizona State University.
At this past AERA meeting, the Division A fireside chat focused on the relationship between theory, research, and research methods and how these efforts can be operationalized to the external benefit of society. Ursula Casanova (Arizona State University, Retired), Floyd Beachum (Lehigh University), Julian Vasquez Heilig (University of Texas-Austin), Gerardo Lopez (Indiana University), and George Theoharis (Syracuse University) discussed the actions taken by practitioners as a response to external pressures of accountability and school reform, which have resulted in the construction of new knowledge and pathways for sustainable school reform. These scholars responded to questions from graduate students and scholars about the most recent and salient findings in the study of school improvement. The panelists suggested the importance of leadership and organizational structures within schools and culture.
For future events, the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) convention will be held November 17-20, 2011 in Pittsburgh. Divisions A representatives and committees in conjunction with Division L representatives expect to offer graduate students sessions at UCEA that discuss what to expect as an early scholar and how to submit and publish manuscripts. For more information about UCEA this fall or Division A, please contact angela.urick@utsa.edu
Dr. Linda Skrla, Division A Vice President
Angela is a research fellow at The University of Texas at San Antonio in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and is the managing editor for The Review of Higher Education. Her research interests include understanding the impact of organizational structures on school effectiveness through large-scale reforms, school facilities and funding, academic climate, school social structures, and P-20 initiative.
Pat is enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Educational Administration at Texas A&M University and is a graduate student research assistant to Dr. Roger Goddard. Schroeder’s research interests include professional development for principals and program evaluation of professional development for practicing principals. Schroeder had a career in public education as an elementary school teacher, assistant principal, and principal in Pat Schroeder Junior Graduate Representative Texas A&M University p123191v@neo.tamu.edu a large urban district before becoming a full-time Ph.D. student.
Highlights from the 2010 Annual Meeting:
The Theme of the previous year's Division A Fireside Chat, Complex Ecologies: Implications for School Leadership, gave graduate students an opportunity to engage in ideas for transformative leadership with Dr. Jeffrey Brooks and Dr. Cherry McGee Banks. In their exploration of complex ecologies and the challenges facing educational leaders, Dr. Brooks noted that research should be conducted based on its importance to the field not solely rest on personal interest. Dr. Brooks also remarked that socio-cultural aspects are at the heart of situations in schools. In a “glocal” age, people are embedded within layered contexts. It is via the understanding of these contexts aids in the development of new perspectives. Dr. Banks offered that intellectual leadership through morality can lead to transformative knowledge which challenges the meta-narrative, mainstream thought. Researchers who conduct work under an awareness of their position and who advocate for action can promote change.
2010 AERA Division A Graduate Student Scholarship
The purpose of this scholarship is to recognize and promote scholarly excellence in aspiring doctoral students presenting single-authored papers, are members of Division A and are enrolled in an educational administration/school leadership program.
The recipients of this year’s travel awards were: Mark D. Halx, University of Texas-Austin Hans Klar, University of Wisconsin-Madison Jesus "Jesse" Rodriguez-California, State University-Long Beach
Links to Related websites
Division A website University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA)
Links to Relevant Journals Educational Administration Quarterly (EAQ) Educational Leadership Journal of School Leadership