AERA 2022 Annual Meeting
Snapshots of Selected Annual Meeting Research Papers

To request a full copy of a study snapshot or an embargoed copy of an annual meeting working paper or to talk to study authors, please contact AERA Communications: Tony Pals, Director of Communications, tpals@aera.net, cell: (202) 288-9333; Marla Koenigsknecht, Communications Associate, mkoenigsknecht@aera.net, cell: (517) 803-1591.

• Following the Letter of the Law: 2020–2021 Retention Outcomes Under Michigan’s Read by Grade Three Law 
  Authors: Andrew Niel Utter (Michigan State University), John Westall (Michigan State University), Katharine O. Strunk (Michigan State University)
  
  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting.
  Session: Minding the Gap in Accountability Policy Implementation
  Date/Time: Friday, April 14, 2:50 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. CT
   

  Main Findings:
  Under Michigan’s “Read by Grade Three” grade retention law, school districts in 2020–21 disproportionately retain economically disadvantaged students, suggesting that students from more advantaged backgrounds avoid retention, potentially though better advocacy by their families. While retention-eligible economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be retained than their peers just above the test-score cut-off, retention-eligible non-disadvantaged students are no more likely to be retained than their peers just above the cut-off.
  
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• Changes in Children's Kindergarten Readiness in the Wake of COVID-19: Statewide Evidence From Louisiana
  Authors: Anna J. Markowitz (University of California, Los Angeles), Walter A. Herring (Mathematica), Isabelle Fares (University of Virginia)
   

  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting. 
  Session: Ongoing COVID Impacts in Early Childhood Education
  Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CT

  Main Findings:
  Between 5 and 15 percent fewer kindergarteners met readiness benchmarks across multiple areas after schools closed in 2020, with the largest declines in literacy, mathematics, and physical development. Readiness drops were larger among Black children than White children across all domains except mathematics, and larger among Hispanic children than White children in social-emotional development.
  
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• Interaction With a Television Character Powered by Artificial Intelligence Promotes Children's Science Learning
  Authors: Ying Xu (University of Michigan), Julian Levine, Valery Vigil, Daniel Ritchie (University of California – Irvine), Shan Zhang (Harvard University), Trisha Thomas, Carlos Barrera, Michelle Meza, Andres Sebastian Bustamante, Mark Warschauer (University of California – Irvine)
   

  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting.Session: Integrating Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning
  Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CT

  Main Findings:
  This project showcases a collaboration between PBS Kids and university researchers to integrate artificial intelligence into children’s television shows so that the shows’ characters can ask children questions, comprehend children’s responses, and provide specific feedback. Offering children opportunities to converse with an AI-powered interactive media character in a science video leads to better learning outcomes than for children watching videos with no interactions or those with “pseudo” (not fully two-way) interactions that merely ask children questions and pause to allow them to respond (as is done on Dora the Explorer).
  
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• School Choice and Reading Development in Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade
  Author: Angela Cox (Vanderbilt University)
   

  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting.
  Session: Academic Experiences and Achievement in School Choice and Policy Reform Contexts
  Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 9:50 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. CT

  Main Finding:
  Preliminary results show that school type—traditional public, non-traditional public, or Catholic—does not have a relationship with elementary reading growth for students from kindergarten to fifth grade.
  
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• They Only Hate the Term: Explaining Opposition to History Curricula and Critical Race Theory
  Author: Jonathan Collins (Brown University)
  
  This study was presented at the AERA 2023Annual Meeting  
  Session: The Politics of Divisive Concepts and Anti–Critical Race Theory Legislation
  Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CT
  
  Main Findings:
  Americans, on average, express overwhelming support for antiracist curriculum, even when parental consent is not required. When the literal term “Critical Race Theory” is presented, support drops from 76 percent to 57 percent, with support falling across all demographic groups.
  
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• Disparities in Teachers’ Working Conditions, Qualification Gap, and Poverty-Based Achievement Gap in 38 Countries
  Authors: Motoko Akiba (Florida State University), Kyeongwon Kim (Florida State University), Xiaonan Jiang (Florida State University)
   

  This study will be presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting.
  Session: Unearthing Educators’ Voice and Perspectives: Analyzing Conditions in the Classrooms and Schools
  Date/Time: Sunday, April 16, 2:50 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. CT

  Main Findings:
  Gaps in teaching experience, workload, and stress between teachers in high-poverty and low-poverty schools in the U.S. are among the largest in the world. Teachers in high-poverty schools in the U.S. have less experience, work more instructional hours, and report more job-related stress than their counterparts in low-poverty schools. Achievement gaps between high-poverty and low-poverty schools in the United States and elsewhere are more strongly linked to differences in teachers’ working conditions—number of instructional hours assigned, teacher-student relationships, and job impact on mental health—than to differences in their teaching qualifications.
  
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• Evaluating the Impacts of Performance Funding and Promise Programs on the Enrollment of Low-Income Students
  Authors: Amy Li (Florida International University), Yimeng Liu (Florida International University)
   

  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting.
  Session: Equity, Effectiveness, and Expenditures, Oh My! The Landscape and Outcomes of Performance-Based Funding Models
  Date/Time: Sunday, April 16, 4:40 p.m. – 6:10 p.m. CT

  Main Findings
  Low-income student bonuses in 26 states that operated performance funding policies had no effect on the number of first-time, full-time Pell Grant recipients or on the percentage of first-time students receiving Pell Grants at public, four-year universities. However, these bonuses did increase the average amount of Pell Grant aid to first-time, full-time students by 0.7 percent. Among institutions affected by one of three statewide promise program that required students to demonstrate financial need, there was a 9 percent increase in first-time, full-time Pell-eligible students two to 12 years after implementation of the program. The percentage of students receiving Pell Grants increased by 3.9 percentage points, although there were no changes to the amount of the average Pell Grant award.
  
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• Protecting Diversity: Can We Afford to Throw Out Grutter Before Its Expiration Date?
  Authors: Jason Scott (AccessLex Institute), Paige Matthews Wilson (AccessLex Institute), Andrea Pals (AccessLex Institute), Tiffane Cochran (AccessLex Institute)
   

  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting. 
  Session: Social Science Analyses of Emerging Legal Dilemmas
  Date/Time: Sunday, April 16, 2:50 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. CT

  Main Findings:
  Greater campus diversity at U.S. law schools is associated with lower student attrition for underrepresented students of color. Greater campus diversity is associated with higher GPAs and higher predicted likelihood of bar passage for Black law students. 
  
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• The Effects of Early Literacy Policies on Student Achievement
  Authors: Alberto Guzman-Alvarez (University of Pittsburgh), Lindsay C. Page (University of Pittsburgh)
  
  This study was presented at the AERA 2023 Annual Meeting. 
  Session: Infrastructure for Accountability Policy and Practice
  Date/Time: Sunday, April 16, 4:40 p.m. – 6:10 p.m. CT
  
  Main Findings:
  State early literacy policies improve elementary students’ reading achievement on high-stakes tests, particularly in third grade and in states with comprehensive policies and third-grade retention requirements. There is suggestive evidence that early literacy policies modestly reduce racial and socioeconomic test-score gaps and have positive spillover effects on math achievement. While the policies improve performance on high-stakes tests, they fall short of improving literacy learning, as measured by low-stakes test scores, except in states with the most comprehensive policies.
  
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