April 2024
The 2024 Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia on April 11–14 convened more than 15,100 scholars, policy leaders, and practitioners for four days of cutting-edge research, intellectual exchange, scholarly connection, and professional development. Attendees came from 59 countries.
Centered on the 2024 theme, “Dismantling Racial Injustice and Constructing Educational Possibilities: A Call to Action,” presidential sessions, lectures, symposia, and poster sessions featured high-quality education research and its connection to important issues in education practice and policy, including anti-racist education, Black women leaders in predominantly White institutions, the invisibility of Latinx communities across educational scholarship, the role of HBCUs in constructing knowledge, the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action rulings, and much more.
“There was electricity in the air during our four days in Philadelphia, thanks to our dynamic speakers and the vibrant conversations happening in and outside of session rooms,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “We thank all of our participants for making 2024 one of the most exciting AERA Annual Meetings yet.”
Highlights from Philadelphia included AERA 2023–2024 President Tyrone Howard’s presidential address, titled “Examining Our Past to Imagine a Better Future: Recognition and Redress of Racial Injustice in Education,” which was delivered to a ballroom packed with an enthusiastic audience of more than 2,000. During his lecture, Howard provided a stimulating overview of how academia can and should be playing a pivotal role in disrupting racial injustice and constructing new educational possibilities (see related story). Howard was immediately preceded by a rousing performance by the West Philadelphia High School Marching Band.
The Opening Plenary, which featured a lively lecture from leading public intellectual Kimberlé W. Crenshaw to an overflow audience of well over 2,000, was followed by a conversation with Howard. The lecture and discussion focused on how critical race theory has been weaponized in the “war on woke” to erase history, circumscribe freedom of expression, and roll back the modest gains of the Civil Rights Movement. The session was preceded by an
Indigenous blessing by Ann Dapice, an elder with the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, and a Black Land/Labor Acknowledgment from Nasir Pittman, a student at Temple University and an alumnus of the Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia.
AERA’s 2024 Award winners were honored at a special ceremony on April 12 that recognized and celebrated excellence in education research. Among the honored recipients were Kris D. Gutiérrez (University of California, Berkeley), who received the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award; Camika Royal (Morgan State University), who received the Outstanding Book Award; and Travis Jackson Bristol (University of California, Berkeley), who received the Early Career Award; among other outstanding awardees.
The 2024 Annual Meeting also welcomed a sitting mayor and a school district superintendent from the host city. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Superintendent Dr. Tony B. Watlington joined Howard for a moderated conversation on how the city and school district are collaborating to achieve educational success.
The Annual Meeting featured several exciting opportunities for presenters. New this year on a central stage integral to the Electric Poster Hall were e-Lightening Ed-Talks. These 160 talks featured selected poster authors presenting their work in the form of brief and engaging talks followed by brief Q&A.
The Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Roundtable Series returned this year as a special component of the Annual Meeting. The Series provided graduate students the opportunity to share and discuss their work in progress. The series is directed to graduate students who are actively engaged in research but were not yet ready to advance a paper submission in response to the 2024 Call for Submissions.
The Closing Ceremony on April 14 featured the official AERA Presidential transition, as Tyrone C. Howard passed the baton to 2024-2025 AERA President Janelle Scott. Howard also honored two scholars with Presidential Citations for their outstanding contributions to the field: Geneva Gay (University of Washington) and James A. Banks (University of Washington).
Videos from major sessions will be made publicly available on the AERA website and AERA’s YouTube channel soon.