Heinrich, C. J., Darling-Aduana, J., Good, A., & Cheng, H. (2019). A look inside online educational settings in high school: Promise and pitfalls for improving educational opportunities and outcomes. American Educational Research Journal, 56(6), 2147-2188.
This multi-layered, mixed methods study is an extraordinary example of the power of the genre. Drawing on 7 million records of online instructional sessions linked to student records, the authors were able to examine both short-term (course pass rates) and medium-term (growth on achievement tests) outcomes in a large urban district, and identify which students were able to benefit from online instructions. Qualitative methods allowed the authors to identify that insufficient instructional support was provided for the traditionally marginalized, less well prepared students, who were most likely to be assigned to these courses and least likely to benefit from them. The committee found the research to be comprehensive in its scope and depth, carefully executed, and extremely timely, providing critical policy guidance for districts engaged in online instruction.
The Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award is presented annually in recognition of the most outstanding article published in an AERA journal. The elements of an outstanding article include: (1) significance of the contribution to advancing knowledge, (2) methodological sophistication and rigor, and (3) uniqueness in terms of problem specification or approach. Articles published in any one of the following AERA journals are eligible for consideration: AERA Open, American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (EEPA), Educational Researcher (ER), or Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics (JEBS), except those articles that emanate from AERA public lectures. The selection committee considers all research articles published in the volume year immediately preceding the year in which the award is conferred. The award is granted based on substantial merit, as determined by the selection committee.
The nomination deadline has passed.