2019 AERA Fellows
2019 AERA Fellows
 
Print

Click the name to jump to each fellow's citation of accomplishment and introductory video.

Nancy Beadie, University of Washington

Dr. Nancy Beadie is a leading historian of education who draws upon case studies, social theory, gender studies, educational policy, and political economy in her work examining education and schooling. Her research places these issues in the context of large-scale themes and hugely consequential issues, such as the role of markets and the creation of social capital, and addresses their contemporary implications. Dr. Beadie’s book Education and the Creation of Capital in the Early Republic reframed the scholarly dialogue around the emergence of public school systems and the relationship between school and state. The book won the History of Education Society’s Outstanding Book Award in 2012. Dr. Beadie has also held numerous leadership positions, including president of the History of Education Society, vice president AERA’s Division F (History & Historiography), and associate editor of her field’s premier journal, History of Education Quarterly. Her scholarship, combining historical context and theoretical scope, casts light on current educational policy and serves as a foundation for future study of the history of education.


Laura Marie Desimone, University of Delaware

Dr. Laura Marie Desimone is one of the nation’s foremost experts on educational policy with a particular focus on teacher professional development; teacher effects on student learning; and the effects of policy on district and school leaders, teachers, and students. She has published dozens of articles in top-tier journals and is one of the most cited scholars in the field. One of her best known articles, on the need for better conceptualization and measures of teacher professional development (published in 2009 in Educational Researcher), has been cited over 2,700 times. Dr. Desimone is currently a co-principal investigator on a $10 million IES-funded research center studying the implementation and effects of college and career-ready standards, with an emphasis on outcomes for students with disabilities and English language learners. She has contributed essential insights on how policies can lead to improved student achievement and a closing of the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Dr. Desimone’s work powerfully conveys what is fundamental to professional development and to teacher learning and instruction.


Henry A. Giroux, McMaster University

Dr. Henry A. Giroux's cutting-edge research embodies the multidimensional study of education, politics, popular culture, media, and texts, with linkages to cultural studies and analysis. In response to educational and societal changes in late-capitalist Western societies, his work serves to make power visible and hold it accountable by transforming consciousness. A 2015 AERA Division B (Curriculum Studies) Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Dr. Giroux’s critical scholarship of education, connecting macro-level institutional analysis with micro-level cultural process, philosophy, and history, has been foundational to the field of critical pedagogy. Over the course of his career, he has contributed almost 80 books, 239 chapters, and over 500 articles to the field of education research, as well as holding multiple professorships, editing book series, and serving on editorial boards of journals published around the world. Urging educators to teach in the interest of human rights, economic democracy, and social justice, Dr. Giroux is tireless in showing that education is central to politics and that the role of public intellectuals is crucial to democracy.


Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, University of Delaware

Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff is a leading scholar doing fundamental, pathbreaking research on developmental and learning processes. Her work has made transformative contributions to our understanding of spatial reasoning and of how children learn and use language. She is the pioneer of the preferential looking paradigm, one of the most widely used procedures in the world for studying infant language development. Dr. Golinkoff also helped formulate the emergentist coalition, the leading integrative theory of how children learn new words as they draw on verbal and nonverbal information sources, as well as the Quick Interactive Language Screener, a new language assessment based in the literature of language development. She is also notable as a voice for science for the broader public, using multi-media approaches. In addition to publishing a New York Times best seller, Dr. Golinkoff co- founded the Ultimate Block Party, a scientific outreach event attended by 50,000 people. She is the co-recipient of AERA’s 2018 award for Outstanding Public Communication of Education Research. Her outstanding work in the study of language acquisition has transformed the landscape of early childhood research.


James Hiebert, University of Delaware

Dr. James Hiebert is one of the most influential scholars in the field of mathematics education. He has produced ground-breaking insights into what it means to understand mathematics, and how teaching and teacher education affect mathematics learning. In his work, Dr. Hiebert has led efforts to broaden mathematics education to include cognitive and developmental psychologists, developed new methodologies of studying classroom teaching in the TIMSS video studies, and co-authored the highly influential book The Teaching Gap. His research in the use of Japanese lesson study methodologies encouraged university professors to teach their courses in the context of a group process, meeting weekly to identify areas of student need, hypothesize improvements, plan lessons to test their hypotheses, and document their results. The mathematics teacher education program that resulted from this study is one of the few programs whose long-term effects have been studied empirically in follow-up studies. Dr. Hiebert’s work is improving teacher performance and professional development and has revolutionized the culture of teacher education.


Rodney Hopson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Rodney Hopson is among the most prominent leaders in evaluation research. His work has advanced understanding of the critical role of culture in evaluative inquiry, particularly relating to equity issues in working with marginalized and underrepresented groups. Dr. Hopson played a pivotal role in promoting culturally responsive evaluation, a concept now widely accepted within the field. His research also addresses the connection between diversity and practical ethics in American society and around the world, and how these concerns are central to the future health and vitality of the American educational system. Dr. Hopson served as the president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) in 2012 and founded its Graduate Education Diversity Intern program, which prepares young scholars to become professional evaluators and researchers. An exceptional mentor, he has received support from AEA, the National Science Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for programs designed to increase the presence of minority evaluators. Dr. Hopson’s scholarship starts a new generation of researchers and practitioners on a path of culturally inclusive evaluation.


Valerie Kinloch, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Valerie Kinloch's research investigates intersections among community narratives, literacy, and language, and the ways in which they influence student learning. One of the top scholars in the country in the field of literacy studies, she focuses on composition and reading comprehension while integrating them with culture, ecology, and human development. Centering critical perspectives in race, language, educational justice, and communication engagement, her research ranges from building research agendas that advance social justice to examining youth perceptions of language rights in urban contexts. While serving as Renée and Richard Goldman Dean of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh, she has received almost $3 million in funding for her work, including a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Kinloch also has a stellar record of service, not only in her professional field but also in her work with schools and communities. Her contributions have helped to shape the field of literacy education and to address issues of equity and social justice in communities.


Sarah Theule Lubienski, Indiana University

Dr. Sarah Theule Lubienski is a preeminent mathematics education scholar whose research illuminates the effects of mathematics instructional reform, with an eye toward socioeconomic, racial, and gender equity. Her work challenges researchers to rethink key issues in education, such as the equitable nature of problem-centered mathematics instruction, gaps in students’ mathematics achievement and the “gap gaze,” how gender- based socialization may limit girls’ use of bold problem-solving approaches, and the ways in which discussions of diversity may exclude serious consideration of socioeconomic issues. Dr. Lubienski is one of the few scholars who have published five or more articles in the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. While she has published in the top research journals in the field, Dr. Lubienski’s work has also been featured in major news outlets. Her expertise in examining large-scale national data sets has led to significant findings of policy importance. Her analyses have been able to pinpoint which mathematical topics and types of test items are particularly problematic. Dr. Lubienski’s research has brought equity in mathematics education to the attention of educators and the general public, and helps set the course for future scholarship.


Daphna Oyserman, University of Southern California

Dr. Daphna Oyserman is a pioneering educational psychologist studying identity-based motivation in education settings and improving successful academic outcomes for the most vulnerable of students. Her work is notable in bridging theory, research, and practice to narrow achievement gaps and promote motivation, self-regulation, and academic success among students from underrepresented groups and students at risk for academic failure. Dr. Oyserman’s influential research has been cited over 23,500 times. Her work has received funding from top U.S. federal and private foundations, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education, the W. T. Grant Foundation, and the Templeton Foundation. Her approach to the role of environmental messages concerning identity congruence between students’ academic work and their social identities and testing its application in two major public school districts currently forms the basis for grants from the Institute of Education Sciences. Dr. Oyserman’s challenge of contemporary notions about the ways to motivate underrepresented or struggling students places her as an authoritative voice on the role of educational environments in student engagement.


Thomas M. Smith, University of California, Riverside

Dr. Thomas M. Smith is an influential expert on the study of how educational policies and programs can support teacher retention and  instructional improvement. He has produced fundamental insights into the understanding of key differences between high schools that are more or less effective in supporting student learning, the effectiveness of mentorship and professional development for beginning teachers, and how policy and context influence teacher retention. A recipient of over $27 million in external grants, Dr. Smith currently serves as the dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Riverside, as well as director of the Institute of Education Sciences-funded National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools. In addition to his scholarly achievements, Dr. Smith’s expansive knowledge of the field, strong management skills, and attention to the practical implementation of complex research designs have made him a highly effective mentor for doctoral students. His leadership in developing new methodologies and advancing the understanding of teacher quality and school context continues to shape the landscape of education research.