September 2014 Message From the VP
September 2014 Message From the VP
 
Message from Division VP
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September 2014 

Hello H'ers:

This is the fourth week of the semester at Howard...just a little over 10 weeks before the holiday season begins.  The weather is changing...it's already 58 degrees (f) and it's just 9:20 P.M. in Maryland.  As the season of the year begins to change and the events of our lives continue to drive us forward, Please take the opportunity to stay abreast of the activities of AERA and in particular, Division H activities.  We will do our best to keep you informed.

Best...

Zollie


DIVISION H OUTSTANDING PUBLICATIONS:  START THINKING ABOUT YOUR SUBMISSIONS!

Each year Division H grants six awards for reports and other school-based publications in the areas of school research, evaluation, assessment, and accountability, and doctoral dissertation. Winners are honored at the Annual Meeting Division H Breakfast and Business Meeting, on our website, and through acknowledgements to winning organizations. The dissertation winner also receives $1000 (first place) and $500 (second place). The call for papers and submission instructions will be available by the end of October. The submission deadline for this year’s competition will be January 11, 2015.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE PRIORITIES FOR 2014-15

The Professional Development Committee of Division H has established two priorities for planning, organizing, and delivering professional development to Division H members and interested education researchers and evaluators for the 2014-15 year:

  • Division H will provide professional development for district and agency based education researchers on preparing district and school leaders with skills and knowledge in analysis and use of educational data for decision-making in schools.
  • Division H will provide assessment directors, state and district leaders, and school principals with support in understanding and communicating the implications of state assessments being implemented in relation to Common Core State Standards and other state standards, and particularly the transitions in reporting, analysis and interpretation of assessment results.   

Our proposed Profession Development activities for the school year 2014-15 will consist of a pre-conference PD workshop prior to the 2015 AERA annual conference in Chicago, and two online webinars—one in Fall 2014 and one in early Spring 2015.  Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.  Please contact Rolf Blank, PD Committee Chair, rolfb444@gmail.com.


PROGRAM COMMITTEE MEETING TOOK PLACE IN VIRGINIA LAST WEEKEND

The Program Committee met this past weekend on September 13th and 14th in Falls Church, VA.  They are in the final stages of developing the Division H program for AERA 2015.  The members of the 2014-15 Program Committee are pictured to the right:  Left to Right (head by head), Dale Whittington, Section 4 Chair; Teresa Duncan, Section 2 Chair; Kecia Addison, Section 1 Chair; Debora Ortloff, Section 3 Chair; Brett Campbell, Assistant Chair (2015-16 Chair); and Nyambura Maina, 2014-15 Program Chair. (Missing from the photo - Rosanne Brown, Immediate Past Program Chair who was unable to attend.) Many thanks to the Program Committee for their dedication to the work of AERA.  Special thanks to Teresa Duncan for providing the meeting venue and assisting with logistics for this cost effective program planning meeting.  Additional information will be provided after all of the program details have been finalized. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS:

New Staff at AERA Headquarters - AERA Executive Director has announced the following: I am pleased to announce the appointment of Juliane Baron as Director of Government Relations at AERA effective October 1, 2014. Juliane has been serving as Deputy Director of Government and Public Affairs for the Population Association of American and the Association of Population Centers since 2006.  Jerry Sroufe continues on staff as senior advisor (which fits well with his reduced time schedule).

AERA is launching a search for a new IT director.  Tracy Young has left AERA to join his wife who has a position located in Hawaii.

John Easton Honored at the Organization of Institutional Affiliates (OIA) Fall Policy Meeting – Division H member and former Director of Research and Evaluation member John Easton, who recently departed Washington, DC after six years of service as director of the Institute for Education Science at the U.S. Department of Education, was recognized for his service and role in helping to “normalize” the range of research that is used to determine and provide context to what works.  John has moved back to Chicago and holds a senior leadership role with the Spencer Foundation. 

The OIA meeting addressed a number of topics:  Perceptions of university graduate research programs by end users; the reauthorization of IES, a discussion of educational legislation that might be considered during the days remaining in this congressional session; how patterns of philanthropic support impact schools of education and research funding; and the evaluation of teacher education preparation programs using data analytics.  OIA attendees represented many U.S. Schools/Colleges of Education.    

The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing – The new standards were presented in a live program which was streamed to over 1,000 people under the subtitle, Essential Guidance and Key Developments in a New Era of Testing on September 12, 2014.  Among the speakers were Steven Breckler of the American Psychological Association; Felice Levine of AERA; and Lauress Wise of the National Council on Measurement in Education. Sharing information on three critical assessment concepts in the new standards were Barbara Plake (Fairness), Wise (Validity) and Laura Hamilton (Accountability).  The presentation was recorded and is accessible via www.aera.net/standards.

Sign Up for the Division H Graduate Student Distribution List - As your Graduate Student Representatives, Oral B. Grant and I (Matt Lavery) frequently have information that we need to get out to graduate students.  We do have a Facebook page (https://facebook.com/DivisionHGraduateStudents) and Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/DivisionHgrad) set up, but nothing beats a good email list for efficient, targeted communications.  We've used MailChimp to set up an opt-in mailing list for graduate students interested in research, assessment, and evaluation in schools.  Sign up for the Div H GS Distribution List at http://bit.ly/DivHGSList.  Get connected and stay informed!

CSU to Host an IES Grant Writing Seminar - Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, will host an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Grant Writing Seminar on Friday, October 17, 2014.  At the session, the participants will sit in groups and interact with fellow colleagues in order to get peer input during the session.  The groups will be able to submit various examples to Dr. Meredith Lawson, Education Research Analyst IES, who will lead the seminar.  This interactive format will allow for immediate feedback from Dr. Lawson.  Her presentation will focus on writing an IES research grant proposal, including the abstract, common pitfalls, and the major sections of the proposal.  After the interactive presentation, lunch will be provided.  Following lunch, there will be break-out sessions with IES Grantees from the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Florida State University.  At these sessions, the IES Grantees will discuss your IES grant proposals and offer possible suggestions for future submissions.  Handouts will be provided.  All faculty, staff, and graduate students are encouraged to attend.  For more information, contact Jennifer Brown (brown_jennifer2@columbusstate.edu) or check out the information website, te.columbusstate.edu/grantwriting.


JOB POSTINGS

Assistant/Associate Professor of Leadership – Texas State University

Texas State University is searching for an Associate or Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership. This position involves graduate teaching at the doctoral and masters levels in the field of Educational Leadership. The successful candidate will join an educational leadership program comprised of 11 faculty members and located in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education & School Psychology. The educational leadership faculty have a wide range of research interests, including in areas of school improvement, principal preparation, educational equity, instructional supervision, community engagement, internationalization, P-20 access, curriculum studies, cultural competence, research methodologies, service learning, and public pedagogy. Texas State University enrolls 35,500 students, is designated an Emerging Research University, offers 12 doctoral programs, and is located in San Marcos between Austin and San Antonio. The Educational Leadership program is housed at the San Marcos main campus and is also fully offered at the university’s state of the art Round Rock Campus, which is just north of Austin.  Texas State University is a member institution of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). Review of applications begins November 1, 2014 for a Fall 2015 start. The full posting is located here. Texas State University will not discriminate against any person in employment or exclude any person from participating in or receiving the benefits of any of its activities or programs on any basis prohibited by law, including race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex, disability, veterans’ status, or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.


PLEASE FIND THE FOLLOWING POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS (ATTACHED):

1. The University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) seeks an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator in P-12 Educational Policy, Leadership and Administration. Successful applicants should have teaching and research interests in one or more of the following areas: educational leadership, education policy, program evaluation, qualitative methodologies, and/or mixed methods research designs. Please see the attachment for details.

 2. The San Jose State University is seeking applicants for two tenure track openings in educational leadership at the assistant or associate level.  Please see the attachment for details.