Mary E. Yakimowski-Srebnick,

Vice President

First, I want to thank Joseph O’Reilly, Division H Past Vice President, who left Division H in great shape. He was a hard person to follow. I also wished to thank Nancy Baenen who served the last 2 years as Secretary.

We have completed the Bylaws for Division H, clearly articulating goals of the Division, the responsibilities of the elected leadership, and the charges for the Committee. We involved the leadership and about 30 additional members in preparing the drafts that were posted in two newsletters and approved by Division H members last April. After AERA’s membership approved new Association-wide Bylaws, the AERA Council approved our bylaws as being in accordance with the new Association Bylaws. We were applauded as the first Division to have revised bylaws. Now others can use ours as a model!

We revised the Division H Committee Handbook, which takes the five Division goals and aligns them to the committees’ charges and responsibilities.  It includes major timelines and information on past chairs. We also have the Division H Breakfast Brochure to report on the committees’ accomplishments. The brochure articulates the major accomplishments of each committee and provides an accountability measure for members. This is complemented by the PowerPoint display initiated just last year.

The committees continue to serve Division H well. For the past 3 years our Graduate Student Committee has continued the Fireside Chat, and added a reception for graduate students at this year’s Annual Meeting. We also created a Graduate Student section on the Division H webpage.

After the AERA dues increase of more than 100%, we made membership a top priority. Membership is continuing to increase to the highest level in the last 5 years. Given that there are 21 countries represented in our Division membership, we created an International Relations Committee.  It now has members, a charge, and one set-aside session as part of the 2006 Annual Meeting Program. The Social Reception Committee continues to be strong. The sponsorship for these years has been great and has allowed us to feature entertainment, such as this year’s jazz trio.

The Affirmative Action Committee continues to represent us well by participating in the nominations and the program planning process. The Outstanding Publication Committee and its judges have implemented four new categories: NCLB, Small District, Web, and Dissertations. We awarded $1,000 for the first-place dissertation and $500 for second place.  Last year, we implemented electronic submission, with the result that all submissions but one were electronic this year. As a result, we were able to pass out a CD with submissions during the Division H Breakfast. The Outstanding Presenters and Discussant Award were brought back from the early 1990s to help enhance the quality of the program. Last year we looked at papers, and this year we expanded to include symposiums. We will continue to recognize recipients at each Annual Meeting. The Early Career and Graduating Students mentoring events have been reconstituted. This year we featured a special session and selected applicants to visit mentors.

We have worked throughout the year to post important information about Division H online. For example, we sent our record-breaking 122 outstanding papers to be posted online. In addition, information about our history and our committees can now be found on the Web.

Also, the Division H newsletter, Reality Test, has expanded over the last 3 years, with many new and exciting features!

Finally, the program at the 2006 Annual Meeting has been of top quality. Many thanks go to those individuals who served as chairs, discussants, submitters, and reviewers. Last year, the increase in submissions was the highest of any division, and this year Division H was one of four divisions that received an increase in session allocation. From a structural prospective, the four sections of the Division—Program Evaluation, Research, Assessment, and Accountability, which have been in place for 2 years—have been very effective.

In a nutshell, the committees have served the Division well these past 3 years. Thank you to each person who has served on a committee, as a judge, or as a reviewer. Thank you for making AERA Division H so vibrant! Please continue to serve Steve Henry, incoming Vice President, for the next 3 years.