2020 Annual Meeting Home
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Program Information
Exhibits | Sponsorship
The 2020 AERA Annual Meeting—scheduled for April 17-21 in San Francisco—is the single largest gathering of scholars in the education research field and is a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative work in a diverse array in areas.
AERA Opening Plenary Friday, April 17, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Moscone Center, North Building, Exhibition Level, Room 24 The AERA Opening Plenary on April 17—“Glancing Backwards, Pressing Forward”—will welcome to the stage National Education Association (NEA) Executive Director Kim A. Anderson and AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. These visionary educational leaders will join together in responding to an opening lecture by Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University, president of the Learning Policy Institute, and president of the California State Board of Education. Come learn about current international, national, and state-level collaborative practices and hear the ways NEA and AERA envision and sponsor organizational coordination and leadership. The session will be chaired by AERA President Vanessa Siddle Walker.
AERA Distinguished Lecture Saturday, April 18, 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., Moscone Center, South Building, Upper Mezzanine, Room 154 Vivian L. Gadsden will give the AERA Distinguished Lecture. She is a preeminent scholar on cultural and social factors affecting learning and literacy across the life-course and within families, particularly those at the greatest risk for academic and social vulnerability. Gadsden is the William T. Carter Professor of Child Development, professor of education, and director of the National Center on Fathers and Families at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as AERA President in 2016 and is an AERA Fellow. Gadsden's lecture will be introduced by AERA President-Elect Shaun Harper
Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture Sunday, April 19, 12:25 p.m. to 1:55 p.m., Moscone Center, South Building, Upper Mezzanine, Room 154 Cecilia Rios-Aguilar will deliver the Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture. She is national leader in the study of the educational and occupational trajectories of marginalized students, taking a multidisciplinary approach to examine issues related to access and transition to college, college persistence and success, and pedagogies in higher education. Rios-Aguilar is a professor of education and associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Rios-Aguilar’s lecture will be introduced by AERA Immediate Past President Amy Stuart Wells.
AERA 2020 Presidential Address Sunday, April 19, 4:35 p.m. to 5:50 p.m., Moscone Center, North Building, Exhibition Level, Room 24 What were the activities of Black intellectuals as they built, led, and participated in the work of education organizations during the dismal years of de jure Southern school segregation? Might an examination of their behaviors in a context of sanctioned oppression offer any fodder to rethink ways to address the perplexing unsolved education problems in our own era? Join AERA President Siddle Walker as she explores these questions in the presidential address, “Once Upon a Time in a World Left Behind: A Historical Script of Power and Possibilities.” Following the address, Walker will pass the proverbial torch to AERA President-Elect Shaun Harper, who will begin his term at the conclusion of the conference.
Additional information about these and other noteworthy sessions will be available in the coming weeks.