April 2025
AERA has released the second edition of the Handbook of Education Policy Research, edited by Lora Cohen-Vogel (University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill), Peter Youngs (University of Virginia), and Janelle Scott (University of California–Berkeley).
The handbook, the largest book project in AERA’s history, includes 80 chapters in nine sections. Across the volume’s 1,800 pages, the reader can engage with the breadth and depth of the scholarship in the field of education policy and politics, as evidenced by citations to the work of several thousand additional authors. The table of contents can be viewed here.
“This handbook is intended to serve as the go-to resource for those entering the field and to honor those who have built the empirical, conceptual, and methodological insights and expertise from which we all benefit,” the editors note. “It is our hope that the handbook will inspire readers and provide launching points for new ideas and better studies that will ultimately lead to improvements in the experiences and outcomes of students everywhere.”
“This volume arrives at a critically important time for the education research field,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “It is a ‘must-have’ volume for those seeking a comprehensive collection of education policy research from the field’s top experts.”
At this year’s Annual Meeting in Denver, attendees can engage with the book’s editors and authors in the following two sessions, which are open to all attendees:
The Handbook of Education Policy Research Roundtable Session Saturday, April 26, 8:00 am to 9:30 am The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level - Bluebird Ballroom Room 1A *Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with authors from 21 of the book’s chapters.
AERA Handbook of Education Policy Research Book Launch Saturday, April 26, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm The Colorado Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Level - Exhibit Hall F - Stage 1 *At this celebratory event, many of the books’ authors will give short “ed talks” about their chapters. Attendees can stop by, enjoy free ice cream, and purchase a book at a reduced price.
The volume is now on sale. Annual meeting attendees who purchase the book in Denver will benefit from a reduced price and free domestic shipping. In May, the handbook will be available in ebook and print-ebook bundle formats. In addition, all chapters will be available for sale as separate eChapters, which will have their own digital object identifiers.
About the Editors
Lora Cohen-Vogel is the Frank A. Daniels Jr. Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Education in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, where she studies programs and practices that are successfully raising schooling outcomes for students. Teaching the know-how, skills, and dispositions for boosting organizational learning and leadership, Cohen-Vogel directs UNC's campus-wide Interprofessional Graduate Certificate in Improvement Science and Implementation. Her work in partnership with school districts seeks to develop improvement-focused routines and infrastructure that drive deeper learning opportunities for all children. Cohen-Vogel helped direct the National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools and the Early Learning Research Network and is the editor or co-editor of several other volumes, including The Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education (co-editor, 2022). She was elected president of the Politics of Education Association and vice president (Division L: Educational Policy and Politics) of the American Educational Research Association, and served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on the Future of Education Research.
Peter Youngs is a professor in the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, and is chair of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education. He conducts research on the effects of educational policy and school social context on teaching and learning in the core academic subjects. Youngs has a special focus on the relationship between policy and practice in the areas of teacher education and induction. Currently, Youngs is conducting research on ways that neural networks can be used to automatically classify instructional activities in video. Youngs received the Excellence and Innovation in Teaching Award, Michigan State University College of Education, in 2009; the AERA Division K (Teaching and Teacher Education) Early Career Award in 2012; and is a multiple Outstanding Reviewer winner for several of AERA’s journals. He is a past co-editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and the American Educational Research Journal and is the current chair of AERA’s Journal Publications Committee.
Janelle Scott is the 2024–2025 president of the American Educational Research Association. She is Professor and Birgeneau Distinguished Chair in Educational Disparities at the University of California, Berkeley. A former elementary school teacher, Scott conducts research on the politics of educational policy in a multiracial, segregated, and unequal society. She specifically examines how school choice policies, privatization, and philanthropy affect democratic accountability and equity in public education. Her second book, The Politics of Education Policy in an Era of Inequality: Possibilities for Democratic Schooling (2nd ed., with S. Douglass and G. Anderson; Routledge, 2018/2025), was honored with a 2020 American Educational Studies Association Critics Choice Award. Scott is a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a board member of the Education Law Center, and a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Health Policy Research Scholars program. In 2017, she received a UC Berkeley Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award. Scott is a member of the National Academy of Education. She is an AERA Fellow and received the AERA Committee on Scholars of Color Mid-Career Contribution Award in 2014.