November 2012

The AERA 2012 Coordinated Committee Meeting (CCM), led by President Bill Tierney, was held in Washington, D.C., on October 26–27.

The meeting—an annual gathering of AERA standing committees—provided an opportunity for these groups to conduct their work and also to work together on AERA planning. As part of the Association’s continuing commitment to leading the field and remaining vital into the future, CCM attendees contributed ideas in three major areas occupying the attention of AERA staff and Council: communications, publications, and technology; professional development; and the Annual Meeting.

The CCM included three plenary events that were broadly relevant to the 2013 Annual Meeting theme of “Education and Poverty.” The first focused on pathways and strategies for building cumulative knowledge in the context of access to education. A panel discussion, “The Value of Multiple Methods for Understanding Complex, Policy-Relevant Problems,” featured AERA Vice President for Postsecondary Education Laura Perna (University of Pennsylvania), who served as chair and panelist; Alisa Cunningham(Institute for Higher Education Policy); and AERA President William G. Tierney (University of Southern California). See video of the discussion here.

The second two plenaries focused on social inequality and the continued significance of race in America. Peter Edelman (Georgetown University Law Center) spoke on “Why It’s So Hard to End Poverty in America,” followed by an engaging question-and-answer session. Liliana Garces (George Washington University) spoke about “The Science That Drove the Amici Briefs and Watching the Court—Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.” Garces served as the attorney of record for the amici curiae Brief of American Social Science Researchers filed in that case.

The 2012 CCM was one that contributed to the work of AERA and focused on important issues of current concern in the research community.