January 2024

AERA has selected six new fellows for the AERA Fellowship Program on the Study of Deeper Learning. The early career scholars joining this highly competitive program will conduct research using the American Institutes for Research (AIR) Study of Deeper Learning data set (see table below). Fellows will work closely with AIR scientists and other scholars to analyze the Deeper Learning data and to help inform their research. Along with opportunities to participate in AERA research training activities, small conferences, and the AERA Annual Meeting, fellows are awarded up to $35,000 in research support. The six new fellows are the fifth cohort supported by the program since 2016.

This program aims to create a community of scholars studying the Deeper Learning model and a body of research related to the data. The professional networking and mentoring activities will introduce fellows to senior scholars and researchers, enhance their knowledge, advance their research agendas, move their manuscripts toward publication, and help them gain professional socialization to the academic research field.

Each fellow is utilizing this data set to develop research projects that focus on students, teachers, and schools that implement the Deeper Learning model. This data set, initially collected when students were in high school, can be linked to National Student Clearinghouse data to track students’ college experiences and outcomes.

Some fellows are addressing student-centered topics such as postsecondary trajectories for first-generation and high-achieving low-income students, and the influence of school culture on student success. Others are studying school- and curriculum-oriented topics to interrogate issues around student achievement in STEM and the alignment of classroom assignments with the Deeper Learning framework. Much of the fellows’ work focuses on issues of equity across race, gender, and language. The fellows will use rigorous quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the Deeper Learning data.

The scholars from previous cohorts have published articles in peer-reviewed journals and have produced policy reports based on their Deeper Learning projects. Some of their research will be featured in an invited poster session at the 2024 AERA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The AERA Fellowship Program on the Study of Deeper Learning is made possible by a $1.5 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

“We are enthusiastic about the research and the new knowledge this cohort is poised to uncover with the Deeper Learning data,” said George L. Wimberly, fellowship principal investigator and AERA director of professional development. “This fellowship will provide these early career scholars with valuable research training and skill building that will enhance their skill set. We are grateful that the Hewlett Foundation continues to fund and support this important initiative.”

AERA is currently accepting proposals for the next cohort of fellows, with a proposal deadline of March 4, 2024. For further information about the Fellowship Program, contact George Wimberly at fellowships@aera.net or (202) 238-3200.