November 2024
On November 17–19, 45 deans and associate deans at colleges of education and leaders at research institutions joined for the annual Fall Policy Conference of the AERA Consortium of University and Research Institutions (AERA-CURI) in the AERA Convening Center in Washington, D.C.
By design, the conference took place after the national election to engage with critical education research and research policy issues on the federal agenda and identify opportunities and strategies to proceed. Speakers included representatives from the White House, key federal agencies, the news media, higher education institutions, and education and science coalitions. The news media presented and generated an engaged discussion with attendees representing institutions across the country.
Preceded by an orientation for new deans on November 17, the full meeting kicked off on November 18 with a welcome and opening remarks from AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine and AERA-CURI Executive Committee Interim Chair Kathryn Chval (University of Illinois, Chicago). Levine and Chval co-chaired the Conference and emphasized the important throughlines in the agenda with nine engaged sessions emphasizing and allocating sufficient time for attendee questions and discussion.
The opening session of the meeting, “The Biden Administration Equity Agenda, Building an Inclusive Federal Data System and Data Access for the Research Community—What Is Needed and What’s Next,” highlighted initiatives to advance equitable, evidence-based policy by examining data needs. Speakers included Kei Koizumi, Principal Deputy Director for Science, Society and Policy, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Peggy G. Carr, Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics, Institute for Education Sciences; and Catherine E. Lhamon, Assistant Secretary, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education.
The Monday sessions also featured leadership of federal agencies that support education research. Karen Marrongelle, Chief Science Officer of the National Science Foundation, highlighted the foundation’s interest in scaling and in artificial intelligence as high-priority issues. Carol Lee, chair of the National Board for Education Sciences, detailed some of the board’s more recent activities as the advisory board for the Institute of Education Sciences.
Additional sessions on the first day of the conference included a conversation with journalists Doug Lederman (Inside Higher Ed) and Jeffrey Mervis (Science) on their perspectives of what the election will mean for the scientific and higher education ecosystems; a town hall conversation on the experiences faced by institutional leaders; and a panel focusing on current AI initiatives. The latter panel featured Jeffrey Forbes from the National Science Foundation, Kevin Johnstun from the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, and Orrin Murray from the American Institutes for Research.
A highlight of the first day was a town hall meeting of attendees titled “The Realities for Research, Funding, and Independent Inquiry—Sharing Our Experiences.” Moderated by AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine, four deans of schools of education across institutional types and geographies kicked off the town hall with brief reports, including promising strategies for advancing their research missions, from their different vantage points. These openers catalyzed a collective discussion that allowed for deepened understanding of the work of AERA-CURI deans and their faculties, staffs, and graduate students, and of topics that will be important to the future work of CURI.
On November 19, the conference resumed with a keynote talk and conversation with Joanne Carney, Chief Government Relations Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science. The discussion centered on a high-level glance at research and development funding and policy issues during the lame duck session for the remainder of 2024 that the next administration and Congress may consider. This conversation was followed by a panel focusing on potential impacts of the election on funding and policy for the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. Speakers included Sarah Abernathy, Committee for Education Funding; Juliane Baron, Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences; and Mary Jo H. Mitchell, Population Association of America.
The final session prior to the AERA-CURI Business Meeting was as engaging as those held earlier. It featured Arthur Coleman, from EducationCounsel, in a conversation that detailed the history of attacks on equal opportunity and access and proposed a framework for how to address the issue in a research agenda. The framework included considerations for developing a compelling narrative, clear and sustainable policy parameters, and the types of research and evidence needed.
AERA-CURI member institutions (1) examine and collaborate on emerging and persisting issues associated with their research missions, (2) facilitate their engagement in AERA's education and advocacy efforts to promote federal research support and sound research policies, and (3) enhance collaborative efforts among individual scholars within AERA and the academic and research institutions of which they are a part.
AERA-CURI is the only such consortium that allows universities and research institutions to be an integral part of and contribute directly to an association dedicated to promoting education research goals for the nation. In addition to the annual Fall Policy Conference, AERA-CURI will be planning “hot topic” webinars and a pre-day convening on April 22, before the kickoff of the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting.