November 2024
On November 14–16, the AERA Grants Program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), held its annual Fall Research Conference at the AERA Convening Center in Washington, D.C. The conference brought together the cohorts of AERA-NSF dissertation and research grant awardees and scholars who have completed or are working on research funded through this program. The aim of the program is to advance our understanding of education and learning through rigorous analysis of data sets, data bases, and data resources, with a special emphasis on STEM from early childhood through the workforce.
The attendees participated in activities for professional development and training, as well as being introduced to members of the program’s Governing Board, federal agency representatives, senior scholars in large-scale data analysis, and education media professionals.
“This year’s conference provided essential formal and informal opportunities for training, networking, and learning,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine, who is principal investigator of the program. “The conference generated stimulating and productive conversations between the grant awardees and the senior scholars who participated.
Working with Levine, George L. Wimberly, AERA director of professional development and diversity officer, serves as the co-principal investigator of the program.
The conference began with a panel featuring Governing Board members Kenneth Frank (Michigan State University), George W. Bohrnstedt (American Institutes for Research), Barbara Schneider (Michigan State University), and Laura Stapleton (University of Maryland, College Park). They provided reflections and insights on the future of education research in STEM.
During the conference, former grantees presented their research that was supported by the grants program. They covered engaging topics such as STEM course-taking patterns, attendance zone boundary inequities, mathematics achievement, the effects of homelessness on student learning outcomes in STEM, and parental caregiving impacts on child development.
Several engaging lessons and keynotes provided a wealth of expertise and perspectives for the participants.
Attendees heard from Alia Wong (Associated Press) and Dominique J. Baker (University of Delaware), who provided insights on communicating education research to the news media. The panel provided perspectives from both a reporter’s and an education researcher’s perspective. Another session featured a panel with Xavier Monroe (National Science Foundation), Youmi Suk (Teachers College, Columbia University), and Walker Swain (Learning Policy Institute). The panel led a discussion on pathways and experiences that inform research agendas.
One of the keynote speakers, Matthew Soldner, acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), gave an overview of funding and research opportunities at IES and answered grantees’ questions.
On the final day of the conference, James L. Moore III, assistant director for the Directorate for STEM Education at NSF, gave a keynote about STEM research opportunities at NSF. The conference concluded with a lesson from Allyson Flaster (assistant research scientist, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [ICPSR]), who gave an overview of ICPSR and data sharing at the publication stage.
Among the conference participants were the newly named dissertation and research grantees (see related Highlights story). These scholars are launching studies that use advanced statistical techniques and methods to analyze large-scale data and address important questions in STEM and education research. Throughout the conference, these grantees had the invaluable opportunity to network with Governing Board members, presenters, and each other through formal and informal conversations. They will present their research in poster sessions during the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting.
NSF has funded the AERA Grants Program since 1990 through nine consecutive awards. This has led to support for over 600 graduate students and early career scholars as they launched their careers and developed their research agendas. The conference participants are supported by NSF award DRL 1749275, which emphasizes STEM learning, STEM learning environments, and STEM education research. The AERA-NSF Grants Program supports studies that use large-scale federal and federally funded data sets such as those developed by the National Center for Education Statistics, NSF, and the U.S. Census. The program includes national and international data sets and administrative data such as those available through the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems, made possible through federal support.
The next call for proposals for the dissertation grants and research grants is under revision and will be released shortly. It will have an early 2025 deadline. For more information about the program, visit the AERA-NSF Grants Program website.