November 2024

Registration for the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting will open in December. The conference will be held in Denver on April 23–27, with many pre-meeting events on April 21–22. The 2025 Annual Meeting marks the return to a 5-day meeting after two years of 4-day compressed meetings in 2023 and 2024 in Chicago and Philadelphia.

The Annual Meeting Program will be released on January 17.

“With notifications having gone out on November 8, we are looking forward to developing an exciting 2025 program that will inspire participants and many other attendees,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “We are also pleased to open registration next month, which will give attendees ample time to register and make travel and lodging arrangements.”

With more than 2,500 sessions to choose from, the 2025 Annual Meeting will provide a dynamic experience with opportunities to learn from prominent scholars, discover the latest research, engage in stimulating conversations, and foster professional relationships. In collaboration with the World Education Research Association (WERA) and numerous other international organizations, the Annual Meeting will not only highlight research from around the globe but also support and advance the worldwide impact of the field.

Major events such as the Opening Plenary, the AERA Presidential Address, the AERA Distinguished Lecture, the Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture, the return of the AERA Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, and more should be on every attendee’s schedule. Along with AERA Awards Lectures, these premier sessions offer unparalleled opportunities to hear from thought leaders and engage in stimulating conversations. 

The 2025 Annual Meeting theme, “Research, Remedy, and Repair: Toward Just Education Renewal,” reflects the vision of AERA President Janelle Scott. This theme motivates the development of invited sessions by the Presidential Program Committee and in particular by AERA President Scott and Presidential Program Co-Chairs Catherine C. DiMartino, Huriya Jabbar, and Lorena Llosa. Their work provides rich and compelling content designed to engage attendees on important issues in education research, policy, and practice.

As at past meetings, the Research and Science Policy Forum will once again offer a series of sessions focused on topics related to the advancement of education research, research innovation, research funding, and science policy. Presenters include policy leaders from key federal science offices and agencies, foundation heads, and leading scholars engaged in considering opportunities, challenges, and forward-looking possibilities.

Core to the AERA Annual Meeting is an open submission process that accounts for the vast majority of the 2,500 sessions. Accepted papers are presented in paper, roundtable, or poster sessions and accepted sessions are largely presented in symposia and other session motifs (e.g., structured poster sessions, performances, workshops). Division and SIG programming and that of select committees is almost entirely based on open submission, which represents an incredibly broad range of research interests.

Based on a successful experience at the 2024 AERA Annual Meeting, the 2025 Annual Meeting will see a return of e-Lightening Ed-Talks given at poster sessions by authors drawn to making rapid-fire and engaging presentation in a staged setting in the Exhibit Hall during their poster sessions. Presentations are a maximum of four minutes long followed by up to two minutes of Q&A. Space is limited to about 20 ed-talks at each scheduled session with posters.

Papers being presented at poster sessions and structured poster sessions are also available through the AERA i-Presentation Gallery, which is accessible throughout the Annual Meeting to registrants and becomes an open access product after the conclusion of the meeting. For the first time, for the 2025 Annual Meeting, authors were allowed to submit papers for presentation in the Gallery only, and not for in-person presentation. Approximately 250 papers were accepted for Gallery presentation only. 

First introduced at the 2023 AERA Annual Meeting, AERA is also pleased to showcase again this year the Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Roundtable Series. These roundtables provide an opportunity for attendees to join in on discussions about the latest work in progress being undertaken by AERA graduate student members.  

AERA has launched the 2025 Annual Meeting website. The site will provide presenters and other participants with important information on registration and housing, upcoming key dates, special features, Annual Meeting policies and support services, program highlights, and more. Information on hotel accommodations will also be available when registration opens in mid-December.   

Questions about the Annual Meeting can be sent to annualmtg@aera.net.