September 2024
AERA has announced 18 recipients of its Dissertation and Research Grant Awards. Grant recipients are studying salient topics in STEM education and policy, early childhood development, teacher and student school experiences, and postsecondary education. The recipients are selected through and supported by the AERA-NSF Grants Program, which has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 1990.
The recipients are selected from a highly competitive applicant pool of researchers who are using federally funded data sets such as the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), the High School Longitudinal Study, and the Civil Rights Data Collection, as well as the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) data from Michigan, North Carolina, and Tennessee. These studies use rigorous quantitative methods and advanced statistical techniques to examine topics in education research.
Dissertation grants provide advanced graduate students with $27,500 for one year as they complete their research and writing, and early career scholars with up to $35,000 for a two-year study. In addition, scholars participate in professional development and training activities aimed at building their research capacity and encouraging the use of large-scale data in education research. A goal of the Grants Program is that the grantees will publish their research in top peer-reviewed journals and that their work will inform education practices and policies, particularly in STEM education and learning.
The NSF has funded the Grants Program for over three decades in support of AERA’s efforts to enhance the visibility and use of large-scale designed and administrative data by means of dissertation and research grants and statistical institutes aimed at building research capacity. Over 600 graduate students and early career scholars have received these grants as they launched their careers and developed their research agendas in STEM education research.
“The AERA-NSF Grants Program supports some of the most rigorous studies in STEM education research using large-scale data sets,” said Barbara Schneider (Michigan State University), chair of the program’s governing board. “We are pleased that we can provide graduate students and early career scholars with the support and training to conduct this important research.”
Current and former grantees will participate in the upcoming AERA-NSF Grants Program Fall Research Conference and will present their research in poster sessions during the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting in Denver. For more information about the Grants Program, visit the AERA website. A new call for proposals for the dissertation grants and research grants will be released later this fall.
The table below lists the dissertation and research grant recipients who have recently commenced their awards.
Dissertation Grantees
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Anika Alam |
University of Pennsylvania |
Using Machine Learning to Advance High School Dropout Prediction and Prevention |
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Johanna Bernard |
University of Pennsylvania |
Exploring Variation in Impact of the Tennessee Pre-K Study: Decomposing Treatment Effects by Alternative Childcare Options |
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Naomi Duran |
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
Neighborhoods and Educational Opportunity Structures: An Examination of Factors Affecting Sense of Belonging among High School Students |
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Todd Hall |
University of Virginia |
No Hitting: Effects of a Corporal Punishment Ban for Students with Disabilities in Louisiana |
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Taiyo Itoh |
University of Oregon |
Exploring the Relationship between English Learners and Their Peers: Secondary School Math and ELA Course-Taking in Three States |
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Salman Khan |
Harvard University |
Unlocking Potential: Analyzing the Impact of Second Chance Pell on Incarcerated Students |
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Dillon McGill |
Vanderbilt University |
How Family Preferences Structure Educational (Sub)Markets: A Network Approach |
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Alexander Moran |
Florida State University |
Strengthening the Teacher Pipeline: A Teacher Loan Forgiveness Policy Option |
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Diana Quintero-Castellanos |
Vanderbilt University |
Long-Term Effects of Grade Retention on English Learner Students: A Gateway or a Gatekeeper? |
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Melanie Seyarto |
University of California, Los Angeles |
Connecting Head Start Teachers' Wellbeing to Children's School Readiness |
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Mary Smith |
Vanderbilt University |
Ready for What? A Mixed Methods Case Study of Tennessee's Ready Graduate Accountability Indicator |
Research Grantees