November

AERA Issues Statement on the Use of Value-Added Models in Evaluation of Educators and Educator Preparation Programs
In a statement released today, AERA advises those using or considering use of value-added models about the scientific and technical limitations of these measures for evaluating educators and programs that prepare teachers.
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AERA et al. File Amicus Brief in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
On October 30, AERA filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court’s reconsideration of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.
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October

Study Snapshot: Does College Teach Critical Thinking?
In a new study published in Review of Educational Research, the authors analyzed 71 research reports published over the past 48 years, to determine how successful four-year colleges are at teaching students critical thinking.
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Media Advisory: 12th Annual Brown Lecture
Teresa McCarty, leading scholar on Indigenous education will give 12th Annual Brown Lecture on October 22 in Washington, D.C.
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Joint Statement by AERA and ASHE on the Shooting at Umpqua Community College
The American Educational Research Association and the Association for the Study of Higher Education issue a joint statement on the shooting at Umpqua Community College.
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September

Are American Schools Making Inequality Worse?
The answer appears to be yes. Schooling plays a surprisingly large role in short-changing the nation’s most economically disadvantaged students of critical math skills, according to a study published today in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.
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August

Study Finds Causal Connection between Genotypes Related to Educational Attainment and Years of Education Achieved
A first-of-its-kind, nationally representative study of siblings finds that, within families, an adolescent with a higher “polygenic score”—which summarizes previously identified genome-wide associations for educational attainment—than her or his sibling tended to go on to complete more years of schooling.
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June

AERA Statement on the Charleston Shootings and Racism in America
The horrific deaths in Charleston, South Carolina, last week bear further witness to the troubling state of race relations and racism in the United States. Read more

AERA and ASHE Joint Resolution on Tenure and Academic Freedom in Wisconsin
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), as the two national scholarly associations devoted to the study of all education and higher education, respectively, affirm the principle that academic freedom, grounded in the tenure process, is essential for high-quality research and teaching. Read more

Study Finds Minority Students Are Underrepresented in Special Education
A new federally funded study finds that racial, ethnic, and language minority elementary- and middle-school students are less likely than otherwise similar white, English-speaking children to be identified as having disabilities and, as a result, are disproportionately underrepresented in special education. 
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May

Researchers Urge Caution in Using Measures of Students’ "Non-Cognitive" Skills for Teacher Evaluation, School Accountability, or Student Diagnosis Selects
Policymakers and practitioners have grown increasingly interested in measures of personal qualities other than cognitive ability—including self-control, grit, growth mindset, gratitude, purpose, emotional intelligence, and other beneficial personal qualities—that lead to student success.
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April

AERA Selects Teresa McCarty to Deliver 2015 Brown Lecture in Education Research
Teresa L. McCarty, a professor of education and anthropology at the University of California–Los Angeles and professor emerita at Arizona State University, has been selected by AERA to present the 2015 Brown Lecture in Education Research. Read more

March

Vivian L. Gadsden Voted AERA President-Elect; Other Key Members Elected to AERA Council
Vivian L. Gadsden, William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, has been voted president-elect of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Read more

AERA Announces Palmer O. Johnson Award Recipients
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) today announced the recipients of its Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award. Read more

AERA Announces 2015 Award Winners in Education Research
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) today announced the winners of eleven of its twelve 2015 awards for excellence in education research. AERA will honor the recipients for their outstanding scholarship and service at an awards ceremony on April 18, at the AERA Annual Meeting in Chicago. One additional AERA award will be announced in mid-March. Read more

Special Issue of Educational Researcher Examines Value-Added Measures
The American Educational Research Association has published a special edition of its peer-reviewed journal Educational Researcher (ER) devoted to examining value-added measures (VAM). Since 2009, President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top initiative has brought on a wave of value-added-based accountability measures, with value-added now embedded in policy in more than 30 states. Read more

Study: Little Evidence That Executive Function Interventions Boost Student Achievement
Despite growing enthusiasm about the potential of school-based executive function interventions to significantly increase student achievement, a federally funded meta-analysis finds no conclusive evidence that developing students’ executive function skills leads to better academic performance, according to a new study published in Review of Educational Research. Read more

February

AERA Announces 2015 Fellows
AERA has announced the selection of 23 scholars as 2015 AERA Fellows. AERA Fellows are selected on the basis of their notable and sustained research achievements. Read more

Early Childhood Programs Found to Significantly Lower Likelihood of Special Education Placements in Third Grade 
Access to state-supported early childhood programs significantly reduces the likelihood that children will be placed in special education in the third grade, academically benefiting students and resulting in considerable cost savings to school districts, according to new research published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Read more

January

State Performance Funding Falling Short in Student Retention and
Degree Completion 
State higher education performance funding is falling short of its intended goals of raising student retention and degree completion rates at community colleges, according to new research published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Read more