For Immediate Release
April 4, 2016

Contact:
Tony Pals, tpals@aera.net
(202) 238-3235, (202) 288-9333 (cell)

Victoria Oms, voms@aera.net
(202) 238-3233

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 4, 2016 — AERA has announced that it is live-streaming select sessions at its 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 8 to 12. Among the live-streamed sessions is a special address by U.S. Second Lady Jill Biden, on Monday, April 11, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Her session will include a question and answer session with researchers.

Twelve other sessions featuring prominent scholars and national figures speaking on key issues will also be livestreamed. Livestream registration is open. Follow the live conversation on Twitter using the session hashtags.

Live-streamed Sessions, Listed Chronologically:

AERA Distinguished Lecture: Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emerita, Stanford University
Designing the "New Accountability": How Public Scholars Can Contribute to a Productive Policy Framework for Education
Friday, April 8, 4:05 to 5:35 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A
Session Hashtag: #AERAHammond

Writing Our Way Into the Public Sphere
Saturday, April 9, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A

In this presentation, public scholar Mike Rose will provide insights on writing the opinion or commentary piece, as well as long form writing and select new media forms. University of Colorado School of Education Dean Lorrie Shepard will reflect on the implications of the presentation for universities and public scholarship overall.

Public Scholars on the Social Impact of School-Related Inequalities: Perspectives from Multiple Disciplines
Sunday, April 10, 8:15 to 9:45 a.m.
Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A

Recent research provides strong evidence that unequal educational outcomes between richer and poorer students are due in part to curricular inequalities occurring within schools and between schools. Scholars from multiple disciplinary perspectives (sociology, economics, political science, and educational theory) will discuss implications of this research. They also consider how public scholarship can inform and be informed by insights from different intellectual perspectives.

AERA Awards Luncheon
Sunday, April 10, 12:25 to 2:25 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom ABC
Session Hashtag: #AERAAwards

Can Public Scholarship Help School Finance Policy Meet the Challenge of Increasing Diversity?
Sunday, April 10, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A

This “Town Hall” session will demystify public school finance policy and practice by engaging researchers and stakeholders in a moderated discussion. AERA members, education and political leaders, and the general public will participate both in person and through social media.

AERA Presidential Address: Jeannie Oakes, AERA President; University of California - Los Angeles
Public Scholarship to Educate Diverse Democracies
Sunday, April 10, 4:35 to 5:50 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C

This year’s presidential address will examine the contributions education research can and should make to educating diverse democracies well and fairly. Oakes will argue that the field must support, strengthen, lift up, and celebrate the work of public scholars who produce and use knowledge in concert with educators, activists, and communities struggling to bring the shifts in cultural values and political power that healthy diverse democracies require.
Session Hashtag: #AERAPres

#BlackGirlsMatter: Public Scholarship Engaging with the Race/Gender Interaction in Schools
Monday, April 11, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C

In 2014, the White House’s Council on Women and Girls issued a report highlighting the progress of women and girls of color, most notably in education. Absent from this conversation, however, were the distinct challenges that left Black girls with the least growth across all categories and contexts. This session seeks to open up new avenues of scholarship focused on the promises and perils Black girls and women encounter in PK – 20 systems.
Session Hashtag: #AERABlackGirlsMatter

Public Scholarship and #BlackLivesMatter: New Directions for Research and Policy, K Through College
Monday, April 11, 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Two, Room 202 A

If we believe that Black lives matter; education research must engage the entire spectrum of factors that marginalize and limit Black students’ educational opportunities and outcomes. This interactive dialogue moderated by the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, examines topics like the school to prison pipeline, post-traditional student experiences and nontraditional college pathways, Black student protest in the K-College Pipeline, and the educational opportunities Black students do and do not have.

Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture: Warren Simmons, Fellow and Former Executive Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Monday, April 11, 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C
Session Hashtag: #AERAWallace

Special Event: Dr. Jill Biden
Operation Educate the Educators: Recognizing and Supporting Military-Connected Students Through University-Based Research, Community Partnerships, and Teacher Education Programs
Monday, April 11, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C

Dr. Biden will speak about her work with Operation Educate the Educators as part of her Joining Forces initiative. There will be a question and answer session with university researchers to discuss these efforts and outcomes immediately following. Today approximately 2.4 million military- and veteran-connected students are in our K-12 classrooms. Education research and over a decade of experience tell us that schools are essential to providing consistent, sensitive understanding and response to the unique needs of this very special population of America's children. National policy, new research funding, and efforts in over 100 universities are now underway to increase the number of university schools of education that include materials, research, and partnerships focused on students from military and veteran families.
Session Hashtag: #AERAJillBiden

Career Threats and Opportunities: What Is the Role of Social Media in Public Scholarship?
Monday, April 11, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C

Researchers will discuss social media approaches to public scholarship that can democratize education knowledge. Panelists will focus on how social media can advance academic scholarship discussions but also may pose threats to academic careers, particularly for junior scholars. Questions from audience-generated social media will be discussed by the panelists, as both conference participants and streaming viewers from across the nation and world contribute comments and questions in advance and in real-time, using the hashtag #AERAPubScholar.
Session Hashtag: #AERAPubScholar

How Public Scholarship Helped Put School Integration Back on the Public Agenda
Monday, April 11, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C

This conversation-style session brings together journalists, scholars and advocates to offer perspectives on racial segregation in schools and neighborhoods as a driver of inequality and social division. What role have researchers played in putting segregation and integration back onto the cultural and policy agendas? To what extent did collaborative relationships between scholars and advocates help "move" the research into the public sphere via media? What’s next for engaged scholars?

How Much Testing and for What Purpose? Public Scholarship in the Debate about Educational Assessment and Accountability
Tuesday, April 12, 10:35 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.
Convention Center, Level Three, Ballroom C

An unprecedented number of tests, often with high stakes for students, teachers and schools, have been driven by decades of policy. Session participants will respond to the questions and concerns that students, parents, teachers, and other diverse stakeholders have raised in the public debate on testing. Crowdsourced questions will inform this session, with discussion starting months prior to the Annual Meeting, tagged with #AERAHowMuchTesting.
Session Hashtag: #AERAHowMuchTesting