District-Centered Research SIG Call for Proposals for the 2027 Annual Conference

SIG 156 is a home for scholarship about, with, and for districts. We welcome all scholars who view the school district as a microcosm through which to study persistent issues in education policy and practice. The word “district” itself speaks to our interest in investigating and attempting to resolve a key tension between difference and unity. The word’s prefix, dis-, means “apart,” as in disunion or discord, while strict derives from the Latin stringere, or “to draw together.” In this way, districts represent one model through which different actors, interests, values, and beliefs are tied together in the collective work of public education. The etymological roots of the word itself are a fitting symbol for the research we hope to steward: work that leverages school districts as a site and a structure for advancing education within diverse communities and societies.

The AERA 2027 theme calls for scholarship that transcends the “artificial borders and boundaries” that have historically governed educational research. We know that school districts are not hermetically sealed within their central offices, schools, and classrooms; rather, broader policy shifts and political movements that transcend global, federal, state, and local levels continually pervade and reshape their activities. District-centered research can play a critical role in illuminating how education leaders, elected officials, educators, families, students, and communities are making sense of and responding to these changes as they continue the work of improving school systems. 

This year’s 2027 AERA Annual Meeting Call for Proposals further invites us to view research as “a co-creation among researchers and communities.” We emphasize how district leaders function as boundary-spanners, creating connections across families, community-based organizations, nonprofits, businesses, local governments, state agencies, unions, universities, and others. This year’s call also encourages us, as education researchers, “to reconceive research not merely as a technical production, but as an ethical, equitable, and relational practice.” 

We acknowledge that in the current political environment, districts are navigating rapidly changing global, federal, state, and local politics that affect schools and school districts:

1. Our national political polarization leads to states enacting drastically uneven policy environments  

1. Chipping away at federal education support during the current presidential administration, such as relocating special education under Health and Human Services and Office of Civil Rights under Justice

1. Cuts and changes in the U.S. Social Safety Net (e.g. Medicaid, SNAP)

1. Aggressive ramping up of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations

1. New forms of governance - markets, privatization, activist parents, and school board takeovers

We therefore invite submissions to the District-Centered Research SIG that help explain how districts are making sense of and responding to these changes. Proposals could address, but certainly are not limited to, the following issues:

• How district leaders (superintendents, school boards, central office administrators, parent and community advocates) are engaging in boundary spanning as they unite constituents with diverse perspectives around shared goals of school improvement, equity-focused change, and sustainability;
• The organizational structures and practices that enable districts to sustain this work in times of political uncertainty, and the ways federal and/or state policy has altered or transformed these structures and practices;
• Positional approaches that explore the work of district central office leaders;
• Presentations from practitioners who are currently engaged in this work, and research that highlights their perspectives and on-the-ground experiences;
• Research-practice partnerships and community-engaged research: What are the responsibilities involved in maintaining, operating, and improving school districts? What role can and should researchers play? How can researchers and practitioners better engage with communities in this work?

Please visit the AERA website for more information on the 2027 Annual Meeting Presidential Program Theme and the full 2027 AERA Annual Meeting Call for Submissions. Submissions are due July 24, 2026, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. 

On behalf of the District-Centered SIG Executive Team:

Jennifer Cowhy, Simone Fried, Amanda Slaten Frasier, Amanda Lu, Abigail Stein, and Daniel Dawer