News & Announcements


January 2023 Newsletter

Dear Educational Change SIG Members,

Happy January! I hope everyone is doing well and settling into a new semester or returning to school!

We have a new Lead the Change, and Awards - Travel, Emerging Scholar and Student Researcher Award!

First, this month’s Lead the Change is with our own Corinne Brion, an Assistant Professor in the School of Education and Health Sciences: Department of Educational Administration at the University of Dayton. She speaks about her experiences working in international contexts and building meaningful participatory forms of research..  Enjoy! 

SIG AWARDS: Emerging Scholar, Graduate Student & Travel

Due January 13th to jennie.weiner@uconn.edu

Educational Change SIG Emerging Scholar Award

Call for applications

The AERA Educational Change Special Interest Group strongly believes in supporting emerging scholars in the field of educational change. Recognizing emerging scholars both highlights their contributions to educational research and introduces their work to the field at large.

The Educational Change SIG Emerging Scholar Award will be presented to an individual who is within the first eight years of their (post-doctorate) career as an educational scholar and has demonstrated a strong record of original and significant scholarship related to educational change.

Eligibility Criteria

 The candidate must be a graduate of a Ph.D. or Ed.D. program in education and within the first eight years of his/her career as an educational scholar. The individual must demonstrate a strong record of original and significant scholarship related to educational change. The candidate must be a member of the Ed Change SIG.

Application materials

1. A cover letter including the applicant’s full name, affiliation, contact information, and a short statement of interest of no more than 500 words. The statement should include:

  • Applicant’s research interests, agenda, and goals
  • Applicant connection to the field of Educational Change
  • Why the applicant should be chosen for this award
  • Applicant’s research interests, agenda, and goals
  • Applicant’s connection to the field of Educational Change
  • Why the applicant should be chosen for this award

2. A letter of recommendation from a peer or senior scholar familiar with the applicant’s research.

3. The applicant’s Curriculum Vitae.

4. A recent publication exemplifying their work in Educational Change.

Selection criteria. The selection of the awardee will be based on the following criteria: (a) contribution to the field of educational change; (b) quality of research completed (as exemplified by the application); (c) the potential impact of the applicant’s work on the field of educational change.

Award Description 

The Educational Change SIG Emerging Scholar Award is non-monetary. It will be presented in the form of a plaque at the annual business meeting of the Educational Change SIG. The candidate must be a member of the Ed Change SIG. The award winner will be announced via the Educational Change SIG list-serve, website, and social media, and featured in Lead the Change series May issue.

Application submission and deadline 

Complete application materials should be sent to Jennie Weiner at jennieweiner@uconn.edu under the heading “Emerging Scholar Award Application.” Applications will be accepted until January 20, 2022.

Educational Change SIG Graduate Student Research Award

Call for applications

The AERA Educational Change SIG strongly believes in supporting rising academics in the field of educational change as they pursue their research careers. Recognizing outstanding research conducted by graduate students both acknowledges the emerging research in the field and introduces young professionals to the field at large. The Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award will be presented to a graduate student or a recent graduate who has conducted exemplary, original research on a topic related to educational change.

Eligibility Criteria

The candidate must be a current graduate student or a recent graduate of a Ph.D. or an Ed.D. program in education who is yet to be in a full-time faculty position. The student must have conducted exemplary, original research on a topic related to educational change. The candidate must be a member of the Ed Change SIG.

Application materials

1. A cover letter including the applicant’s full name, affiliation, contact information, and a short statement of interest of no more than 500 words. The statement should include:

2. A letter of recommendation from a faculty advisor who is familiar with the student and his/her research

3. A sample paper of original work in the field of educational change (published or unpublished) written by the nominee that draws from his/her research

4. A curriculum vitae

Selection criteria

The selection of the awardee will be based on the following criteria: (a) contribution to the field of educational change; (b) quality of research completed (as exemplified by the application); (c) the potential impact of the applicant’s work on the field of educational change.

Award Description

The Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award consists of a paper-based certificate. The award will be presented at the annual business meeting of the Educational Change SIG. The award winner will be announced via the Educational Change SIG list-serve, website, social media, and featured in the Doctoral Corner Series

Application submission and deadline

Complete application materials should be sent to Dr. Jennie Weiner at: jennieweiner@uconn.edu under the heading Graduate Student Research Award Application. Applications will be accepted until January 13, 2022 at 11:59 pm EST. 

Educational Change SIG Student Travel Award

Due February 10th to jennie.weiner@uconn.edu

Award: The awardee, a doctoral student who is a member of the Ed Change SIG, will receive $500 to assist with expenses related to attending the AERA Annual Meeting.

Application must include:

  • Personal information: name, phone number, e-mail address, degree program, institution, and paper title.
  • An electronic copy of your proposal.
  • A screenshot or PDF copy of the acceptance notification from the AERA program portal.
  • A blinded personal statement form containing 250 words on the significance of the scholarship to education change, your professional development, and/or participation in the Annual Meeting.

Applicant criteria for eligibility:

Applicant Background:

  • Graduate student member of AERA
  • Current Member of the Education Change SIG at the time of the Annual Meeting.
  • Enrolled full-time in a doctoral program. 

Authorship:

  • Applicant is an author on a paper, roundtable, or poster submission accepted for presentation for any Ed Change session.
  • Single or multiple author papers are acceptable.

Attendance:

  • Applicant will attend the Ed Change SIG Business Meeting.

Post Doc Opportunity: 

Innovations for Youth (i4Y), at UC Berkeley, has a new opening for an additional a postdoctoral scholar

(https://i4y.berkeley.edu/postdoctoral-scholar-position-promote-wellbeing-and-equity-schools). Your primary responsibilities will be intellectual and highly-skilled contributions to the center’s ongoing projects, with a focus on promoting the wellbeing of young people by building infrastructure for effective prevention practice in schools. This position will focus on synthesis and generation of practice-relevant knowledge related to the systemic implementation of Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (T-SEL), with an emphasis on the use of research evidence (URE) for continuous improvement. You will contribute to a variety of community-engaged projects, in accordance to interest and skills, that address broad questions such as: a) How can we create schools as centers of wellness? b) What are the current strengths, needs, goals, and strategies of T-SEL in California, c) How can we catalyze capacity within the education workforce to continuously improve the delivery of T-SEL, d) How can assessment systems help mainstream T-SEL and facilitate SEL delivery worldwide? e) How can we measure, at scale, the extent to which educators incorporate research evidence from websites in their practice and policy decisions? 

Your primary mentorship will come from Professor Valerie Shapiro.  Successful postdoctoral scholars may come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds (e.g., psychology, education, public health, social work) and use a variety of research methods. You will join a collaborative group of early-career scholars applying rigorous research methods to projects in service of the public good. Remote work negotiable. Please communicate your interest in this full-time position (expected start-date on or before February 15, 2023), by submitting your cover letter, CV, and the names of 3 academic references to i4y@berkeley.edu. Consideration will be given on a rolling basis until the position is filled (target: January 15, 2023). If you are interested in a postdoctoral position, but prefer a June 15, 2023 start date, please indicate this within the first sentence of your cover letter.

Int’l Ed News 

Every month, Int’l Ed News (@intl_ed_news) publishes our Lead the Change Interviews.  This month, their site features an interview with the founder of Fount for Nations, Patience Mkandawire.

Thank you to our Partners

Educational Research for Policy and Practice
International Education News
International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement
Journal of Educational Change
Journal of Professional Capital and Community
National Principals Leadership Institute
School Leadership & Management

Join the Ed Change SIG!

To join the SIG: Non-members, please click here to become a member of AERA and one or more SIGs or to renew your AERA and SIG memberships. 

Current AERA members can add individual SIGs to their membership by clicking “Login,” entering your user name and password, and clicking on “Purchase Additional SIG Memberships” in your My AERA page. 

Become a SIG Sponsor/Partner

We encourage you to share why you enjoy the Educational Change SIG with your colleagues and extend the opportunity for joining to graduate students. If your organization/institution/journal/association/publisher is interested in hosting any events, please reach out to a member of the leadership team.

Share your News with Us

Please visit our membership page for all the Lead the Change articles, information on SIG awards and more.

Do you have a new publication? A new initiative? Presenting at a conference? Let us know, and we will post it on our Web Membership CornerFacebook and Twitter pages.  Please send your pictures and video clips from your presentations and conferences for our web pages! 

Warmest Regards,

Jennie Weiner, Chair
Olga Fellus, Program Chair
Corinne Brion, Secretary/Treasurer
Alex Lamb, Lead the Change Editor
Taylor Strickland, Social Media Coordinator
Emy Decker, Event Coordinator