2021 AERA Fellows


Click the name to jump to each fellow's citation of accomplishment and introductory video. 


Peter P. Afflerbach, University of Maryland

Dr. Peter Afflerbach has made major contributions to literacy research and practice over his 35-year career. A professor of education at the University of Maryland, College Park, he began his career teaching middle school and high school English, which informed his later work on reading differences. His research has helped uncover the deeper cognitive processes involved in reading and literacy pedagogy, and has focused on how assessment can best be leveraged to improve learning. Dr. Afflerbach is the editor of the Handbook of Individual Differences in Reading: Reader, Text, and Context, and a founding editor of the journal Metacognition in Learning. Inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2009, he is a member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress 2025 Reading Framework Development Panel, and has served on the NAEP Standing Reading Committee for the Educational Testing Service for nearly a decade. Dr. Afflerbach’s extensive body of work has greatly enhanced the field’s understanding of literacy theory, learning, instruction, and assessment.


Michael Bastedo, University of Michigan

Dr. Michael Bastedo is a leader in the field of higher education organization. As director of the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan, he is an expert in admissions systems and enrollment selectivity. Dr. Bastedo’s research has shed critical light on the inner workings of selective admissions processes, giving rise to new perspectives on the underrepresentation of low-income and racially minoritized students, and new strategies to address it. A former Fulbright scholar at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, Dr. Bastdeo has been published in the American Educational Research Journal and other leading journals. His research has also received considerable media attention, including coverage by the New York Times, NPR, and The Economist. Dr. Bastedo’s scholarship has significantly broadened the field’s understanding of postsecondary education and the need to prioritize access for historically underrepresented student groups. 


Jerome V. D’Agostino, Ohio State University

Dr. Jerome D’Agostino has made wide-ranging contributions to literacy measurement and assessment, program development and evaluation, and reading research. He has conducted pioneering meta-analyses on Title I and Reading Recovery, a national literacy intervention program for first graders, and on the impact of teacher certification testing. As principal investigator or evaluator for numerous grants, Dr. D’Agostino has garnered more than $70 million in local, state, and national funding that has gone to improving the reading skills of students from underserved communities. A professor in the Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University, he has designed and conducted numerous workshops for districts and educators, and has served as editor of the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk since 2017. Dr. D’Agostino’s work has provided the education field with innovative test score validation methods and with interventions that better the lives and opportunities of students and families who are most in need.


Amanda L. Datnow, University of California, San Diego

Dr. Amanda Datnow is a highly respected interdisciplinary scholar focused on improving educational policy and practice, particularly as it concerns communities of low-income students of color. Her recent research focuses on how data-driven decision making can advance equity and challenge assumptions, as well as how it can be accessible to researchers and practitioners alike. Support for Dr. Datnow’s work has been widespread, with funding from the Gates Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Datnow has authored or co-authored eight books and more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, and she participates on numerous committees that advocate for equity and excellence in public education. Serving as an associate dean and faculty equity advisor at the University of California, San Diego, she is a dedicated mentor for scholars in the social sciences from underrepresented backgrounds. Dr. Datnow’s research has significantly expanded knowledge on issues central to educational policy and practice and to achieving transformative educational change.


Adrienne D. Dixson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Adrienne Dixson is a groundbreaking researcher working at the intersection of race, social justice, and education. She has led the field in the use of Critical Race Theory to examine educational policies and practices as contributors to societal inequities, studying areas such as teacher preparation, curricular content, and classroom interaction. Dr. Dixson not only studies social change but also works within communities to help bring it about, as evidenced by her long-term involvement as a researcher and advocate for post-Katrina New Orleans public school reform. She has edited or co-edited eight books, including the seminal Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education, guest-edited several special journal issues, and authored numerous influential papers. She leverages social media and podcasting to share her work with audiences beyond academia and has been invited to speak at numerous forums and conferences on race. Dr. Dixson’s distinguished scholarship and research contributions have illuminated important issues of race and equity in American education. 


Diana H.J.M. Dolmans, Maastricht University

Dr. Diana Dolmans is an educational scientist whose foundational and ongoing research on problem-based learning is internationally recognized. The scientific director for the Interuniversity Centre for Educational Sciences in the Netherlands, Dr. Dolmans examines the science behind problem-based learning, with a particular focus on key success factors for student and teacher learning in innovative curricula within higher education. She is a leader in the health professions research community, has been published in numerous high-impact journals such as Academic Medicine, and is the associate editor of Advances in Health Sciences Education. She has served on the Best Evidence Medical and Health Professional Education Review Committee, as well as on the Faculty Development Committee for the Association for Medical Education in Europe, and is a frequent presenter at high-profile international conferences. Dr. Dolmans has made significant and lasting scientific contributions to the study of problem-based learning and its implementation across the globe. 


Sibel Erduran, University of Oxford

Dr. Sibel Erduran’s transformative research has helped shape the field of science teaching and learning. Currently a professor of science education and director of research at Oxford University, she has also held professorships in China, Taiwan, Turkey, and Sweden. Her early work was seminal in establishing argumentation as an area of education research, and her more recent work has challenged long-standing views about the nature of science and scientific knowledge generation. Dr. Erduran has created a substantial portfolio of scholarship—with more than 11,000 citations, she is one of the most cited researchers in all of science education research. Her service to the field spans from editor-in-chief of Science & Education, editor of the International Journal of Science Education, and president of the European Science Education Research Association, to her tireless mentorship of the next generation of science scholars. Dr. Erduran’s research has had a wide-ranging influence on the conceptualization and learning of science, as well as on how it is taught in classrooms around the world.


Kenneth A. Frank, Michigan State University

Dr. Kenneth Frank is a prolific scholar with outstanding contributions to the sociology of education and education research statistics and methods. A professor at Michigan State University, Dr. Frank has conducted pioneering work throughout his career on social processes in schools, using organizational theory, social network analysis, causal inference, and multi-level modeling. His study of student networks has shed light on the impact of school organization on social interaction and coursework choice, with implications for addressing inequalities. Dr. Frank’s analysis of teacher networks is critical to understanding how practitioners adjust their teaching methods in response to reform and policy initiatives. He has published his research not only in top educational journals but also in leading publications across multiple disciplines, from sociology to public policy to business. Dr. Frank’s methodological and research contributions have been crucial for understanding the role of social ties and school organization as key elements of educational success.


Jason A. Grissom, Vanderbilt University

Dr. Jason Grissom is a highly influential interdisciplinary scholar of educational leadership and education policy. He draws on the perspectives of political science, public administration, and economics to study the governance of K–12 education. Using large data sets, his work has shed important light on identifying the impacts of school and district leaders on teacher and student outcomes. In particular, his path-breaking study of the effects of racial and ethnic representation of teachers and educational leaders on student outcomes garnered significant policy, practice, and media attention. A professor at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Grissom is also faculty director of the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, a research-practice-policy partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education. In addition to his prolific scholarship, he was co-editor of Educational Researcher and has served on numerous national research committees and professional organizations. Dr. Grissom has provided critical insight on the mechanisms that districts, principals, and policymakers can use to promote access to quality teaching in schools. 


Stacey J. Lee, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Dr. Stacey Lee is one of the world’s preeminent experts on the production of social identities in school among Asian American communities. She uses anthropological theory and methods to examine the multiple and complex ways that race, class, gender, and local educational contexts influence immigrant and migrant students’ opportunities, experiences, and identities. Dr. Lee’s groundbreaking first book, Unraveling the “Model Minority” Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth, was one of the first full-length ethnographies on this issue, and has been widely cited in the field. She has published and edited several books on Asian American education, as well as numerous articles, book chapters, and other reports. She is known as a leader at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and as a superb mentor, particularly to young women, students of color, and first-generation college students. Dr. Lee’s examination of Asian American student experiences has been on the cutting edge of research for nearly 30 years, and continues to shape scholarship on race, immigration, and education in the United States.


Kofi Lomotey, Western Carolina University

Dr. Kofi Lomotey is a preeminent scholar of urban education and educational leadership, with a focus on students of color in high-poverty schools in the United States. His work provides a compelling analysis of equity challenges facing schools and education systems, as well as potential solutions. Dr. Lomotey conducted some of the earliest studies on Black principals, exploring leadership development as a mechanism to support student success. He is known for his collaboration across education boundaries and disciplines, including primary, secondary, and higher education, as well as curriculum and instruction. A faculty member at Western Carolina University, he has helped shape the field of urban education through his mentoring and his editorial expertise, serving for nearly two decades as editor of the journal Urban Education, and co-editing the influential Handbook of Urban Education. Dr. Lomotey has made a powerful contribution to the fields of leadership studies and urban and Black-centered education, with a focus on advancing equity and improving student outcomes.


James L. Moore III, Ohio State University

Dr. James Moore is one of the country’s leading scholars examining the educational experiences of students of color. His work has advanced our understanding of how family, school, and community contexts influence the academic outcomes of Black students, including in the areas of school counseling and STEM and gifted education. He has published a broad body of work that is foundational to his field and that has been honored by multiple national organizations, including AERA, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the College Board, and the National Association for Gifted Children. Dr. Moore is a mentor to African American academics and is a distinguished administrator, serving as vice provost for diversity and inclusion at The Ohio State University, inaugural executive director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, and co-founder of the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education. Dr. Moore is an equity-driven thought leader whose work has provided new ways to think about the role of educational contexts and improved how education programs equitably and successfully serve students of color.


Paul L. Morgan, Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Paul Morgan has made critical contributions to education policy, research, and practice on disparities in student disability identification in the United States. His work investigates how factors including race and ethnicity, language, and family income determine the likelihood of being identified as having disabilities in school. The director of Penn State’s Center for Educational Disparities Research, Dr. Morgan has been an important mentor across fields, from educational policy and psychology to sociology and counseling education. His work is among the most read in special education research and has been widely cited by government, think tanks, and leading national media outlets. He has secured significant external funding, such as from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. Dr. Morgan has greatly advanced understanding of issues of equity and access in special education, as well as factors that may contribute to greater opportunities for students from historically underserved backgrounds.


Marjorie Elaine Faulstich Orellana, University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Marjorie Elaine Faulstich Orellana is an internationally recognized anthropologist of education and expert in bilingual and multicultural education. Informed by her early experiences as a bilingual classroom teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, she has pioneered research on the “translanguage” and “transcultural” brokering skills of immigrant youth between their families, communities, and schools, and how that fosters growth in their cognitive and social-emotional development. A professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Orellana has mentored students across disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, and applied linguistics. Her research using ethnographic methodology has received extensive external funding from the Spencer Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Dr. Orellana’s research into bilingualism and multilingualism has taught us much about the nature of language, culture, and childhood, and has greatly informed teacher education in literacy instruction.


Laurence Parker, University of Utah

Dr. Laurence Parker is an internationally recognized leader in scholarship on critical race theory in the education field. He has produced seminal work advancing the discourse on critical race theory that informs education leadership, policy, and evaluation. His research has also provided a bridge to qualitative methodology, and he has mentored a new generation of scholars on conducting innovative studies to further understanding of critical race theory and how it can be applied, from early schooling through higher education. An associate dean and professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Utah, Dr. Parker has also served on numerous editorial boards, including as editor of the Review of Research in Education, associate editor for the American Educational Research Journal, and associate editor of Race Ethnicity and Education. Dr. Parker’s contributions to critical race theory continue to guide path-breaking research that examines issues of race, education, and equity.


Brian J. Reiser, Northwestern University

Dr. Brian Reiser is one of the foremost experts in learning sciences and science education research and practice. He examines science learning from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives, including aspects of student reasoning and argumentation. His trailblazing research on memory, encoding, and comprehension made important contributions to the design of intelligent tutoring systems, and he has developed technology-supported curricula and resources used by school districts across the country. Dr. Reiser was critical to the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, as well as tools that helped states disseminate and implement them. His research has received significant competitive funding, including from the National Science Foundation and the James McDonnell Foundation. A founding director of the first U.S. Learning Sciences program at Northwestern University, he mentors researchers, cognitive scientists, and practitioners in developing innovations in science learning environments. Dr. Reiser’s field-defining work has helped frame the vision of science education in the United States and guided implementation to improve instructional practice at scale.


Jennifer King Rice, University of Maryland

Dr. Jennifer King Rice’s wide-ranging scholarship on the economics of education is central to examining educational policies regarding issues of efficiency, equity, and adequacy in U.S. school systems. With a focus on developing and retaining high-quality teachers, she wrote one of the first comprehensive summaries about teacher quality that is highly cited by researchers and policymakers alike. In addition to her five books, Dr. Rice has published widely in diverse academic journals and governmental outlets, and has disseminated her research in a variety of venues to reach influential policy communities. The senior vice president and provost at the University of Maryland, College Park, she has served on multiple commissions on education for U.S. Department of Education technical working groups and agency review panels, and on education advisory committees for the state of Maryland. Dr. Rice has leveraged her pioneering research on education quality and equity to inform the field’s most pressing contemporary state and national policy issues.


Matthias von Davier, Boston College

Dr. Matthias von Davier is one of the world’s most influential scholars of psychometrics and educational measurement, examining the meaning and appropriate usage of statistical techniques and models in assessment. He has contributed seminal work to international large-scale assessments and cognitive diagnostic modelling, transforming the quality and utility of data, and designing new analysis methods. A professor in education at Boston College and executive director of the TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center, he holds leadership positions at the Educational Testing Service and the Center for Advanced Assessment at the National Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. von Davier is the executive editor of Psychometrika and was editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, two of the top journals in educational measurement and quantitative psychology. He is invited to teach workshops and master classes around the world on contemporary topics in the field. Dr. von Davier’s research is central to addressing important education policy issues through large-scale measurement and statistical analysis, with the goal of improving international assessment practice.


Zhiliang Ying, Columbia University

Dr. Zhiliang Ying is an internationally renowned statistician whose scholarship has shaped the application of statistics to educational and psychological measurement. He has conducted transformative research in areas such as computerized adaptive testing, problem-solving process data, adaptive learning, and the use of big data in educational assessment. A professor of statistics at Columbia University, he is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of psychometricians and statisticians, including through a postdoctoral training program funded by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Ying has also regularly convened researchers and practitioners of educational measurement from North America, Europe, and Asia to address emerging problems in measurement with new statistical tools. He has been editor or associate editor of eight statistical journals and has published in the top journals in educational measurement, where his widely cited work has shaped both the theory and the methodology behind assessment. Dr. Ying has made remarkable contributions to educational measurement research and to the dissemination of psychometrics knowledge to broader statistical and educational communities.