Executive Director's Statement on AERA By Felice J. Levine
Since its founding in 1916, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) has worked to advance science-based knowledge of education systems and processes. AERA members center their efforts on ensuring that education research addresses fundamental problems and informs practice and policy that relate to education across the life-span and contexts of learning. Researchers in this field address all aspects of education from the processes of teaching and learning, curriculum development, and the social organization of schools to the effects of education on cognitive and social capacity, human development, and health and at-risk behaviors.
As the paramount interdisciplinary research society in education, AERA has embraced the role of improving the nation's education research capacity by promoting application of scientific standards, and by providing training programs, research and mentoring fellowships, and seminars on advanced statistical techniques. The work of the Association is greatly enhanced by the ongoing efforts of its more than 25,000 individual members to produce and disseminate knowledge, refine methods and measures, and stimulate translations and practical applications of research results.
AERA publishes six peer-reviewed journals central to the field. Scholarly research is reported in AERA's journals, including Educational Researcher (ER), the flagship journal; American Educational Research Journal; Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis; Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, co-published with the American Statistical Association; and the Review of Educational Research. In addition, the annual Review of Research in Education highlights key research advances in specific domains of knowledge. AERA also publishes scholarly books.
AERA publishes leading books directed to the substance and methods of education research inquiry. Two important volumes include BLACK EDUCATION: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century and Studying Teacher Education: The Report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education. Through books and reports, the Association provides guidance to foster its commitment to high standards of research quality and professional conduct, including publication of Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, co-published with the American Psychological Association and the National Council on Measurement in Education; Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association, Cases and Commentary; andHandbook of Complementary Methods in Education to describe the wide range of research methods used to study education and explain the logic of inquiry in making methodological decisions. AERA recently released Estimating Causal Effects: Using Experimental and Observational Designs to help researchers and policymakers understand the capacities and limits of examining the causes of education outcomes with large-scale databases. AERA also publishes Research Points, a four-page research brief for policymakers. Issues have focused on science and math education, as well as early childhood.
Through professional development activities, AERA works to increase understanding and appreciation of the relevance of scientific research and its application to all aspects of education. AERA receives both federal and private support to administer a varied grants award program and to conduct special research projects. Research grants available through AERA are designed to increase the talent pool and to foster utilization of large-scale, longitudinal databases of the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Science Foundation, as well as support for original research in math and science education. Training and professional development programs offered at the annual meeting and throughout the year enhance methodological understanding for all AERA members.
More than 15,000 education and social and behavioral scientists, from the United States and abroad, attend AERA Annual Meetings and participate in hundreds of sessions dealing with scientific issues, research methodology and findings, and policy implications of education research during a week-long meeting.