Top Science Policy Officials Join Leading Researchers

Top Science Policy Officials Join Leading Researchers on the Challenges and Opportunities for Producing Essential Knowledge

Newswise — WASHINGTON, April 9, 2012–Key science and research policy officials at U.S. federal agencies will speak on the current research policies and priorities at the upcoming 2012 AERA Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada from April 13-17. The AERA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of experts in the field and features the latest news in education research.

Sessions with top policy advisors at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and in the U.S. Department of Education are among the more than 15 science policy sessions that will focus on key issues and emerging topics in education and social science research.

Science policy officials participating in the AERA sessions include: Joan Ferrini-Mundy, head of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), and Myron Gutmann, head of the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) at NSF and John Easton, Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES); Alexa Posny, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Jack Buckley, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); and Deborah Speece, Commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) from the Department of Education.

NCES Commissioner Buckley is presenting on two symposia. In addition to reporting on the state of surveys, data, and statistics at NCES, including the international data sets, he will also present on the new version of the P-20 Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) with prominent researchers and practitioners as commentators. IES Director Easton is chairing a symposium with the title “Re-Imaging Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships” focusing on the newly funded Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). This is only the tip of a very strong set of new ideas and emphases on research, data, and research infrastructure to be addressed by Ferrini-Mundy, Gutmann, Posny, and Speece.

Other research and science policy sessions provide opportunities for discussion and debate on critical issues in research, the state of knowledge, and implications for policy. Three symposia focus on recently released reports by the National Research Council (NRC) on incentives and test-based accountability, improving adult literacy instruction, and what we know about successful STEM education. A key follow-up symposium from the 2011 Annual Meeting on the NRC Framework for Science Education Standards that focuses on the challenges and opportunities for the social and behavioral sciences in K-12 STEM education. Key, given the challenges faced by higher education and the need for a robust 21st century workforce is, a symposium on “Where is the money to Support Higher Education Research?” with presentations by officials from public and private agencies. All of these and more can be found in Science Policy Session Highlights:

FRIDAY, APRIL 13

Education Researchers Examine Innovations in Evaluating the Impact of Research

SATURDAY, APRIL 14Re-imagining Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships: The Regional Educational Laboratories

Education Research Helps Teachers Cope with the Challenges of the New Arizona Law

Examining Intergovernmental Assumptions about School Integration

Education Researchers Address Challenges of New P-20 Common Education Standards

Science Leaders Join Top Education Researchers to Examine National Science Foundation Priorities and Trajectories for Research Advancement: Leadership, Wisdom, and Perspectives

Leading Education Researchers Consider Education, Democracy, and the Public Good: A New Volume of Review of Research in Education

Science Leaders Join Key Education Researchers to examine: The Social and Behavioral Sciences in K-12 STEM Education: Challenges, Issues, and Opportunities.

The Promise of School Reform in Urban Communities: From Desegregation to Promise Neighborhoods

SUNDAY, APRIL 15Leading Education Researchers Review Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education: The 2011 National Research Council Report and Beyond.

National Science Foundation, NIH, and U.S. Department of Education Professionals Consider The Current Landscape of Federal Funding Programs and Opportunities.

NCES Commissioner from the U.S. Department of Education, joins with Leading Education Researchers in Addressing Challenges and Opportunities for Education Data and Statistics - The Current State and Wellbeing of NCES.

Researchers Discuss Observational Methods to Advance Learning

Education Researchers Examine the Global Implications of Immigration for Educational Attainment and Jobs.

MONDAY, APRIL 16National Hearing for the Classroom Assessment Standards (Formerly Known as Student Evaluation Standards)

Assistant Secretary for Special Education, and Deborah Speece, Commissioner, National Center for Special Education Join Education Researchers in Considering Research and Policy Issues in Special Education.

Leading Experts Review Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Options for Practice and Research - The 2011 National Research Council Report and Beyond

Researchers Study the Use of Evidenced-based Research in the Formulation of Education Policy

Education Researchers to Examine Research on Race-Conscious Admissions and the Constitutionality of the University of Texas Admissions Program

Where is the Money to Support Higher Education Research? Views From Federal Funding Agencies

Leading Researchers Provide an International Perspectives on Research Integrity and the Conduct of Education Research

What we Know About Successful STEM Education – The 2011 National Research Council Report and Beyond

Education Researchers Explore the Role of Research and its Applications in Current Policy

Policy Experts Examine Education Research Informing Science Policy

TUESDAY, April 17Education Researchers Compare the Goals of Charter School Laws With Their Results-- Implications for Policy and Practice

Search the online program for details at www.aera.net.

Journalists are invited to attend the meeting. For those who have not yet registered and would like complimentary press registration, contact AERA Communications at [email protected]. AERA will host a newsroom at the meeting for journalists and will provide journalists with updates on research news presented at the meeting.

―AERA―

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the national interdisciplinary research association for approximately 25,000 scholars who undertake research in education. Founded in 1916, AERA aims to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.