Over on Rick Hess Straight Up, the American Educational Research Association, or AERA, is under fire: Hess says the 25,000-member organization stepped into politics by opposing efforts in Arizona to shut down Tucson’s controversial ethnic-studies courses, which the group says are backed by education research. Hess also criticizes the association for moving its 2013 annual meeting from Georgia in protest of that state’s recent anti-immigration laws. As you’ll see in the comments, AERA’s current executive director Felice J. Levine replied, and the organization stands by its statement.
In the midst of that brouhaha, AERA has announced a new president-elect: Barbara Schneider, the John A. Hannah Chair and University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and Department of Sociology at Michigan State University. The Washington-based AERA is the world’s largest professional organization focused on educational research. Ms. Schneider will succeed William G. Tierney, the current president and a professor at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, in 2013.
In a press release, AERA’s Mr. Levine said, “Barbara Schneider has significantly advanced the scientific study of education and has made major contributions to AERA throughout her career.” Barbara Schneider has written or edited thirteen books (and numerous articles and chapters) about education and sociology, including The Ambitious Generation: America’s Teenagers, Motivated but Directionless; Workplace Flexibility: Realigning 20th Century Jobs for a 21st Century Workforce; and Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement.
AERA also announced the cohort of 36 scholars chosen to be 2012’s AERA Fellows on Monday. The scholars are chosen for their “exceptional scientific or scholarly contributions to education research or significant contributions to the field through the development of research opportunities and settings.”