What is National Education Research?

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is meeting over the next two weeks in person in San Diego and virtually for members who cannot make the in-person meeting. The mission of AERA is:

The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a national research society, strives 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.

—AMERICAN EDUCATION RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

What is The Focus of Education Research?

The US Census Bureau tells us that, “Overall enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grade in 2018 was 53.1 million, compared with 53.7 million enrolled in 2011. Enrollment in K-12 private schools was 4.4 million in 2018.” So researchers study small parts of the education system to gain knowledge of the learning process, statewide data to gain knowledge of larger student outcomes, and nationally to work on major trends and outcomes for more than 50 million students.

Achievement Success is Not Shared

So this year’s meeting helps us to see that the focus of many researchers has turned towards promoting achievement for more students, rather than just a few. This movement has often been called the need to “cultivate Equity.”
The Rest of this blog is from the AERA homepage for this year’s meeting (American Education Research Association):
“2022 Annual Meeting Theme: Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century”
Na’ilah Suad Nasir
President
Tryphenia Peele-Eady and Elizabeth Tipton
Presidential Program Co-Chairs