Ahead of the world’s largest gathering of education researchers—the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting—we are pleased to highlight our College of Education scholars’ accomplishments.

The 2022 AERA Annual Meeting, held in San Diego and streamed online, is themed "Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century" and features the work of many exceptional Education at Illinois scholars and alumni. Professor Eboni Zamani-Gallaher is set be officially inducted as an AERA Fellow, and Dean James D. Anderson's career will be honored during a vice presidential session.

Additionally, we congratulate the following scholars for their well-deserved 2022 AERA awards and positions:

Sarah McCarthey, Department Head and Professor, C&I

Steve Witte Lifetime Achievement Award

This award, named in honor of the leading scholar of writing theory and research and founding editor of the journal Written Communication, is presented to a senior scholar who has made significant contributions to research in the area of writing and literacies through a particular academic work or body of work. Dr. McCarthey’s research focuses on teachers' writing instruction within current policy contexts. Her leadership in the University of Illinois Writing Project has linked the College of Education with local schools, Writing Studies, and the National Writing Project.

Gloriana González, Professor, C&I

Division K Mid-Career Award

Dr. González's scholarship is recognized for its particular potential to transform our understanding of the relationship between teacher thinking, mathematics instruction and teachers’ professional development. In her work, teachers are given the opportunity to actively reflect on students’ thinking about what they are learning, practice having conversations with students about their own thinking, and consider new strategies that might more effectively help students learn skills and correct misconceptions.

Rachel McMillian, Assistant Professor, C&I

Division B Outstanding Dissertation Award

Congratulations to Dr. McMillian, whose dissertation "I Believe in Living": A Curriculum of Black Life Amid the Social Death of the American Prison State is awarded for making outstanding contributions to the field of curriculum studies research, reflecting a wide variety of perspectives and methodologies regarding the nature and improvement of curriculum practice, teaching, theory, and research at local, state, regional, national, and international levels.

Nicole Adams, Recent Doctoral Graduate, SPED

Outstanding Dissertation Award

Dr. Adams, now faculty at the University of Louisville, is being awarded by the FSCP SIG for her dissertation Special Educators’ Use of Culturally Responsive Family-Professional Partnership Practices with Refugee Families. Adams' work draws on a population of parents and families who have been largely underexplored in family-school-community partnership research. Her research design provides nuance to special education teachers’ understandings and experiences working with refugee families that also provides potential solutions to help strengthen family-school-community relationships. 

Additionally, several Education at Illinois scholars are serving, were named, or elected as Division Officers and Committee Members for 2022. They include:

Trevor Aleo
Graduate Student Board, SIG Writing and Literacies

Jenia Allen
Professional Development Chair, SIG Stress, Coping, & Resilience

Catherine Dornfeld Tissenbaum
Chair, SIG Learning Sciences

Gloriana González
Co-Chair, SIG Lesson Study

Jon Hale
Vice President, Division F

Jadyn Laixely
Member, SIG Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education

Stephanie Sanders-Smith
Treasurer, SIG Family, School, Community Partnerships

Rebecca Taylor
Program Chair, Philosophical Studies in Education SIG

Asif Wilson
Member, CESJ SIG Revolutionary Mentor Award Committee

Asif Wilson
Member, Hip Hop Awards Committee