The 2017 American Educational Research Association’s Annual Meeting, titled “Knowledge to Action: Achieving the Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity,” took place April 27 through May 1 in San Antonio.

More than 80 Education at Illinois scholars and graduate students attended and gave presentations on topics such as critical race theory, approaches for teaching and assessing bilingual students, and current issues in school-based assessment.

Additionally, faculty and students of the College participated in AERA standing committees, served as division and committee members, and are editors for leading AERA journals. View the 2017 AERA Annual Meeting program to see the full list of awardees, fellows, roundtable presenters, students, and those who participate in other ways.

Three Education at Illinois scholars were named as AERA award recipients. Computer testing pioneer Hua-Hua Chang received the E.F. Lindquist Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of educational testing and measurement. Educational technology scholar Robb Lindgren was the recipient of the Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions for Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies. And Professor Sarah Lubienski, who is on the editorial board of Educational Researcher, was named an Outstanding Reviewer for 2016.

Lindgren said he is proud of the AERA honor because of Jan Hawkins’ collaboration with his doctoral adviser, Dr. Roy Pea, prior to Hawkins’ death.

“I was greatly influenced, both directly and indirectly, by her work on how technologies can transform learning, and particularly the ‘humanistic’ perspective she had on educational tech,” Lindgren said of Hawkins.

The College also hosted an April 28 reception at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, where approximately 200 alumni, faculty, and friends joined to meet and reconnect. 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients Dave Edyburn, Ph.D. ’87 Spec.Ed., Elaine Horwitz, Ph.D. ’80 C&I, Leslie Rutkowski, Ph.D. ’07 Ed.Psych., and Steven Wise, Ph.D. ’81 Ed.Psych., were in attendance. Lisa Denson-Rives, associate director of alumni relations, was pleased with the great turnout, citing especially high attendance from alumni in and around Austin.

“Our graduate students in attendance have an opportunity to network with fellow graduates on critical topics and collaborate on shared research while colleagues visit with alumni. It’s a great opportunity to interact and reconnect,” Denson-Rives said.

Each year the AERA Meeting draws approximately 15,000 attendees and is one of the most important conferences in the country in the realms of research and education. The theme of the April 13-17, 2018, AERA Annual Meeting is “The Dreams, Possibilities, and Necessity of Public Education.” The event will take place in New York City.