2026 Outstanding Public Communication of Education Research Award

• In Event: 2026 AERA Awards Ceremony and Luncheon

Abstract

The 2026 Outstanding Public Communication of Education Research Award is presented to Dr. Nolan Cabrera. His research on the value of ethnic studies for marginalized youth, and more broadly on examining race and racism in U.S. education, shows a deep commitment to scholarly excellence and public facing communication. He has assisted as an expert in major litigation challenging Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act” and challenging Arizona’s ban on Mexican American Studies in Tucson. Working with reporters, he has explained how research applies to important educational issues in venues such as NPR, CNN, NBC, MTV, and USA Today. He has written for broad audiences in venues such as the Washington Post and The Conversation – and his TEDx talk has over 68,000 plays. Dr. Cabrera’s work, translating research for judges, lawmakers, mentees, media, parents and communities, reflects the best of public communication of education research.

Authors

• Nolan L. Cabrera, University of Arizona

• Guofang Li, University of British Columbia