Reimagine Education Research Infrastructure: An Evening Reception by InnovateEDU BIRD-E Project, IES, AERA, LearnPlatform, the Education Trust, Digital Promise, AERDF, and the Spencer Foundation

Session Type: Reception

Abstract

It is increasingly evident that education research is critically needed to improve our education systems and to open up opportunities for learning. However, our R & D infrastructure in education is woefully inadequate. Not only do we underinvest in the necessary infrastructure, education research is not currently structured optimally to impact educators’ decisions. Educators and system leaders don’t have access to the bodies of research and findings that could support high-quality teaching and learning and scholarship is too often disconnected from practice (and policy). Equity is often an afterthought or is measured in simplistic and reductive ways, which prevents effective implementation

If our goal is for research to inform more equitable teaching and learning in education systems, then we must both invest in and reimagine R & D infrastructure in education. There is a need for new systems that help us answer questions about what works for whom, how, and under what conditions. We need to create systems that facilitate data generation, the sharing of research findings, and improve the translation of research syntheses which will allow for better accessibility and discoverability of research by practitioners, researchers and policy makers for decision making.

Hosted by a collaborative of BIRD-E, AERDF, IES, The Education Trust, Digital Promise, Spencer Foundation, AERA, and LearnPlatform, the evening reception will bring together speakers who will provide unique perspectives and discuss the challenges that we face currently in education research , introduce a range of new efforts in this space, and reflect on the future of education research infrastructure, with a particular concern for intervention research. Attendees will then engage in whole group dialogue and small group informal discussions with colleagues through the rest of the reception.

Sub Unit

• AERA Related Activities

Panelists

• Mark Schneider, Institute of Education Sciences

• Temple Sharese Lovelace, Assessment for Good, AERDF

• Susmita Pratihast, ThinkCERCA