More than 150 ED&IS Faculty, Students and Staff Will Share their Research
With colleges and universities across the nation threatened by damaging cuts in funding and Higher Education under political attack, thousands of education researchers will gather in Denver, Colorado, April 23 – 27 for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. The UCLA School of Education and Information Studies proudly joins with them.
More than 150 students, research staff, and faculty members from UCLA will attend what is billed as the “world’s largest gathering of education researchers.” In events ranging from poster presentations of early research by emerging scholars to Presidential Sessions highlighting the research and ideas of nationally recognized faculty members, the team from the UCLA Department of Education will spread out across the five-day conference to share their research, learn from colleagues, and build relationships that further learning and strengthen educational practice.
“It gives me great pleasure to see the scope and depth of UCLA’s participation in the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association,” says Cecilia Rios Aguilar, chair of the UCLA Department of Education. “The AERA meeting is a wonderful opportunity for our students to share their early work and sharpen their skills, and an essential platform for our staff and faculty to share ideas and research that furthers understanding of critical issues and advances educational practice and policy.
“At a time when it has perhaps never been more important for those in the education community to come together, we are honored to join with our colleagues from across the nation to shine a little light on knowledge and truth and share our ideas for increasing educational opportunities for all.”
Led by this year’s AERA President and UCLA alumna Janelle Scott, the theme of this year’s AERA meeting is “Research, Remedy and Repair: Toward Just Education Renewal.” A (very) partial list of UCLA activities follows. A full schedule of UCLA participation is available here.
Wednesday, April 23
UCLA kicks off AERA on Wednesday morning with five presentations at the 9 a.m. hour. Tomoko Nakajima discusses her paper, “I Can’t Work With That: Urban Schoolteachers Reflect on Overcoming Political Obstacles.” Four more sessions take place at 10:50 a.m., including an AERA roundtable featuring Professor Sylvia Hurtado and students, Gabriel Gutierrez Aragon, David Ulises Vargas Ezquivel, and Marcelo Almora Rios discussing their research on“Racial Climate Assessments: Ends or Means for Institutional Action.”
At an AERA Roundtable at 12:40 p.m., Janeen Ward and Adejah Taylor present, “Designing Classroom Observation Measures to Support Teacher Learning and Instructional Practice in Mathematics.” At 2:30 p.m., Assistant Professor Cinthya Salazar presents, “Sharing Power in Participatory Action Research with Undocumented College Students.”
UCLA Law’s Taifha Natalee Alexander closes out the day as a participant in the Presidential Session, “Evidence for the Right to Learn: Research Responses to Bans on Teaching and Learning.”
Wednesday Tip – Don’t miss the 2025 AERA Opening General Session at 6:10 p.m., “The Future of Higher Education in Polarized Times,” featuring USC colleague Shaun Harper and others in conversation with AERA President Janelle Scott.
Thursday, April 24
Thursday starts early with six sessions at 8 a.m., including a symposium, “Voices of Change: Black and Latine Students’ Perspectives on Equitable Computer Science Education,” chaired by Jean Ryoo, director of research of the Computer Science Equity Project at UCLA Center X. The symposium features research by student Wei Wei, and Michelle Choi, associate director of the Computer Science Equity Project.
At 9.50 a.m., Professor Daniel Solórzano takes part in a not-to-be-missed Vice Presidential Address, “Looking Back/Looking Forward: Examining a Tipping Point in the Politics of Educational Justice.” Also at 9:50 a.m., graduate student and long-time Boyle Heights teacher Mariana Ramirez presents, “The Legacy of Teachers in Resistance and the East Los Angeles 1968 Blowouts.”
In a 1:45 p.m. poster session, student Hui Huang presents “Inequality Regimes and Professional Identity Development in Knowledge-Intensive Workplaces in China.” Things heat up at 3.35 p.m. with the Presidential Session, “Brown vs. Board of Education @ 70,” featuring presentations by Professors of Education Lori Patton Davis and Tyrone Howard, who served as AERA president in 2024. Arthur Ashe Legacy Project staff Chinyere Nwonye and Yolanda Hester help wrap up the day with an E-lightning Ed Talk, “Equipping Future Black Scholars and Change Agents: The Arthur Ashe Oral History Project: SIG-Research Focus on Black Education.” Thursday night dining tip: Wyncoop Brewing Co.
Friday, April 25
Breakfast suggestion: Pancakes at Syrup Downtown.
Newly appointed AERA Fellow Professor Lucrecia Santibañez leads off Friday morning, joining doctoral students Sarah Pérez and Andrea Kern in an 8 a.m. seminar on ethnic studies education to present their research, “Examining Student Experiences and Benefits from Ethnic Studies Courses through Multiple Lenses.”
At 9.50, UCLA turns out in force for the symposium, “Becoming a Reader: Centering Students’ Experiences for Meaningful Literacy Research and Just Repair,” chaired by UCLA Assistant Professor-in-Residence Nicole Mancevice. During the symposium, Janet Cerda and Alison Bailey will present, “Tracing the Development of and Motivations for Biliteracy with Multilingual Students Dually Designated as English Learners and Special Education Students.” Mancevice and Amanda Giuliano will share their paper, “You Can’t Read Without Something to Read About”: Sociocultural Dimensions of Reading in Kindergarten.” Christine Lee, Arlen Nava, and Kelly Erin Peter will discuss“Becoming Readers with Wordless Books, ” and Inmaculada Maria García Sánchez will share “And Then He Blew the House Down: Peer Talk and Collaborative Reading in Early Literacy.”
In an AERA Roundtable at 11:40 a.m., doctoral student Belle Lee discusses her research “Elevating First-Generation Asian American Voices: Racial Identity and College Experience.” Also at 11:40, UCLA Professor Daniel Solórzano joins CSU Long Beach professor Lindsay Perez Huber, professor of education at CSU Long Beach and a UCLA Education alumna, to present “Racial Microaffirmations: Considering Racial Healing and Well-being in Higher Education.”
At 1:30 p.m., Professor Eddie Cole takes part in a not-to-be-missed Presidential Session, “Student Protests, Then and Now: Research on Free Speech, Social Movements, and Administrative Response in Education.” Helping to close out the afternoon at 3:20 p.m., former UCLA CTS researcher Kai Monet Mathews and students Hui Huang and Erica Yagi present their paper, “Nooks & Crannies: How Community Colleges Can Contribute to California’s Educator Workforce.”
Friday Night Fun: Join friends and colleagues at the UCLA AERA Reception, at 5:30 p.m. at West Kitchen and Saloon.
Saturday, April 26
Affordable Breakfast? Take a walk over to Union Station and try the Breakfast Burritos at Whole Foods.
Not sure if it’s a record, but it’s a big day as the Bruins take part in at least 45 events on Saturday at AERA. Start the morning with the “Handbook Education Policy Research Roundtable Sessions” at 8 a.m., where Professor Teresa McCarty presents “Education Policy Research by, for, and With Indigenous Peoples in Canada, Mexico, and the United States”; Associate Professor Anna Markowitz shares “The Early Care and Education Workforce in the United States”; and Karen Hunter Quartz, director of the UCLA Center for Community Schools Marisa Saunders, the center’s research director, discuss “Community and Alternative School Policies.”
Also at 8 a.m., Assistant Professor Julissa Muñiz chairs the symposium, “Journeying From Home to Everywhere: Centering Black Girls and Women Across Learning Environments,” and shares her research, “It Started in Kindergarten:” Black Girls and the Exclusion that Follows.” Big doings at 9:50 a.m. as UCLA faculty, staff, alumni, and friends turn out for “A World Café Honoring the Legacy of Jeannie Oakes,” featuring contributions from UCLA’s John Rogers, Marisa Saunders, Karen Hunter Quartz, Megan Franke, Jody Priselac, Robert Cooper and many others. (If you have not seen it yet be sure to check out the UCLA Ed&IS Magazine featuring a tribute to Jeannie here).
Also at 9:50 a.m., UCLA Education Department Chair Cecilia Rios-Aguilar and former UCLA professor Kris Gutiérrez, who is now the Carol Liu Professor of Education at the Berkeley School of Education, team up to chair an AERA demonstration event, “Conviviendo por y con Luis C. Moll [Conviviality for and With Luis C. Moll]: Bridging Funds of Knowledge, Vygotsky, and Educational Equity.” UCLA professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project Patricia Gándara joins in to present “La vida de estudiante graduado: Graduate school experiences at UCLA with his comadre and compadres.” Rios-Aguilar also presents “El future es brillante: The commitment to enriching Funds of Knowledge.”
Saturday morning suggestion – At 9:50 a.m., say hello to our great friend and former UCLA colleague Carola Suárez-Orozco, professor-in-residence at Harvard Graduate School of Education, at her AERA Presidential Session, “The Global Quest for Educational Equity Through Research, Remedy, and Repair.”
At 11:40 a.m., Daniel Solórzano chairs “Creating an East Coast Research Apprenticeship Course: Fostering Intersectional Dialogue for Latina Education Researchers.” Also at 11:40, Professor Louis Gomez is a participant in the Presidential AERA Science and Policy Session, “Intersections of Justice, Whiteness, and Educational Renewal.”
Lunch Tip – for a great sandwich – Leven Deli in downtown Denver.
After lunch, at 1:30 p.m., doctoral student Tim Herd joins an AERA Roundtable Session to present, “The End of Affirmative Action: Unpacking UC Regents Response to SP-1, SP-2, and Proposition 209.” No afternoon naps for the Bruins. At 3:20 p.m., student Shuhan Ai takes part in an AERA Roundtable to share, “A Critical Race Analysis of Black and Hispanic Female Graduate Students Enrollment Trends from 2012 to 2021.”
In a 3:20 symposium, Laura Chavez Moreno, assistant professor in the UCLA Departments of Education and Chicana/o & Central American Studies, discusses her research and recent book on, “How Schools Make Race: Latinx Racialization in Bilingual Education.”
Finally, in one of the last – but not least – UCLA presentations of the day, doctoral student Wei Wei and Professor Kimberley Gomez present, “Designing for Computational Thinking and Equity: Investigating a Residency Program’s Impact on Preservice STEM Educators,” in an AERA poster session.
Saturday Night Fun – Mexican food and Margaritas? Head to 3 Margaritas Downtown Cocina Mexicana.
Sunday, April 27
Denver Omelet? Try the Delectable Egg in Downtown Denver.
The last day starts early, with seven presentations by UCLA students, faculty, and staff at 8 a.m., when Zoey Yi Zhao will participate in an AERA Roundtable to share, “Exploring Factors Contributing to Positive Learning Experiences in Statistics: Comparing Students With Different Prior Experiences.” Also at 8 a.m., Jamaal Muwwakkil presents “This is How We Do It: Research, Advocacy, and Justice for Black Leadership.”
Cecilia Rios-Aguilar leads off events at 9:50 a.m., taking part in the AERA Presidential Session, “Toward Possible Futures: Responding to and Resisting the Invisibility of Latinx Communities Across Institutions,” chaired by Kris Gutiérrez. Also, at 9:50, at an event on “Hip Hop in Higher Education,” student Tabia Shawel presents her paper, “And It Don’t Stop”: Power Moves at the University of California, Los Angeles.”
At 11:40 a.m., Assistant Professor Chris Jadallah chairs a symposium on garden-based education and presents his research, “Toward a Vision for Socio-politically-Conscious Garden Pedagogies.” After lunch, Joseph Bishop, executive director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS) and CTS senior research scientist Stanley Johnson join in a AERA Roundtable at 1:30 p.m. to present “Incorporating the Social, Cultural, and Emotional Dimensions of Student Learning to Develop STEM-Identities in Computer Science.” Closing out the 1.30 time slot, Assistant Professor Julissa Muñiz is the discussant in the research paper session, “Making Sense of Youth Voice: Commenting on and Critiquing the Social Contexts of Schooling.”
Editors Note: Students, staff, and faculty please note – this is a partial list of UCLA presentations and events at AERA. A full listing of all UCLA participants is available at https://seis.ucla.edu/news/edis-aera-2025/. We hope you will use the schedule to attend and support research presentations by friends and colleagues at UCLA.