91����

The 2026 (AERA) annual meeting kicked off today in Los Angeles. The conference is the world’s largest annual gathering of education researchers and practitioners, and a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative studies exploring the field of K-20 education.

University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, recipient of AERA’s 2025 Distinguished Public Service Award, will deliver a lecture on Friday, April 10, titled “Evolving Research for Impact – People, Purposes, and Periods in Time: Reflections on Public Service for STEM and Beyond.”

Here’s a look at some of the other 91���� researchers participating in events or presenting research at this year’s conference:

Assistant Professor of Education and Applied Quantitative Methods Kamal Chawla:

• Serving as chair or discussant at two paper sessions: “Addressing Challenges in Causality: Free Will, Mediation and Latent Factors, Heterogeneity, and Variable Selection” and “Generative AI and Large Language Models in Educational Measurement and Assessment.”
• Co-presenting a study, “Disrupting Eurocentric Narratives: A Comparative Analysis of High School Geometry Curricula in India, Singapore, and the United States,” at a roundtable session on “International Perspectives on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics.”

Assistant Professor of Special Education Melissa Cuba:

• Co-presenting a study, “Bearing the Burden: Cultural and Psychological Costs for Im/migrant and Refugee Families in Special Education,” at a roundtable session on “Advancing Equity in Special and Inclusive Education.”
• Co-presenting a study, “Racialized and Administrative Burdens in IDEA: Examining the Experiences of Im/migrant and Refugee Families,” as part of a roundtable session on “Immigrant Students and Intersectional Inequality.”

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Lindsey Kaiser:

• Co-presenting a study, “At Research-Practice Partnership Edges: Expanding Boundaries, Co-Creating Knowledge, and Supporting Racial Equity Joint Work,” at a roundtable session titled “From Collaboration to Transformation: Evolving Research-Practice Partnerships in Education.” 
• Co-presenting a study, “Braiding Research and Practice: Attending to Power Dynamics and Co-Creating Knowledge to Improve Educational Systems,” as part of a structured poster session on “Positionality and Research Use in Educational Policy and Practice: Toward Evidence-Informed Decisions.” 
• Presenting a paper, “White Principals and Logics of Family and Community Engagement: Performative ‘Nights’ to Growing Equitable Collaborations,” as part of a session on “Racializing and Spatializing Resistance: Contextual Equity Leadership and Policy.”
• Co-presenting a study, “Making Race, Racial Equity, and Power Visible in the Everyday Work of Research-Practice Partnerships,” in a structured poster session on “Making the Invisible Visible: Dynamics, Processes, and Outcomes of Research-Practice Partnerships.”

In addition, 91���� Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Catharine Biddle will chair the business meeting of AERA’s Rural Education Special Interest Group (SIG). Associate Professor of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction Bec Buchanan is scheduled to participate in the Lives of Teachers SIG business meeting.