UConn Neag School of Education at the AERA 2025 Annual Meeting
The Neag School is excited to see so many alumni, faculty, students, and colleagues at the 2025 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting on April 23-27 in Denver. Below you will find a few accolades Neag School faculty and alumni will receive at this year's annual meeting, as well as a full schedule of Neag School-affiliated presentations and events.
2025 AERA Award Winners
Michael Coyne
Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award
Dr. Coyne is a professor of special education and head of the Neag School’s Department of Educational Psychology. His expertise is in beginning reading and early vocabulary instruction and intervention; school-based experimental research; multi-tiered systems of support; and effective practices for students with learning disabilities. Coyne also co-directs the Neag School’s Center for Behavioral Education and Research.
Bob Pianta ’77 (ED), ’78 MA
Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award
Dr. Pianta is the Batten Bicentennial Professor of Early Childhood Education and former dean of the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. His research measures teacher-student relationships and their impact on students' learning and development. A member of the National Academy of Education and an AERA Fellow, Pianta led the research and development of a suite of tools designed to improve teachers' interactions with their students.
Franklin Tuitt
W. J. McKeachie Career Achievement Award
Dr. Tuitt is a professor of higher education and student affairs in the Neag School’s Department of Educational Leadership and UConn's former vice president and chief diversity officer. His scholarship critically examines issues of race, inclusive excellence, and diversity in and outside the classroom from the purview of faculty and students. Tuitt is also a 2024-2025 American Council on Education Fellow.
2025 Outstanding Reviewers
Alexandra Freidus - AERA Open
Dr. Freidus is an assistant professor in the Neag School's Department of Educational Leadership. Her work focuses on racism, social inequality, and educational policy, using sociocultural and critical race theory to ask how educators, policies, young people, and their families sustain and interrupt racial inequality in public schools.
Suzanne Wilson - Review of Educational Research
Dr. Wilson is the Neag Endowed Professor of Teacher Education. Her work concerns exploring various measures of teaching and teachers’ understanding that might be used for teacher education and education research, as well as studying the contemporary and jurisdictional battles over who should control teacher education and licensure.
Schedule of Neag School-Affiliated Presentations and Events
Please note: All times listed are in Denver's local time zone, MT.
Wednesday, April 23
9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
Paper Session: From Barriers, to Strategies, to Impact: Illuminating Transfer Pathways in Higher Education
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3D
Paper: Course Scarcity and the Impact on College Progression by Race/Ethnicity and Gender
Co-Author: Christopher H. Rhoads
10:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Roundtable Session: Race and Racism in Higher Education
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Paper: Locating Resistance in the Classroom: A Response to Anti-CRT Legislative Attacks Across the United States
Co-Authors: Saran Stewart, Franklin A. Tuitt, Kelly Schlabach
Roundtable Session: Research on Giftedness, Creativity, & Talent SIG Roundtable
The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
Paper: A Critical Review of Case Study Research in Gifted Education
Co-Author: Celeste DC Sodergren
12:40 to 2:10 p.m.
Symposium: Culturally Sustaining Early Literacy Pedagogies and Our Futures
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 403
Paper: Children's Literature for Cultural Sustenance
Co-Author: Sakeena Everett
Poster Session: Research on Giftedness, Creativity, & Talent SIG Roundtable Poster Session
The Colorado Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Level, Exhibit Hall F - Poster Session
Paper: Public Opinion of Gifted and Talented Education: A Newspaper Content Analysis
Author: John P. Burrell
AERA Ed Talk: e-Lightening Ed-Talk Session 2 - Stage 2; 12:52 p.m.
The Colorado Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Level, Exhibit Hall F - Stage 2
Paper: Public Opinion of Gifted and Talented Education: A Newspaper Content Analysis
Author: John P. Burrell
1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Workshop: Positionality in Action: Developing Tools to Recognize Bias Across Settings (Registration Required)
Hilton Denver City Center, Floor: Lower Level 1, Mattie Silks
Presenters: Catherina Villafuerte, Claudia J. Ventura
2:30 to 4:00 p.m.
Symposium: Advancing New Directions in School Gentrification Research Centered on Righting, Remedy, and Repair
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2B
Discussant: Alexandra J. Freidus
Demonstration/Performance: Community, Creativity, Curiosity: An Interactive Demonstration and Workshop exploring Participatory, Arts-Based Methods across Diverse Contexts
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 402
Participant: Grace D. Player
Symposium: STEM Interventions for Talent Development: An Interactive Symposium on Evidence-based Models Developed through Javits Projects
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 205
Paper: Discussant #1 Perspective: Research Contributions to the Field of Gifted Education and Talent Development
Author: Del Siegle
4:20 to 5:50 p.m.
Paper Session: Analyzing Policies and Supporting Teachers in Selecting and Implementing Proactive Classroom Management Strategies
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 703
Paper: The Effect of I-MTSS on Students’ Off-task Behavior and Engagement
Co-Authors: Brandi Simonsen, D. Betsy McCoach, Michael D. Coyne, Sarah D. Newton, Katie Scarlett Lane Pelton, Kelly L. Kearney
Thursday, April 24
8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Paper Session: Supporting Adolescent and Young Adult Development and Well-Being
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 610
Paper: Digital and In-Person Interactions and Adolescent Mental Health: (Re)theorizing Bronfenbrenner’s Mesosystem Linkages in the Digital Age
Co-Authors: Kathy Chau Rohn, Adam M. McCready, Kelly Farrell
Paper Session: Intersecting Struggles of Desegregation: Navajo Schooling, Black Teacher Activism, and Critical Inquiry
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2B
Paper: “A Family to Come Back To:” The Life and Legacy of the Lincoln School, an Experimental Residential Integrated School during Desegregation 1967-1970
Co-Author: Alyssa Hadley Dunn
9:50 to 11:20 a.m.
Symposium: Building Kinship and Becoming Relatives: Ancestral Alignment Guiding our Methodologies
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 403
Chair: Stephanie L. Simpson
Paper: Jangueo: Survivance of US Latine Scholars in Higher Education Disrupting Hegemonic Scholarly Use of Latinidad
Author: Luz Nereida Burgos-Lopez
Paper: Conceptualizing a Decolonial Embodied Methodology Grounded in Ubuntu Philosophy
Author: Truth Hunter
Structured Poster Session: Innovations in Statistical Power, Intervention Planning and Design, and Causal Effects
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3A
Discussant: D. Betsy McCoach
Symposium: Decolonial Approaches to the Teaching of English and World Languages
The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3G
Paper: Instructor Moves Towards Decolonial Multiliteracies: Insights From English Language Teaching in Spain and Portugal
Author: Michele Back
Symposium: “No Justice, No Peace”: A Racial Reckoning for Science Education
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 106
Paper: Practicing Science Teachers (Discussing and Evading) Race Talk
Author: Hannah Cooke
Paper Session: Courts & Civil Rights
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 606
Paper: Educational Environmentalism
Author: Preston C. Green
1:45 to 3:15 p.m.
Paper Session: Exploring the Adequacy and Equity of Federal Stimulus Funding and Beyond
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3H
Paper: Equity in ARP ESSER Fund Allocation: Strategy Patterns and Demographic Insights
Co-Authors: Taylor Strickland, Alexandra J. Lamb, Morgaen L. Donaldson
3:35 to 5:05 p.m.
Paper Session: Measurement Scales and Psychosocial Development
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 106
Paper: Gifted Identification Matrices: An Exploratory Study of the Measurement Considerations
Co-Authors: D. Betsy McCoach, Catherine A. Little
5:25 to 6:55 p.m.
Symposium: Advancements and Challenges in Cognitive Diagnostic Models and Mixture Modeling
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 302
Chair: Zachary K. Collier
Paper: Challenges with Identification and Estimation of Cognitive Diagnostic Models
Co-Authors: Claudia J. Ventura, Eric Loken
Paper: Examining Model Complexity Due to Functional Form with Randomly Generated Data
Co-Authors: Kirsten Reyna, Eric Loken
Paper: Evaluating the Performance of Standard Latent Class Analysis Compared to Tree-Based Latent Class Analysis
Co-Authors: Richard Baidoo, Zachary K. Collier, Eric Loken
Paper: Imputation with Random Forest and Deep Learning for Bayesian Estimated Growth Mixture Models
Co-Authors: Joshua Sukumar, Zachary K. Collier
Discussant: Eric Loken
Structured Poster Session: Research on STEM Professional Learning Communities: Attending to Teacher Learning, Agency, and Equity
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3A
Paper: “We All Chose to Be Together for This Purpose”: Centering Justice With Professional Learning Communities
Co-Author: Todd Campbell
Roundtable Session: Discursive Politics and Controversy-Making in Curricular Reform Movements
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Paper: International Patterns of Reading Policy and Policy Response
Author: Rachael E. Gabriel
7:15 to 8:45 p.m.
Business Meeting: Advancing Dialogue in Critical Literacies, Writing, and Civic Engagement in a Postdigital Era
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 703
Officer: Grace D. Player
Friday, April 25
8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Governance Session: AERA Open: Closed Editorial Board Meeting
The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Meeting Room Level, Room 401
Participant: D. Betsy McCoach
Invited Roundtable: Meet the Editors: Journal Talks 3
The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Ballroom Level, Mile High Ballroom 2A and 3A
Journal: American Educational Research Journal
Co-Editor: Saran Stewart
9:50 to 11:20 a.m.
Roundtable Session: Systemic Analysis of Opportunities for Remedy and Repair in Out of School
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 4
Paper: Strengthening Summer Enrichment Programs: A Possible Remedy
Co-Authors: Kiah DeVona, Kenya Marie Overton, Charles Wentzell, Casey D. Cobb
Invited Speaker Session: Using Research to Inform Civil Rights Remedies: Effective Data Use and Monitoring to Address Racialized Discipline Disparities
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Mile High Ballroom 1CD
Participant: Preston C. Green
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Coordinated Paper Session: NCME Task Force on the Role of Educational Measurement and Civil Rights
Colorado EF
Paper: The Landscape of Educational Measurement Programs Through the Lens of Civil Rights
Co-Author: Catherina Villafuerte
11:40 a.m. to 1:10 p.m.
Roundtable Session: Systemic Challenges in Educational Opportunities
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Paper: “All Means All” Isn’t an Equity Framework for Literacy
Co-Authors: Rachael E. Gabriel, Hannah M. Dostal
1:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Paper Session: Teacher Professional Development, Career Advancement, and Advice Seeking
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3G
Paper: Beginning Elementary Teachers’ Development of Ambitious Teaching Practices
Co-Authors: Dorothea M. Anagnostopoulos, Kylie Anglin
Roundtable Session: Racialized Feeling in Mathematics and Science Classrooms
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
Paper: Black STEM Teachers' Testimony About Their Extended Educational Careers
Co-Authors: John Settlage, Kenya Marie Overton, Emmanuel Dwamena
Symposium: Spinning in Circles or Driving Change: The Possibilities and Constraints of Racialized Change and Learning
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 404
Discussant: Alexandra J. Freidus
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Business Meeting: Classroom Observation SIG Business Meeting: Envisioning the Next Generation of Classroom Observation Research
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2E
Participant: Kathleen Lynch
Saturday, April 26
8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Invited Roundtable: The Handbook Education Policy Research Roundtable Session
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 1A
Paper: Educational Policy, Racial Equity, and the Courts (Table 12)
Co-Author: Preston C. Green
Paper: Principal Leadership Preparation, Development, and Evaluation (Table 19)
Co-Author: Morgaen L. Donaldson
9:50 to 11:20 a.m.
Invited Speaker Session: Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education: Supporting Equitable and Effective Teaching
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Mile High Ballroom 1EF
Commentator: Todd Campbell
Governance Session: American Educational Research Journal: Closed Editorial Board Meeting
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 401
Participants: Saran Stewart, Franklin A. Tuitt
Paper Session: Enhancing Validity and Reliability in Educational Measurement and Assessments
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 702
Paper: Estimating Multilevel Reliability for School Based Behavioral Measures
Co-Authors: Katie Scarlett Lane Pelton, D. Betsy McCoach
Paper Session: Disaster Schooling to Joyous Schooling for BIPOC Students
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2D
Paper: Coming to Police Abolition: Red Button Moments in Teaching
Co-Author: Alyssa Hadley Dunn
Symposium: Division J Vice Presidential Session: Planning for 2030: Critical Tensions and Postsecondary Possibilities with OMB’s Racial/Ethnic Classification Revisions
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 111
Paper: Is Multiracial Identity Inherently Anti-Black? Considering Anti-Blackness and Monoracism in Counting Multiracial Students
Co-Author: Stephanie L. Simpson
Roundtable Session: Integration Efforts in School Choice Systems
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 4
Paper: The Hidden Curriculum of School Diversity: Choice and Gentrification in New York City Schools
Author: Alexandra J. Freidus
11:40 a.m. to 1:10 p.m.
Symposium: A Collection of Critical Race Counterstories: Disrupting Resegregation in Special Education Using QuantCrit
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 707
Paper: Confronting Traditions in Special Education: Cultivating Anti-Racist and Anti-Ableist Research and Practices
Co-Author: Zachary K. Collier
Paper: Evidence of Anti-Racist Educators: Disrupting the Racialized Practice of Resegregation in Special Education
Co-Author: Zachary K. Collier, Joshua Sukumar
Paper Session: Politics of Teacher Preparation, Employment, and Retention
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2H
Paper: Chartering Religion: Examining the Implications for Educators’ Civil Rights in Religious Charter Schools
Co-Author: Preston C. Green
Paper Session: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Transforming Learning, Assessment, and Educational Practices
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3D
Paper: How Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) Was Used in Higher Education: A Systematic Review
Co-Author: Shuyu Wang
1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
Governance Session: Journal Publications Committee With Editors Closed Meeting
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 401
Participant: Saran Stewart
Roundtable Session: Research on School Closures, Zoning Policies, and De/Segregation
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 4
Paper: Power Inequities and Silencing “Naysayers”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the HISD Takeover
Author: Leiflyn Gamborg
3:20 to 4:50 p.m.
Invited Speaker Session: Race, Racism, and Resources: Reimagining School Finance Policy, Research, and Practice Toward Just Education Renewal
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Mile High Ballroom 1CD
Participant: Preston C. Green
Paper Session: Engagement, Motivation, and Efficacy
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 106
Paper: Development of the Teacher Discourse Self-Efficacy Scale
Co-Authors: Shannon McDonald, Gregory Boldt, Catherine A. Little
Paper: How Much Do Students’ Perceptions of Learning Something New Relate to their Perceived Engagement?
Co-Authors: Del Siegle, D. Betsy McCoach, Susan Dulong Langley, Kelly L. Kearney
Symposium: The Wretched of the Earth?: Interrogating Eurocentrism and Re-Imagining the STEM Futures of Black Learners
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 606
Paper: And Still, the Marathon Continues: The Impact of STEM Spaces on Black Men’s Mental Health
Co-Author: Latoya Haynes-Thoby
Paper: The Dreamkeepers: Black Men STEM Faculty (Re-)Envisioning STEM Futures for Black Boys
Co-Author: Latoya Haynes-Thoby
5:10 to 6:40 p.m.
Paper Session: Towards Justice: Teaching in Contentious Times
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2G
Paper: Exploring Eight Teachers’ Journeys to Facilitate Mathematical Justification to Support their Visions of Equity
Co-Authors: Megan E. Staples, Isabella Llano
Roundtable Session: Research on Giftedness, Creativity, & Talent SIG Roundtable: Polices and Practices
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
Paper: Choosing University-Based Programs: A Model of Parental Decision-Making
Co-Author: Celeste DC Sodergren
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Business Meeting: Faculty Teaching, Evaluation, and Development Business Meeting
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2H
AERA Faculty Teaching, Evaluation, and Development SIG's 2025 W. J. McKeachie Career Achievement Award
Award Winner: Franklin A. Tuitt
Sunday, April 27
8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Invited Roundtable: Meet the Editors: Journal Talks 7
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Mile High Ballroom 2A and 3A
Journal: The Reading Teacher
Co-Editor: Rachael E. Gabriel
Symposium: The Complexity of School Choice for Historically Marginalized Families
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3A
Paper: Weighing Risks: How Families of Disabled Children Made School Choices During the Pandemic
Co-Author: Alexandra J. Freidus
9:50 to 11:20 a.m.
Invited Speaker Session: Religion as a Force in American Education: Examining Core Tensions and Paths Toward Democratic Renewal
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Mile High Ballroom 1AB
Participant: Preston C. Green
Roundtable Session: Integrating Climate Justice Education Across Teacher Education Programs: A Remedy of Critical Transdisciplinarity and Collective Action
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Paper: Designing for Collective Futures: The Engineering for Ecological and Social Justice
Co-Author: Todd Campbell
11:40 a.m. to 1:10 p.m.
Symposium: Strategic and Efficient School Staffing
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 3A
Discussant: Morgaen L. Donaldson
Paper Session: The Bigger Picture Impact of Social-Emotional Learning in Schools
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 702
Paper: Mindful Qualities in Teacher Recollections of Classroom Interactions
Co-Author: Kylie Anglin
1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
Paper Session: Classroom Practices and Student Achievement
The Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 106
Paper: Co-Teaching to Differentiate: Gifted Specialists and Classroom Teachers in Elementary Math Classrooms
Co-Authors: Del Siegle, Susan Dulong Langley, Kelly L. Kearney, Luis Orione
Roundtable Session: Coming Home: Stories of Building Spaces for Asian Americans in Language and Literacies Education
The Colorado Convention Center, Ballroom Level, Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
Chair: Grace D. Player
Paper Session: Leveraging Teacher Identities: Telling Truths and Reconstructing Our Stories
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2H
Discussant: Sakeena Everett
Paper Session: Policing and Carcerality in Higher Education
The Colorado Convention Center, Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2F
Paper: The Colonial, Racial Vestiges of Campus Police: A Systematic Literature Review
Author: Kelly Schlabach
