The 2026 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting convenes in Los Angeles, California, from April 8–12. As leaders in the field of education research, NYU Steinhardt is proud to maintain a strong presence during this important gathering of educators, researchers, and practitioners. From presenting their impactful research to garnering prestigious awards, Steinhardt faculty and students will participate in more than 110 sessions and meetings throughout the five-day event.
Learn more about NYU Steinhardt’s presence at the 2026 AERA Annual Meeting below, view the full program with all session details, and follow us on LinkedIn for Steinhardt participant highlights.
NYU Steinhardt AERA Reception
Those attending the Annual Meeting are invited to join the NYU Steinhardt Community Reception on Thursday, April 9 from 6 - 8 p.m. PT in the Wilshire Grand Ballroom on the 5th floor of the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.
RSVP to the Reception
Dear NYU Steinhardt Community,
Once again, I extend my sincere congratulations to the many members of our NYU Steinhardt community who are participating in the 2026 AERA Annual Meeting in more than 110 sessions, roundtables, and symposia. Your presence at this important international gathering reflects the depth of scholarship and the spirit of inquiry that define our academic community.
To see our faculty not only present their groundbreaking scholarship at the AERA Annual Meeting, but also be recognized with multiple awards is a testament to their unwavering commitment to advancing educational research and improving learning outcomes for all. Their achievements on this national stage reflect the intellectual vitality, collaborative spirit, and transformative impact that define our academic community. We celebrate their accomplishments and look forward with great excitement to the continued influence of their work across the field.
I know I speak on behalf of the entire NYU Steinhardt community when I say how proud we are for the dedication and creativity our recognized faculty bring to their research and teaching.
With appreciation and pride,
Jack H. Knott
Gale and Ira Drukier Dean
Dear Colleagues,
The American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting is one of the most significant forums in the field of education research, bringing together scholars from around the world to share findings, debate ideas, and advance knowledge that shapes educational policy and practice. Our faculty’s contributions—through paper presentations, symposia, panels, and leadership roles—demonstrate both the rigor of your research and your commitment to improving education for learners everywhere.
This year’s theme, "Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: Constructing a New Vision for Education Research," resonates deeply with the work of NYU Steinhardt’s community. Our faculty and students are not only excavating and honoring the histories that inform educational inequities and innovations, but also boldly envisioning new frameworks, methods, and partnerships that will define the future of education research. Your contributions at AERA exemplify our School’s dedication to scholarship that is both reflective and forward-looking, grounded in context and driven by possibility.
Congratulations to all the members of our NYU Steinhardt community as you continue to lead conversations that address pressing challenges in education and illuminate new paths forward for schools, communities, and policymakers.
Warmly,
Sudha Arunachalam
Vice Dean for Research
Professor of Communicative Sciences and Disorders
AERA Honors
Sophia Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies and Sociology received the Luis Moll Creative Work/Book Award from the AERA Social Context of Education Division for her book Undocumented in the U.S. South: How Youth Navigate Racialization in Policy and School Contexts. This award celebrates outstanding books and creative works that reflect Dr. Moll’s vision to illuminate the deep knowledge systems embedded in families, communities, and everyday life.
Joseph Cimpian Professor of Economics and Education Policy is one of 34 exemplary scholars announced in the 2026 class of AERA Fellows. The Fellows Program honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to, and excellence in, education research and will be inducted during a ceremony at the 2026 Annual Meeting.
AERA 2026 Presenter Highlights
Highlighting strategies and insights that support diverse learners and create more just and affirming educational environments
Refusing Limitation, Protecting Public Education: Researchers and Practitioners Responding Together to K–12 DEI Attacks (Symposium)
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Globalization and Education at NYU Steinhardt and Professor of Applied Psychology; and Sophia Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology, “Messaging to Protect Immigrant and LGBTQ Student Access to/Learning in Schools in an Attack Era”
Racial and Gender Politics of Schooling (Paper Session)
Kongji Qin, Associate Professor of Language Education, “Pedagogy as Gendered Practice: Hidden Curriculum of Gender in One U.S. High School Classroom”
Advancing Higher Education: International Perspectives (Paper Session)
Shuang Fu, Assistant Professor of TESOL and Childhood Education, “Living in Between: Navigating Temporal, Spatial, and Legal Precarity as International Students”
Inquiry as Leadership: A Cross-Boundary Dialogue on Teacher-Led Equity Audits in High-Poverty Schools (Symposium)
Adriana Villavicencio, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (Discussant)
Between Constraints and Possibilities: Narratives of Agency and Hope in Surveilled Educational Spaces (Symposium)
Katie Scott Newhouse, Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Director of Teaching and Learning, “Counternarratives of Inclusion: Exploring Disabled Youth Agency in Restrictive Educational Spaces”
Reclaiming Knowledge, Reimagining Futures: Latiné Youth, Families, and Cultural Pedagogies of Resistance (Roundtable)
Melissa Ortiz, Doctoral Student, Sociology of Education, “Con Confianza: Postsecondary Pathways for Suburban Latinx Youth”
Navigating Children's and Young Adult Literature in an Era of Contested Literacies: Possibilities for Education Research and Teaching (Invited Speaker Session)
Fabienne Doucet, Executive Director, NYU Steinhardt's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, and Professor of Education
Learning Together: Collaboration, Teaching Strategies, and Identity in Classroom and Community Contexts (Poster Session)
Xiaomeng Huang, Doctoral Student, Educational Communication and Technology; Xavier Ochoa, Associate Professor of Learning Analytics and Doctoral Program Coordinator, “Toward a Multimodal Micro‑Ecological Methodology for Analyzing Active Listening in Collaborative Problem Solving”
Reimagining Policy and Practice in Special Education: Practices, Systems, and Equity (Paper Session)
Christine Park, Doctoral Student in Psychology and Social Intervention; Natalie May, Doctoral Student in Psychology and Social Intervention; Elizabeth Blair Cox, Doctoral Student in Psychology and Social Intervention; Elise Cappella, Vice Provost for University-wide Initiatives and Graduate Education, Professor of Applied Psychology; and Michelle Flemen-Tung, Program Director, Path Practice Team, “Changing What Schools Do: The Promise and Complexities of Transforming Social Systems for Students with EDs”
Cultivating Inclusive Futures: College, Career, and Community Engagement for Students with Disabilities (Paper Session)
Dora Onwumere, Graduate Adjunct Faculty and Doctoral Student, Occupational Therapy; Wendy Martin (Education Development Center, Inc.), Wesley Alberts (NYU Gallatin), Olivia Lyra Barrow (Guttman Community College), Lela Fluker (College of Staten Island); Brian Myers, Master’s Student, Teaching Mathematics: Transformational Teaching, Grades 7–12; Kenny Velez (College of Staten Island), Nicole Wang (NYU Shanghai), Andrew Yan, Undergraduate Student, Computer Science and Math; Ariana Arista (Education Development Center, Inc.), Samantha Tumolo (Education Development Center, Inc.), Kristen Gillespie-Lynch (College of Staten Island), and Kristie Patten, Counselor to the President and Professor, Occupational Therapy, “Figuring It Out Together: Developing a Mentorship Program with Autistic College and High School Students”
Centering Families and Students in Inclusive Education (Roundtable)
Jackielyn Ruiz, Doctoral Student, Special Education, “Understanding Filipino Parents’ Special Education Participation Through Immigration History and Capital Theory: A Qualitative Study”
Diverse Learners and Inclusive Teaching Practices (Poster Session)
Yuli Shao, Doctoral Candidate, Educational Communication and Technology; Yuqi Hang, Doctoral Researcher, NYU Steinhardt’s Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education (CREATE); Xinyue Jiao, Doctoral Candidate, Educational Communication and Technology; Bruce D. Homer (Graduate Center–CUNY), and Jan L. Plass, Professor and Paulette Goddard Chair in Digital Media and Learning Sciences, Founding Director of CREATE, “Emotional Design for Learning in Virtual Reality: Effects of Object Luminosity, Lighting, and Action”
Advising Around Postsecondary Pathways (Symposium)
John Sludden, Research Analyst (III), The Research Alliance for New York City Schools; and James Kemple, Senior Fellow; Research Professor of Teaching and Learning, "High School Advising: Exploring Students’ Perceptions of School-Based Support for College and Career Transitions"
Justice by Design: Humanizing STEM Education Through Equity, Culture, and Teacher Development (Roundtable)
Cheri Fancsali, Executive Director, The Research Alliance for New York City Schools; Kathryn Hill, Research Director; and Alexandra Adair, The College Board, “Cultivating Humanizing Pedagogies: Nurturing Teachers’ Implementation of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education in Computer Science”
Wholly supporting educators within professional contexts can enhance teaching practices, cultivate inclusive school cultures, and advance systemic change in education
Presidential Session: Understanding the Moment Across Multiple Marginalities: Navigating Attacks on Intersectional Educational Futures (Invited Speaker Session)
Shamari Reid, Assistant Professor, Teaching and Learning
Coaching, Mentoring, and Professional Learning: Collective Support in Teacher Preparation (Roundtable)
Sarah L. Schlessinger, Clinical Assistant Professor in the NYU Teacher Residency in Inclusive Childhood Education; and Karoline Trepper, Clinical Assistant Professor of English Education in the Teacher Residency Program, “Reimagining the Residency Site Curriculum: Designing for Critical Mentorship in Support of Inclusive Teaching”
Towards a Meaningful Practice of Transparency in Arts-Based Educational Research (Structured Poster Session)
Joseph Salvatore, Clinical Professor and Director of Educational Theatre, Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, “To Score or Not to Score: That Is the Ethical Question”
Feminist Critique, Praxis, and Relationality in Education (Paper Session)
Amanda Najib, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning, “Palestinian Feminist Praxis as Decolonial Refusal: Reclaiming Education, Memory, and Liberation”
Constructing Early Childhood Education: Ideologies, Influences, and Discourses (Paper Session)
Shana DeVlieger, Adjunct Faculty, Teaching and Learning; Seth Badu, Doctoral Student, Early Childhood Education; and Fabienne Doucet, Executive Director of NYU Steinhardt's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools and Professor of Education, “Navigating ECE Advocacy in Precarious Times: Equity Rhetoric and Digital Silence During the 2024 Election”
Reframing Global Education: Internationalization and Transnational Perspectives (Paper Session)
Shuang Fu, Assistant Professor of TESOL and Childhood Education, and Yixuan Wang, (Gwinnett County Public Schools), “Teaching Across Borders: Responsible Well-Being Among Transnational Educators in the US and China”
Crossing Borders: Immigrant, Migrant, and Transnational Teacher Identities (Paper Session)
Kevin Perez, Doctoral Student, Bilingual Education, “Choosing Korean, Reclaiming Chicano Spanish: A Critical Linguistic Autoethnography of Discursive Language Ideologies and Multilingual Identity Construction”
Examining Informal Practice: Pedagogical Innovations Toward Equity in Informal Education (Paper Session)
Shaghig Chaparian, Doctoral Student, Science and Environmental Conservation Education; Olivia Ortiz, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning; Wendy Barrales (MA ’11, Literacy Education); Luz Velasco Vela (BioBus); Jasmine Y. Ma, Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning; Latasha Wright (BioBus), “Science as a Thousand Stories: Informal Science Educators' Activist Positions and Stances”
Critical Turn in Teacher Residencies (Symposium)
Diana Turk, Director of Teacher Education and Associate Professor of Teaching and Learning; and Sarah L. Schlessinger, Clinical Assistant Professor in the NYU Teacher Residency in Inclusive Childhood Education, “A Multiple Mentorship Model for Teacher Residencies: Working Towards Antiracism and Antiableism”
Exploring Marginalized Identities and Liberatory Frameworks for Justice in Teaching, Learning, and Workforce Policies
Jasmine N. Hawkins-White, Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Director of Education Studies, “Unforgetting Black Teacher Histories, Imagining Liberatory Futures: Race, Class, and Resistance in Neoliberal NYC”
Beyond Histories of Compliance in Early Childhood Education: Centering Disability and Cultivating Freedom (Symposium)
Maggie Beneke (University of Washington), Hailey Love (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Lilly Padia (Erikson Institute), Crystasany Turner (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee), María Rosa Brea-Spahn, Clinical Professor, Communicative Sciences and Disorders; Xigrid Soto-Boykin (Arizona State University), “Engaging in Critical Praxis in Educator Preparation”
It’s in My Bones: Advancing the Embodiment of Theory for and by Blackgirls and Women (Symposium)
Alexis D. Riley, Assistant Professor, Science Education, “Theorizing ‘Radical Openness’ in Science Education: (Re)centering the Margins for Black Women Science Teachers”
AERA Research in Progress (Roundtable)
Alice Blecker, Doctoral Student, Early Childhood and Urban Education; Shana DeVlieger, Adjunct Faculty, Teaching and Learning; Ellen Keefe (Research Assistant), Robin Neuhaus, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning; and Erin O'Connor, Professor of Education, “Scholar-Caregivers and Perinatal Mental Health: Futuring Equitable Higher Education”
Pedagogies of Power, Community, and Freedom (Roundtable)
Marlene Brito (NYU Workplace Learning Innovation Lab), Erika Marte (PhD, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies; MA, Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy); Neha Sobti (Hofstra University), and Julie Pham (University of Nevada–Las Vegas), “Navigating Power, Building Community: A Critical Collaborative Autoethnography of a Women of Color Research Collective”
Confronting Oppressive Forces in Teacher Preparation (Roundtable)
Annaly Babb-Guerra, Clinical Assistant Professor, Co-Director of NYU Teacher Residency, “Partial Progress: Antiracist Teacher Preparation in a Teacher Residency”
Developing and Supporting Teacher Leadership Roles (Roundtable)
Sofía Antonia Gómez-Doyle, Doctoral Student; Sophia Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology, "'This Group Helps Me Think, but We Need Systems That Help Us Act:' Examining Educator Transformation, Equity, and Belonging in a District-Led Learning Community"
Strategies, interventions, and policies that support learners’ reading, writing, and communication skills across diverse educational contexts
Cognition, Comprehension, Culture, and Cross-Linguistic Transfer: Advancing Equity in Reading Development (Symposium)
Michael J. Kieffer, Professor of Literacy Education, and Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez (Vanderbilt), “Multilingual Learners' Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from a National Sample"
Discourse Analysis Across Language Education Contexts: Examining Textbooks, Policy, and Colonial Narratives (Roundtable)
Yuqing Sun, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning, “Multimodal Discourse as Colonial Control: An Analysis of Japanese Language Textbooks for Chinese Students in 1935-1936”
12th Annual Language and Social Processes Mentoring Session (Workshop)
Shondel Nero, Professor of Language Education
AI, Learning, and Innovation: Emerging Research in Education (Poster Session)
Xinyi Xie, “A Research of Corpus-Based Medical Humanistic Emotional Vocabulary Analysis”
Critical and Humanizing Teacher Education for Multilingual Learners: Developing Multilingual Teacher Knowledge Across Contexts (Paper Session)
Kongji Qin, Associate Professor of Language Education, Session Chair/Discussant
Unforgetting, Worldmaking, Navigating, and Creating: Literacies of Teacher Education (Roundtable)
Sarah W. Beck, Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning, and Professor of English Education; Kate Lan, Master’s Student, Secondary Education (English); and Michelle Hu (NYU Tandon), “Designing a Mentoring Environment to Support Prospective Teacher Learning about Writing, Writers, and Writing Instruction”
Exploring interdisciplinary approaches, hands-on learning, and innovative strategies that foster creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students
Measurements, Psychometrics, and Assessment (AERA Ed Talk)
Xinyue Jiao, Doctoral Candidate, Educational Communication and Technology; Basel Hussein, Postdoctoral Researcher, NYU Steinhardt’s Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education (CREATE); Yuli Shao, Doctoral Candidate, Educational Communication and Technology; Yuqi Hang, Doctoral Researcher, CREATE; Al Olsen, Doctoral Candidate, Educational Communication and Technology; and Jan L. Plass, Professor and Paulette Goddard Chair in Digital Media and Learning Sciences, Founding Director of CREATE, “Human–AI Co-Grading of Open-Ended Responses to STEM Transfer Questions”
Affective, Ecological, and Technical Entanglements in Education (Paper Session)
Leah Master, PhD Student in Childhood Education and Science Education and Adjunct Faculty, “Breaking down binaries between formal and nonformal learning for preservice teachers”
Teaching Practices and the Learning Sciences (Paper Session)
Amos Jeng (University of Michigan), HaeJin Lee (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Hana Kearfott (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Sarah Burns (University of Chicago), Cheryl Moran (University of Chicago), George Vythoulkas (University of Chicago), Joseph Cimpian, Professor of Economics and Education Policy, Meg Bates (University of Illinois System), Nigel Bosch (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Michelle Perry (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), "External Factors Predicting the Perceived Usefulness of an Online Teacher Professional Learning Platform"
Exploring Various Teaching and Learning Methods of Mathematics Topics (Paper Session)
Grace A. Chen, Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow, Teaching and Learning; Nurdan Turan, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning; Sarah C. Radke (Concord Consortium); Anne Burgunder, Clinical Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education; and Jasmine Y. Ma, Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning, “‘I Don’t Even Want to Touch Quadratics’: How Mathematics Content Structures Teachers’ Ethical Decision-Making”
Orienting to Affect, Culture, and Language in Science Teaching and Learning (Poster Session)
Alison Haas, Director of Development and Implementation, NYU Science And Integrated Language (SAIL) Research Lab; Scott Grapin (University of Miami), Alycia Sterenberg Mahon (Western Michigan University), Jessca Spybrook (Western Michigan University), Abigail Schwenger, Doctoral Student, Childhood Education; Courtney Plumley (Horizon Research, Inc.), and Okhee Lee, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, “Teachers’ Beliefs, Preparedness, and Instructional Practices for Teaching NGSS Science with Multilingual Learners”
AERA Research in Progress (Roundtable)
Robin Glassberg, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning, “Voices of the Unheard—Women of Color Undergraduates Majoring in STEM”
Unforgetting Histories and Dreaming for the Future of Mathematics Education (Invited Speaker Session)
Jasmine Y. Ma, Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning
Advancing Math Motivation, Engagement, and Persistence: Insights from Digital Interventions and Research-Practice Partnerships (Structured Poster Session)
Sara McAlister, Principal Research Associate, and Erika Abarca Millán, Senior Research Associate, both at NYU Steinhardt's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, “Use of a Collaborative Digital Math Curriculum to Teach for Belonging and Engagement”
Human–AI Collaboration for Enhanced Interaction, Collaboration, and Creativity (Paper Session)
George Xi Wang, Master’s Student, Learning Technology and Experience Design, “Home Environment and Students’ Creative Thinking: An Educational Data Science Analysis of PISA 2022”
Unforgetting Patriarchy in Mathematics Education Research (Symposium)
Arundhati Velamur, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning, “Quick and Languid: Shifting Tempos in the Learning of Mathematics”
Join us!
Thursday, April 9 from 6 - 8 p.m. PT Wilshire Grand Ballroom InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, 5th Floor
RSVP to the NYU Steinhardt AERA Reception