American Educational Research Association

The Members

The membership of more than 25,000 is richly diverse in academic preparation, professional roles, and scholarly interests. Members represent university and college faculty, graduate students, leaders and practitioners in school systems, policy makers, counselors, testing and evaluation professionals, and representatives from federal, state, and local agencies. AERA is well recognized as comprehensive in representing a cross section of education scholars from various areas of study compared with other organizations that represent a singular focus (e.g., mathematics, science, reading). This society's mission and scope attract other disciplines outside of education such as psychology, history, sociology, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science.

The Organizational Structure

The scope and diversity within AERA necessitates a focused, yet responsive, organizational structure to unite members into smaller, meaningful groups with shared professional and research commitments. Thus, members are further organized into 12 divisions and more than 160 special interest groups (SIGs) that facilitate meaningful, substantive professional/scholarly communities. The number of divisions and SIGs has changed over the history of the organization in response to member interests and advancements in the field. The current divisions are:

• Division A:
• Administration, Organization & Leadership
• Division B:
• Curriculum Studies
• Division C:
• Learning & Instruction
• Division D:
• Measurement & Research Methodology
• Division E:
• Counseling & Human Development
• Division F:
• History & Historiography
• Division G:
• Social Context of Education
• Division H:
• Research, Evaluation & Assessment in Schools
• Division I:
• Education in the Professions
• Division J:
• Postsecondary Education
• Division K:
• Teaching & Teacher Education
• Division L:
• Educational Policy & Politics

A committee and officer structure provides additional member opportunities for engagement and leadership. AERA is governed by a legislative and policy-determining body called the council, which comprises elected members and the president, president-elect, immediate past-president, two members-at-large, vice presidents of each of the 12 divisions, chair of the SIG Executive Committee, and the chair of the Graduate Student Council. The AERA executive director serves as the ex-officio member of the council.

The Program

The AERA annual meeting is the most widely attended program of the association with more than 13,000 attendees each spring. The annual meeting hosts researchers from around the world who present in various session formats that have changed over time to represent the diversity of knowledge, research, and ideological paradigms and assumptions of the membership. There is particular attention paid to using these formats to provide comment and critique to scholars to advance the quality of research, to stimulate discourse, and to improve education. In addition to the numerous sessions, the annual meeting also includes various professional development seminars, an address by the president, awards, and session/activities for each division and SIG.

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