Scholars Present at AERA 2025
More than 75 scholars and alumni from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) will present their research at the 2025 American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting, taking place April 22–27 in Denver, Colorado.
As the world’s largest gathering of education researchers, AERA 2025 will feature more than 2,500 sessions organized under the theme “Research, Remedy, and Repair: Toward Just Education Renewal.” The conference brings together top scholars to explore imaginative solutions to persistent educational inequities and challenges.
Among this year’s featured speakers is SESP Dean Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, who is scheduled to appear in 10 events, including six prestigious Presidential Sessions and the opening symposium, which will examine the future of higher education amid today’s polarized sociopolitical climate.
The symposium, moderated by AERA President Janelle T. Scott of the University of California, Berkeley, will include prominent thought leaders such as Shaun R. Harper of the University of Southern California, Danielle Holley of Mount Holyoke College, OiYan Poon of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Sarah Willcox of Scholars at Risk.
Access the full schedule of SESP participation, including additional presentations, panels, and symposia.
Recognized for Outstanding Work
Several members of the SESP community are receiving national recognition for their groundbreaking contributions to education research:
- Alumna Jen Cowhy, (PhD24), assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, will receive four awards for her dissertation, including Best Dissertation from the Special and Inclusive Education Research SIG, Best Graduate Student Paper from the Organizational Theory SIG, Best Dissertation from the Policy and Politics Division, and Best Paper Award from the Districts in Research and Reform SIG.
Read more: “Reconceptualizing Parents as Policy Agents.” - Alumna Jessica Marshall, (PhD24) of the Spencer Foundation will receive the Division B Outstanding Dissertation Award for her work, “Teaching for Repair: Examining Teachers’ Approaches to Implementation of a Mandated Curriculum on Police Violence and the Struggle for Justice in Chicago.” Her research was recognized for its “exceptional quality, originality, and contribution to the field.”
- Alumna Mollie McQuillan, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a 2025 W.T. Grant Scholar, will receive an Early Career Award at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, April 24, during the Division L business meeting in the Mile High Ballroom 1CD. McQuillan won AERA’s Emerging Scholar Award and the Outstanding Educational Policy Report Award in 2023 and received honorable mention for the Administration, Organization, and Leadership Outstanding Dissertation Award in 2020.
- Melanie Muskin, a SESP doctoral student and instructor at Vassar College, earned the 2024–25 Teacher’s Work/Teachers Union Outstanding Student Paper Award for her study, “Quitting with a Crowd: An Exploration of Teachers’ Resignation Stories on TikTok.”
Presidential Sessions Featuring SESP Scholars
SESP faculty and alumni are participating in multiple high-profile Presidential Sessions, tackling urgent topics such as AI in education, climate change, Indigenous educational futures, and the peer review crisis. Notable sessions include:
- “AI and Educational Justice: A Critical Conversation”
April 23 | 2:30–4 p.m. | Participants: Sepehr Vakil, Charles Logan - “Environmental Crises and Inequality”
April 23 | 2:30–4 p.m. | Discussant: Bryan Brayboy - “Curriculum as Remedy and Reparation”
April 24 | 9:50–11:20 a.m. | Participant: Jessica Marshall - “Horizons of Human Possibilities”
April 24 | 5:25–6:55 p.m. | Chair: Carol Lee - “Indigenous Educational Futures”
April 25 | 3:20–4:50 p.m. | Chair: Megan Bang; Discussant: Bryan Brayboy - "Research and Rewriting Knowledge for Just Education Renewal"
April 26 | 11:40 a.m.–1:10 p.m. | Participant: Natalie Araujo Melo - "Religion as a Force in American Education"
April 27, | 9:50 –11:20 a.m. | Participant: Bryan Brayboy - “The Academic Publishing and Peer Review Crisis”
April 27 | 11:40 a.m.–1:10 p.m. | Participant: Bryan Brayboy
SESP Alumni Participants
Megan Bang, Northwestern; Nikki Barry, University of California, Los Angeles; Angel Xiao Bohannon; Ravit Golan Duncan, Rutgers; Cassandra Hart, University of California-Davis; Christina Krist, University of Illinois; Victor Lee, Stanford University; Emily Machado, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Steven McGee, The Learning Partnership; Mollie McQuillan, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Heather McCambly, University of Pittsburgh; Julissa Muñiz, University of California, Santa Cruz; Kalonji Nzinga, University of Colorado-Boulder; Nichole Pinkard, Northwestern; Aireale Rodgers, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Abigail Stein, Carnegie Mellon University; Carrie Tzou, University of Washington-Bothell; Elizabeth van Es, University of California, Irvine; and Samantha Viano, George Mason University.
Engage with Us at AERA 2025
Conference attendees are encouraged to connect with the Northwestern SESP community by using the hashtag #SESPatAERA and following along on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky.
About the School of Education and Social Policy
Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy prepares leaders who use evidence, research, and human-centered design to create effective learning environments. SESP is nationally recognized for its interdisciplinary approach to education, learning sciences, social policy, and human development.