Improvement Science in Education Special Interest Group (SIG)
The Improvement Science in Education SIG is a professional community within the American Educational Research Association (AERA) committed to building knowledge about the principles, methods, and tools of improvement science and related approaches to improve outcomes in educational systems. The SIG aims to provide a home for the growing scholarly community interested in applying (and adapting) the principles, methods, and tools of improvement science to educational problems.
Teaching & Learning Improvement Research in Education
The T&L IRE working group is a gathering of faculty and education professionals who are designing graduate and professional courses for students/practitioners learning about improvement research. Our meetings focus on learner artifacts as the linchpin for discussion around quality teaching and learning in a wide variety of higher education and professional settings. We have been using critical inquiry protocols like the collaborative assessment conference protocol or an adaptation of NSCD’s Peeling the Onion to explore and discuss learners’ work and related learning resources from a single course each month.
For more information contact: David Eddy Spicer dhe5f@virginia.edu and Kristen C. Wilcox kwilcox1@albany.edu.
The Improvement-Focused Leadership Learning Community
The Improvement-focused Leadership Learning Community is open to any faculty, K-12 practitioners, or improvement coaches who teach improvement methods to educators or educational leaders. In each monthly meeting, one of our members hosts a discussion around a dilemma or problem of practice related to teaching improvement-focused research. These discussions often result in shared projects (e.g., UCEA Critical Conversations or AERA Symposia).
For example, our learning community has hosted discussions about: (a) innovations in university-based programs to allow for the collaborative and iterative nature of improvement research; (b) protocols and scaffolds for teaching improvement science or design-based school improvement in professional development settings; (c) how to ensure a deep equity focus in the teaching of improvement; (d) what a focus on improvement means for mentoring or advising; and (e) mapping learning needs for each phase of an improvement journey.
For more information or to receive the calendar and links to join, please reach out to co-facilitators of the community, Elizabeth Zumpe & Max Yurkofsky.
Early Career Scholar Equity and Continuous Improvement Working Group
We would love to have you join us for our monthly working group for grad students and early career scholars where we discuss equity and continuous improvement. During this group, we typically do a shared reading, discuss different conceptualizations of equity in continuous improvement and explore what equitable continuous improvement looks like in practice.
We typically meet on the second Friday of every month but are happy to work around people’s schedules.
Please email Angel Bohannon and Carlos Sandoval if you are interested in joining at bohannon@u.northwestern.edu and csandov2@wested.org