The American Educational Research Association 2014 Annual Meeting featured new work from Cynthia Coburn, Professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. In Research Use In District Decision-Making; A Methodological Approach, Coburn presented an analytic approach, rooted in observational work and new methods of analysis, to understand how the role of framing, specifically diagnostic and prognostic framing, influences the way research is incorporated in district decision making. Coburn’s second paper, School Districts and Their External Partners: A Conceptual Framework for Productive Partnering (written with Caitlin Farrell), used absorptive capacity in a conceptual framework for understanding the range of ways districts work with external partners and the district conditions that shape this work. Several additional Collaborative members also contributed new research findings and perspectives at the conference. These included:
- George Bohrnstedt: NAEP and the Challenges Presented by a Move to Common Core State Standards
- Kenji Hakuta: 60th Since Brown…50th Since the Civil Rights Act symposium and discussion
- Jennifer O’Day: Schools’ Experiences With School Improvement Grants (SIG): First-Year Results from SIG Case Studies
- Joseph Johnson: The Elusive Description of Leadership in Effective Urban Schools
Coburn, Hakuta, and Warren Simmons also contributed to additional presentations as session discussants.