USC Rossier scholars reflect on AERA 2026

This year’s American Educational Research Association conference was certainly one for the books. The event, which took place in Los Angeles this past April, brought together education scholars from around the nation to exchange ideas and present their research findings. From new strategies to improve math instruction and increasing support for graduate students of color to developing tools for K–12 leaders and test-optional policies, the wide range of scholarship from USC Rossier was on full display. While faculty were active throughout the five-day event, many were eager to spotlight the contributions of PhD students and postdoctoral fellows who participated in the event. For Professor of Education Julie Marsh, one of the most rewarding parts of the conference was presenting alongside so many current and former students. 

We asked Marsh and other faculty, doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows to reflect on their experiences. Here is what they shared: 

Yasmin Copur-Genturck, Katzman/Ernst Chair for Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation

Session chair: “Beliefs, Practices and Identities: Reframing Mathematics Teaching Through a Human-Centered Lens.”

Author: Written Feedback as a Window into Teachers’ Mindset Beliefs in Elementary Mathematics

One idea that has stayed with you: Two of my PhD students—Danielle Silvaggio and Kyle Moreno—presented our work. Their interpretation of the study and the questions they brought to the session stayed with me, as it shows they are on the right track toward becoming scholars.

The next question your experience has prompted you to explore: How feedback practices are shaped by our underlying beliefs and perceptions. I would like to explore ways to improve those feedback practices so they effectively support and empower all students.

Zoë Corwin, Research Professor

Author: Ten Years of PASS Project: Reflections on a Longitudinal Research-to-Practice Study

One idea that has stayed with you: Our symposium highlighted the PASS project, a research-to-practice partnership that now spans over a decade. After hearing one of our practitioner partners speak to the impact of our collaboration, I am left contemplating the complexity of exiting a long-term research relationship–and how those relationships involve institutions, practitioner partners, as well as members of the research team.

The next question your experience has prompted you to explore: It’s critical to keep exploring how to best translate research findings from a conference like AERA into resources that are accessible and meaningful to practitioners. I’m interested in how to amplify and cross-pollinate among researchers working on similar topics.

Jon Fullerton, Executive Director, USC EdPolicy Hub

Regional Research Breakfast, Participating Partnerships

This event, hosted by the USC EdPolicy Hub and the Los Angeles Unified School District, brought together teams from seven research-practitioner partnerships across four universities in Southern California to provide attendees insights into research-practice work going on in the region.

One idea from the breakfast that has stayed with you: It was thrilling to see the depth and diversity of the research work going on in our neighborhood—and inspiring to know that all of this work is directly aimed at improving outcomes for our students.

The next question your experience has prompted you to explore: There are substantial opportunities for cross-fertilization across the participants' work – we are already thinking about how to bring these groups together again to learn from each other and increase our impact on education in the region.

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Fahmy and Donna Attallah Chair in Humanistic Psychology

Presenter in Presidential session: “How the Science of Learning and Development and the Neurosciences Can Inform Re-Envisioning Human Possibility”

One idea that has stayed with you: The importance of educational researchers appreciating the humanistic, contextual complexity and dynamic nature of learning. Meaningful educational change and inclusivity are stymied by overly linear, incremental and constrained approaches to understanding human development in educational contexts.

One word: Generative. The theme gave rise to a program that was especially interdisciplinary, globally conscious and forward-looking.

Huriya Jabbar, Professor of Education Research

Author: Educational Opportunity Amid Urban Revitalization: Perceptions from Long-term Resident Parents and Children

One idea that has stayed with you: How critical social networks are in shaping educational opportunity, not only through information-sharing but through essential material and logistical support, especially for low-income families whose networks often compensate for gaps in public infrastructure. 

The next question your experience has prompted you to explore: We need more research to understand the specific mechanisms through which major housing and neighborhood investments, such as HOPE VI and Choice Neighborhoods, reshape social networks and, in turn, how these changes influence families’ access to educational opportunities and longer-term outcomes.

Royal Johnson, Associate Professor 

Author: Signals of Identity Safety: How Relational and Curricular Cues Shape Belonging for Graduate Students of Color

One idea that has stayed with you: How much belonging is shaped by everyday academic interactions—particularly how faculty signal care, respect, and intellectual inclusion in ways that are often overlooked but deeply consequential.

The next question your experience has prompted you to explore: How these identity safety cues operate under increasing political constraints, especially in contexts where faculty may feel uncertain or constrained in how they engage issues of race and equity?

Joseph Kitchen, Associate Research Professor and Zoë Corwin, Research Professor

Authors: Low-Income College Students’ Academic Success: Exploring the Role of Spatial Differences in Precollege Communities

One idea that has stayed with you: So often we lump “low-income students” into one overarching category; in doing so, we run the risk of not tailoring resources and services to students’ unique needs and assets. This paper emphasizes the role that local home community plays in preparing students for postsecondary experiences. 

Right now, the field needs to pay more attention to: how we develop effective and validating support for at-promise students.

Alvin Makori, PhD candidate

Author: Measuring and Addressing Gaps in Out-of-School Time Access

One idea that has stayed with you: After-school supply and demand is not just a topic of importance in Southern California (as our EdPolicy Hub study showed), but one of national significance (as the other papers in the session evidenced).

The next question your experience has prompted you to explore?: A case study on a highly successful after-school initiative. This would provide an exemplar for neighborhoods seeking to improve after-school programming.

Julie Marsh, Professor of Education

Session chair: “Developing Political Leadership among K–12 Public School Leaders: Imagining a Future of Research-Based Tools”

One idea that has stayed with you: There is widespread concern about superintendent turnover, particularly in this current political context, and some belief that if we’re really serious about preparing folks to take on and stay in these important jobs, we need to target the tools we are developing (and that we shared in the session) with individuals early in their careers. In other words, we should start with principals and assistant principals and help them develop the political leadership skills, so that when they come up the ranks, they will be prepared. This idea validates our thinking to use these tools in our EdD programs.

One word: Gratifying. The conference brought together decades of scholarship, mentorship and service—I saw and presented alongside current and former students (some now professors leading their own work with their own advisees), culminating in the honor of being named an AERA Fellow.

Julie Posselt, Professor of Education

Author: The Impact of Test-Optional Policies on the College Application Process and Academic Experiences Once Enrolled

One idea that has stayed with you: That growth and fixed mindsets exist on a continuum, and educators have a substantial amount of power in if/whether/how they cultivate growth mindsets so that students see themselves as capable of mastering content. 

One word: Fulfilling. I was able to spend time in a community of people I enjoy and be exposed to new and different ideas and perspectives.

Amanda Vite, Postdoctoral Fellow

Author: Supporting Student Agency in Undergraduate Biomedical Education: An Online Agentic Orientation Intervention

One idea that has stayed with you: Our discussant's emphasis on accounting for heterogeneity in intervention design has prompted me to consider ways that student interventions could be tailored to more precisely address the distinct motivational needs of different student groups, preserving the core message of the original intervention while emphasizing elements most relevant to each group's greatest areas of need.

Right now, the field needs to pay more attention to: ways that students' psychological functioning is dynamically tied to the sociopolitical context, and ways that educators are successfully adapting to better meet students' changing needs.

View the full list of USC Rossier scholars who presented at AERA.