AERA explores educational change
At the recent Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), held this week, significant discussions around teacher collaboration, educational infrastructures, and theories of educational change took centre stage. This focus emerged from three symposia sponsored by AERA’s Educational Special Interest Group, with insights drawn from a series of Lead the Change interviews produced by Elizabeth Zumpe and colleagues. These interviews encapsulate key themes in educational transformation across diverse global contexts.
In one symposium titled "Sustaining Productive Teacher Collaborations: Infrastructures Across International Contexts," researchers Dr Bryant Jensen from Brigham Young University, Dr Amanda Datnow from the University of California, San Diego, and Dr Sarah Woulfin from the University of Texas at Austin shared research underscoring the importance of instructional infrastructures in fostering and maintaining effective teacher collaboration. They highlighted essential components such as establishing regular meetings for small teacher teams, ensuring common instructional goals, facilitating peer-led team discussions, and employing structured protocols to guide teacher inquiry.
“We hope the session audience will take at least three ideas... First, that instructional infrastructures matter a great deal in realizing and sustaining productive collaborations among teachers,” the researchers explained in their Lead the Change interview. Their work references several studies, including a decade-long case at a US middle school, where coordinated teacher meetings led by peer leaders, supported by administrative organisation, resulted in sustained instructional improvement and measurable student performance gains on state tests.
The symposium further differentiated between sustainability and scaling of teacher collaborations. While sustainability relates to keeping and adapting educational practices over time, scaling refers to expanding these practices to more contexts. Dr Jensen and colleagues discussed an experience in Israel that illustrated the challenges of large-scale implementation when existing infrastructures were insufficient to support widespread collaboration.
Additionally, the group stressed that sustaining collaboration must incorporate teachers' evolving perspectives and practices. Dr Datnow and her team’s qualitative analysis across four schools over four years revealed that accountability demands, complex team dynamics, and the cessation of external support could impede collaborative development.
Another symposium, "Resilient Pathways: Toward Political Theories of Action for Achieving Educational Equity," featured contributions from Dr Aireale J. Rodgers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr Heather N. McCambly of the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr Román Liera of Montclair State University. They addressed the political and critical aspects of educational change aimed at equity in higher education. Emphasising the necessity of reflection before action, they cited radical organisers Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba in cautioning against hasty initiatives that risk perpetuating existing systemic inequalities.
“We understand and appreciate the urge toward action... Yet, lessons from radical organizer-educators teach us that a move to action without critical reflection and collective organising won’t free us. At worst, moving too quickly to action can rebirth the same system in a different form,” they remarked. Their symposium encouraged AERA members to reflect on persistent and emerging theories of change through empirical cases including ethnic community organisations, faculty cluster hiring, and analyses of racism and white supremacy in postsecondary institutions.
The third symposium spotlighted the "Teacher-Led Learning Circles," a project investigating professional learning approaches that enhance teachers' use of formative assessment to advance student learning. Presented by Dr Carol Campbell of the University of Edinburgh, along with colleagues Chris DeLuca, Nathan Rickey, Danielle LaPointe-McEwan from Queen’s University, and Martin Henry from Education International, the research draws from experiences in seven countries over four continents.
The project underlines the pivotal role of teacher quality in educational change and highlights formative assessment’s potential, rooted in work by Black and Wiliam (1998) and the Assessment Reform Group. From their findings, the team identified several crucial elements for effective professional learning supporting teacher leadership and student outcomes. These include tailoring goals to student and teacher needs, differentiating approaches to reflect teachers’ contexts and evolving practices, providing quality, relevant content, and fostering active collaboration through both online and face-to-face formats.
Dr Campbell and her colleagues emphasised, “Professional learning can contribute to successful change efforts at the local level when supporting teachers in identifying and focusing on goals linked to their students’ needs and for teachers’ own professional learning needs. These twin goals can enhance both student agency and teacher leadership.”
They also noted the importance of adequate resources such as funding, expert facilitators, and dedicated time for professional development, coupled with system leadership engagement including teacher unions and formal school leaders. Regarding formative assessment itself, the team found it involves a suite of interconnected practices adapted to local contexts, functioning across diverse teaching environments regardless of technological access.
Importantly, they observed that formative assessment practices are most effective when intentionally integrated into everyday pedagogy: “In some cases, teachers’ strategies did not integrate or maximise the potential of formative assessment to further benefit students’ learning,” the researchers commented.
These symposia collectively contribute to a nuanced understanding of educational change, highlighting the interplay of collaborative infrastructures, reflective equity-driven action, and teacher-led professional learning as central to advancing teaching and learning globally. The full Lead the Change interviews are available on the LtC website, continuing to provide rich insights into the pathways and challenges of educational transformation.