The following selected research papers will be presented at the place-based component of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago, Ill, on April 15.
Study: “Changes in Children’s Kindergarten Readiness in the Wake of COVID-19: Statewide Evidence From Louisiana”
Authors: Anna J. Markowitz (University of California, Los Angeles), Walter A. Herring (Mathematica), Isabelle Fares (University of Virginia)
Session: Ongoing COVID Impacts in Early Childhood Education
Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CT
Main Findings:
- Between 5 and 15 percent fewer kindergarteners met readiness benchmarks across multiple areas after schools closed in 2020, with the largest declines in literacy, mathematics, and physical development.
- Readiness drops were larger among Black children than White children across all domains except mathematics, and larger among Hispanic children than White children in social-emotional development.
Study: “Interaction With a Television Character Powered by Artificial Intelligence Promotes Children’s Science Learning”
Authors: Ying Xu (University of Michigan), Julian Levine, Valery Vigil, Daniel Ritchie (University of California – Irvine), Shan Zhang (Harvard University), Trisha Thomas, Carlos Barrera, Michelle Meza, Andres Sebastian Bustamante, Mark Warschauer (University of California – Irvine)
Session: Integrating Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning
Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CT
Main Findings:
- This project showcases a collaboration between PBS Kids and university researchers to integrate artificial intelligence into children’s television shows so that the shows’ characters can ask children questions, comprehend children’s responses, and provide specific feedback.
- Offering children opportunities to converse with an AI-powered interactive media character in a science video leads to better learning outcomes than for children watching videos with no interactions or those with “pseudo” (not fully two-way) interactions that merely ask children questions and pause to allow them to respond (as is done on Dora the Explorer).
Study: “School Choice and Reading Development in Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade”
Author: Angela Cox (Vanderbilt University)
Session: Academic Experiences and Achievement in School Choice and Policy Reform Contexts
Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 9:50 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. CT
Main Finding:
- Preliminary results show that school type—traditional public, non-traditional public, or Catholic—does not have a relationship with elementary reading growth for students from kindergarten to fifth grade.
Study: “They Only Hate the Term: Explaining Opposition to History Curricula and Critical Race Theory“
Author: Jonathan Collins (Brown University)
Session: The Politics of Divisive Concepts and Anti–Critical Race Theory Legislation
Date/Time: Saturday, April 15, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CT
Main Findings:
- Americans, on average, express overwhelming support for antiracist curriculum, even when parental consent is not required.
- When the literal term “Critical Race Theory” is presented, support drops from 76 percent to 57 percent, with support falling across all demographic groups.
To request a copy of the working paper, or to talk to the study author, please contact AERA Communications: Tony Pals, Director of Communications, tpals@aera.net, cell: (202) 288-9333; Marla Koenigsknecht, Communications Associate, mkoenigsknecht@aera.net, cell: (517) 803-1591.
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About AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
