SAN DIEGO, the United States, April 15 (Xinhua) -- About 12,000 educators from universities and other education institutions in the United States and 60 foreign countries continued their conference in San Diego on Wednesday to exchange research findings on wide-ranging education topics.
"The 2009 annual meeting will be an opportunity for renewed discussion and expansion of the role of education research as a hub of interdisciplinary scholarship," said Program Chair Michael Feuer from the National Academy of Sciences.
The theme of the conference this year is Disciplined Inquiry: Education Research in the Circle of Knowledge, a focus that celebrates a tradition of multi-disciplinary work and looks ahead to assess new ways that education research and disciplinary inquiry might be more effectively integrated.
The five-day conference, kicked off on Monday, is sponsored by the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
"Education research has been inclusive in its application of disciplinary perspectives, and in its respect for quantitative and qualitative methods," said AERA President Lorraine McDonnel. "The result has been a uniquely rich capacity for education research to draw on a broad range of humanistic and scientific disciplines, and to contribute widely to the improvement of education policy and practice," she added.
Lucy Cunningham, communications and outreach associate from American Educational Research Association, told Xinhua American Educational Research Association is the largest association in the field of education research in the United States. The conference sponsored by it not only attracts educators from the United States, but also from the world.
She said some of the topics at this conference have international input. A symposium session is scheduled to focus on developing democratic learning communities through school-university networks in China, the Netherlands and the United States.
Educators from Hong Kong Baptist University, Boston College, University of Amsterdam and University of Oklahoma are scheduled to discuss the issue on Tuesday.
A special session has been devoted to discuss the experiences of Asian and Pacific American students in high schools and colleges. Melissa Kwon from University of California-Santa Barbara will discuss her findings on the impact of the model minority stereotype on Asian American college student leadership involvement.
More Asians have now worked at U.S. universities, high schools and elementary schools. The conference has scheduled one session to discuss issues facing Asian American faculty. Is there a glass ceiling for Asian American professors and other faculty members at schools? Wenfan Yan and Erin Denise knepler from University of Massachusetts have submitted their research findings on glass ceiling effect -- understanding research productivity of Asian faculty in higher education.
Educators from Hong Kong Institute of Education and National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University introduced the experience of Singapore in teacher education. They held that three factors have been cited as being key attributes to the success of top school systems: getting the right people to become teacher, developing them into effective instructors and ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.
The experience from Singapore could be shared by educators from other countries, they said.
Professor Carolyn Callahan and Assistant Professor Holly Hertberg-Davis from University of Virginia are scheduled to present their program to boost minority and low income student's performance.
The number of African-American and Latino students taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams between 2000 and 2006 was more than doubled. But in 2006 only 27 percent of African-American students taking those exams received a three or higher score, compared to 32 percent in 2004 and 39 percent in 1997, according to College Board statistics.
Herberg-Davis said "The AP gap in performance between upper-middle-class white students and students from lower-income and minority backgrounds is plaguing schools nationwide."
The two educators will work with AP teachers and school counselors to develop a system of support structures for low-income and minority students prior to and during their enrollment in AP courses.
Callahan and Hertberg-Davis have received a grant of 2.2 million U.S. dollars from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze the level at which underrepresented populations perform in AP courses and to develop and implement a program that will increase their success.
The program is designed to be flexible to allow for the teachers, counselors and students at various schools to shape them to best fit their contexts and needs.
The American Educational Research Association, founded in 1916,is the national interdisciplinary research association for approximately 25,000 scholars who undertake research in education.
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