BY DANIELLE LEGARE AND NICOLE MEHLMAN-DAVIDOW

The AERA Annual Meeting is the world’s largest gathering of education researchers and serves as a showcase for innovative studies spanning a wide range of topics. This year’s theme, “Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: Constructing a New Vision for Education Research,” invites scholars to reflect on how the field’s disciplinary and methodological diversity can help uncover overlooked histories while imagining new possibilities for education research.

“I’m delighted that GSE will once again be well represented at AERA, the premier international gathering for education researchers,” said Suzanne Rosenblith, GSE dean and professor. “The breadth of work our faculty, students and alumni are presenting reflects both the strength of their scholarship and their commitment to advancing research that addresses some of education’s most pressing challenges.”

Among those presenting is X. Christine Wang, GSE’s senior associate dean for interdisciplinary research and professor of learning and instruction, who will chair and organize the session “Innovating K–12 Teaching and Learning with Generative AI: Insights From IES-funded National R&D Centers.” The structured poster session brings together researchers from four national AI Research and Development centers funded by the Institute of Education Sciences to share emerging findings on AI-enhanced learning in K–12 education. Presentations will explore topics ranging from early literacy and STEM learning to teacher support and policy frameworks for responsible AI use.

Wang will also contribute to the symposium “Computational Playgrounds: Foundations and Futures of AI, Play, and Pedagogy in Early Childhood,” which examines how artificial intelligence and computational technologies are reshaping early childhood education. Her work in the session includes collaborations with UB scholars Xintian Tu-Shea, postdoctoral researcher; Grace Yaxin Xing, doctoral student; Zhuoyun Cai, doctoral student; Yuya Yamamoto, doctoral student; and Chris Proctor, assistant professor of learning sciences. The scholars will explore topics such as young children’s interactions with intelligent agents and what two decades of research on computational thinking can teach educators as they prepare children for an AI-driven future.

In addition, Wang will present with UB colleagues John Z. Strong, associate professor of learning and instruction; Maureen Bender, doctoral student; Anthonia Ojeh, doctoral student; Xintian Tu-Shea, postdoctoral researcher; Jaekyung Lee, UB Distinguished Professor; Zhuoyun Cai, doctoral student; Ari Hock, postdoctoral researcher; Kristen Smigielski, GSE research project manager and grants specialist; Christopher Hoadley, professor of learning sciences; Qingxiao Zheng, postdoctoral associate; and Jinjun Xiong, affiliated researcher for UB’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. The researchers will discuss projects connected to GSE’s Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI (CELaRAI), including research on teachers’ use of digital and AI-powered literacy tools, policy frameworks for responsible AI in K-12 education and the development of AIRE, an AI-supported reading tool designed to generate personalized decodable texts for young learners.

Several faculty members from across GSE’s departments will also present their work at the conference. The list below highlights a selection of faculty presentations:

• Megan Holland Iantosca, associate professor of educational leadership and policy, will present with Danielle Lewis, GSE alum and postdoctoral associate, and doctoral student Sarah Hale, “Stories of success in STEM: Composite counter-narratives of non-dominant pathways for minoritized students.”
• Brittany Jones, assistant professor of learning and instruction, will present “Black Students’ Emotions Matter Too! Examining How Black Students Feel when Learning Black Historical Suffering.”
• Jaekyung Lee, UB Distinguished Professor, and doctoral student Kylee Healy will present “Exploring Cross-cultural Predictors of Creativity as a Value-added Construct: Comparative Multi-level Analysis Using PISA Data.”
• Timothy Monreal, assistant professor of learning and instruction, will serve as chair and discussant for the symposium “Critical Dialogues in Latinx Education.”
• Yilang Zhao, assistant professor of educational data science, will chair and present in the symposium “Beyond the Numbers: Youth Interpreting and Acting on Data for Social Change.”

GSE doctoral students will also present their research at the conference, contributing to conversations on topics ranging from education policy and family engagement to classroom learning environments. The list below highlights a selection of student presenters and projects:

• Weiyi Ding will serve as chair for the roundtable session “Science Teaching and Learning.”
• Dawnavyn James will present “Bearing Witness: Protecting Black History Within Black Nonfiction Picture Books.”
• Qianqian Ma will present “Meaning in the Making: Revealing the Convergence of Languaging, Semiosis, Knowledge, and Culture in Digital Video Composing”
• Fatemeh Mozaffari will present “International Mothers in Motion: Navigating and Supporting Their Children’s Educational Journeys in the U.S.”
• Tukhbita Nawmi, along with HuiHsuan (Shana) Liu and Haochu Tian, will present “Influence of Extracurricular Resources on Mathematics Achievement: PISA 2022 Study.”
• Young Sik Seo will present “Validation of Active Learning Classroom Usage Survey for College Students.”

Founded in 1916, the American Educational Research Association is a national research society dedicated to advancing knowledge about education and promoting the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. The annual meeting brings together thousands of scholars from around the world to share research and explore new directions in the field.

A full list of University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education’s participants at the 2026 AERA Annual Meeting is available online: