Gevirtz School Dean Jeff Milem (third from right) with a group of deans from LEARN meeting with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (in blue, center) from the 1st district in Oregon and member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce
Dean Jeffrey Milem of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School recently returned from two trips to Washington, DC to meet with deans of education schools from across the country. As part of both meetings, he went to Capitol Hill with other deans to meet with U.S. senators and representatives to lobby for federal programs that support research in education, applied psychology, and child development.
Milem’s first trip was to meet fellow deans who are part of the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Consortium of University and Research Institutions (CURI). AERA-CURI serves as a unique forum for its member institutions to (1) examine and collaborate on emerging and persisting issues associated with their research missions, (2) facilitate their engagement in AERA’s education and advocacy efforts to promote federal research support and sound research policies, and (3) enhance collaborative efforts among individual scholars within AERA and the academic and research institutions of which they are a part.
The second trip involved deans from the Learning and Education Academic Research Network (LEARN Coalition). LEARN was created with the express purpose of educating members of Congress (both House and Senate), their staff, staff of critical congressional committees, and other policy makers about the importance of research on learning and development. Specifically, LEARN advocates for federal investment in multi-disciplinary research to advance the scientific understanding of learning and development. LEARN also highlights innovations underway at member institutions and provides evidenced-based information to assist legislators and policymakers in understanding the importance of research in improving education across the nation.