AERA Releases Fifth Edition of Research Handbook

The fifth edition of the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Handbook of Research on Teaching, co-edited by Dr. Drew H. Gitomer of Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) and Dr. Courtney A. Bell of Educational Testing Service (ETS), was recently released. The volume is an essential resource for scholars and students dedicated to the study of learning. The Handbook covers a vast range of subjects in the realm of teaching and learning including history, technology, literacy, testing, globalization, teacher preparation, and special education.

Gitomer is the Rose and Nicholas DeMarzo Chair in Education at the GSE. His research centers on the assessment and evaluation of teaching and related policy issues in education. Gitomer’s current work focuses on a range of constructs including the quality of classroom interactions, teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, and student achievement. He has received research grants from the National Science Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to study measures of effective teaching.  The Handbook aims to advance the field of research on teaching  by drawing on methodological and conceptual advances from other fields.

Bell is a Senior Research Scientist at ETS, where she directs the Understanding Teaching Quality Initiative’s work on the measurement of teaching. Bell’s research collaborations focus on the measurement of teaching and how measures of teaching are understood and used at the intersections of research, policy, and practice. Her current studies use mixed methods to analyze the measurement of teaching and the validity of measures of teaching quality.

The Handbook was introduced at a symposium during the AERA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, April 10, 2016. E-book editions of the full volume and each individual chapter will be available this summer. The Handbook promises to be a crucial volume in the field of research on teaching.

To learn more about Drew Gitomer, visit his faculty profile on the GSE website.