Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education Faculty to Serve the American Educational Research Association

BATON ROUGE, LA — While the tenure track faculty at LSU focus major efforts toward scholarly productivity and teaching, the third significant component of tenure is service. Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education (SOE) faculty members, Kim D. MacGregor, PhD, and Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, PhD, have channeled their deep expertise and extensive knowledge toward providing service to one of education’s premier professional organizations, the American Educational Research Association (AERA). 

Founded in 1916, AERA is a 25,000-member strong organization comprised of scientists, teachers, students, educational leaders, administrators, state and local agencies, counselors, and evaluators. The scope of academic disciplines represented by the AERA membership includes education, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science. There are 12 divisions covering different research areas in education. As the largest gathering of educational researchers, AERA’s annual meeting highlights cutting-edge research and serves as a forum for the exchange of topics and research methods.

MacGregor, a senior faculty member in the SOE and coordinator of the graduate program in Applied Research, Measurement and Evaluation, has provided extensive service to one of AERA’s largest Special Interest Groups (SIG), the Mixed Methods SIG. MacGregor was duly elected from a slate of international members and began serving as program chair of the Mixed Method SIG in 2022-2023 and chaired the SIG for two consecutive years, from 2023-2025, with her term ending with the 2025 AERA meeting. MacGregor culminated her final chairmanship year as part of a panel discussion on mixed methods research at AERA in Denver from April 22 through April 26. The panel discussion prompted attendees to think broadly and deeply about the needs of graduate students learning mixed methods in various contexts, envisioning how faculty like MacGregor actively contribute to the professional development of future mixed methods researchers. Most faculty serve their typical three-year term commitments and roll off, but MacGregor has continued her service to AERA and now serves the Mixed Methods SIG as its historian.

“Engaging in a leadership role within a national level research organization has provided me with opportunities to interact with colleagues and students from across the United States,” MacGregor said. “I gained insights about mixed method research which I’m able to share with students and researchers at LSU.” 

Sulentic Dowell, the Cecil "Pete" Taylor Endowed Professor in Literacy Leadership and Urban Education, director of the LSU Writing Project, and coordinator of the PhD program in PK-12 Educational Leadership, commenced her term as incoming chair of AERA’s Biographical and Documentary Research SIG at the annual meeting in Denver. Elected this past February, Sulentic Dowell officially assumed her duties May 1, 2025, and she will serve the Bio-Doc SIG for a three-year term, ending in April of 2028. Sulentic Dowell also co-presented at the AERA annual meeting, partnered with SOE doctoral candidate, Hayley Graham (nee Lindner), presenting original research, “Overlooked Research in Environmentalism, Stewardship, and Preservation: How Mardy Murie Epitomizes Just Education in Conservation.”  Additionally, Sulentic Dowell was tapped by incoming AERA president, Maisha T. Winn, PhD, to serve on AERA’s standing committee on Scholars and Advocates for Gender Equity in Education (SAGE).

“Serving AERA in the capacity of a SIG chair while representing the Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education and LSU is truly an honor, and I am proud to be a member of this winning team,” Sulentic Dowell said.

“Drs. MacGregor and Sulentic Dowell epitomize the excellence and commitment to service which pervades our school,” SOE Interim Director and Associate Dean for Academic Programs & Institutional Effectiveness of the College of Human Sciences & Education Eugene Kennedy, PhD, said. “We applaud their significant achievements.” 

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About the LSU Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education
A school of the LSU College of Human Sciences & Education, the Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education (SOE) offers undergraduate programs for students who want to pursue a career as a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade teacher or acquire dual certification in both traditional elementary and special education classrooms. In addition, SOE offers 3 graduate certificates, 17 master’s degree program areas, 9 EdS certificate programs, and 2 PhD degrees in 11 areas of focus. SOE’s focus is not only on preparing highly qualified teachers but also in preparing educational leaders, curriculum studies scholars, educational technology experts, applied researchers, higher education professionals, school counselors, and clinical mental health counselors. SOE specializes scholarly expertise regarding pressing educational and wellness issues across the entire lifespan.

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About the College of Human Sciences & Education 
The College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division of Louisiana State University. The college is comprised of the School of Education, the School of Information Studies, the School of Kinesiology, the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development, and the School of Social Work. CHSE has two model demonstration schools, the Early Childhood Education Laboratory Preschool, enrolling birth to age four and the University Laboratory School enrolling Kindergarten through grade 12. The college also has four centers and institutes: the Early Childhood Education Institute, the Healthy Aging Research Center, the Leadership Development Institute, and Social Research & Evaluation Center. The college is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research, and service and aims to improve quality of life across the lifespan.

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