Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education Faculty Deliver Impressive Showing of Research at American Educational Research Association 2026 Conference

BATON ROUGE, LA — Faculty from the Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education (SOE) achieved a commendable showing at the April meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA)’s 2026 conference in Los Angeles, CA. 

The 2026 conference theme was “Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: Constructing a New Vision for Educational Research.” AERA President Maisha T. Winn, PhD, invited students, educators, practitioners and researchers to engage in futuring for education and education research; that is: “intentional collective planning and future making that seeks to spark innovation, sustainability and equitable opportunities.”

Representing the PK-12 Educational Leadership program, Henderson Lewis, Jr., PhD, was tapped as an Invited Speaker to share his expertise in the Scholars and Advocates for Gender Equity Committee session, “Lessons Learned that Cannot be Forgotten,” where he shared his experiences post-Katrina with the repercussions of laying off the predominantly female teaching force in Orleans Parish Schools. In a paper session sponsored by AERA’s Research on the Superintendency SIG, Lewis also presented “The Unification Story: Transforming New Orleans Schools.” Lewis also co-presented with two current SOE graduate students, Veysel Altunal and Stacy-Ann Campbell, collaborating on a roundtable session “Unforgetting the Past, Futuring AI: Leadership Visions for Equitable Educational Technologies” and another paper session, “Unschooling the System: Learning Pods, Family Choice, and Rewriting Educational Futures.” Lewis co-presented a fifth presentation, collaborating with three doctoral students, Altunel, Campbell, and Nicholas Bijou, “Governing Innovation and System Change in an Era of Choice.”

Lewis was joined by PK-12 Educational Leadership program colleague Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, PhD, program coordinator for the PK-12 Educational Leadership program and director of the LSU Writing Project, who participated in two peer-reviewed sessions; a roundtable, “Unforgetting Contributions to Environmental Preservation: Remembering Elzada Clover’s and Lois Jotter’s Historical Journey and Work” with doctoral student, Hayley A. Graham; and a paper session, “Participants: Unforgetting Teaching Herstories: Bringing Relationship Literacies Forward While Shifting Narratives About Teaching Through Life Stories” with colleagues from University of Northen Iowa, Western Michigan University and Washington State University. Sulentic Dowell also serves as elected Chair of the Biographical and Documentary Research Special Interest Group (SIG).

Allie J. Boquet, PhD, a faculty member in the SOE’s Special Education program, delivered a solid performance as she presented “Reimagining Postsecondary Inclusion: Emergency Preparedness Planning for Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Higher Education,” a session she co-submitted with Paul Mooney, PhD, also faculty in the Special Education program.

Also making a notably strong showing were members of SOE’s Higher Education Administration program. Ashley Clayton, PhD, participated in collaborative research session “College Advising for Undocumented Students in California Title I High Schools” and was joined by a colleague from University of Texas - El Paso.

“Fostering a Sense of Belonging Among Transfers: A Peer-Mentoring Program at a Four-Year Institution” was a research presentation spearheaded by Higher Education Administration faculty Yu April Chen, PhD, who collaborated with three Higher Education Administration graduate students, Jingwen Liu, Doyinsola Ogunremi and Madalyn McGinnis. 

Jennifer Baumgartner, PhD, faculty member in the SOE’s Early Childhood Education program served as discussant for a session, “Workforce Wellbeing and Retention in Early Childhood Education.” Baumgartner is also the elected chair of the Early Education Child Development SIG of AERA. 

Jennifer Qian, EdD, program lead for SOE's Educational Technology program, presented two studies addressing current challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence in education: “The AI Imperative: A Study of AI Policies for Faculty and Students in U.S. Higher Education” and “Unlocking the Power of Prompt Engineering: A Critical Pedagogical Tool in the AI Age.”

Investigating pressing education issues through conducting educational research is what SOE faculty do as a matter of course. Whether it is presenting original research or providing service, SOE faculty who presented at AERA represent the larger SOE faculty who are at the cutting edge of the most complex issues and challenges currently in education, from early childhood to higher education.

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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.

Visit the LSU Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education website.