Re: [xmca] Comments on AERJ

[Jay Lemke <lemke.jay@gmail.com>]

I can understand concern that the changes in AERJ may result in reduced
page space allocated specifically to social concerns in the field. But it
is not clear to me that this will inevitably happen, and I would rather
wait and see before boycotting AERA.

As I understand it, the change is to move from having separate subsections
with sub-editors in charge, to a single overall editorial competition among
papers. This will, I think, prove logistically difficult for the editors.
What matters to a wise distribution of papers coming from different
concerns and approaches in the field is the choice of the editors and their
savvy in these matters. They may make it work to everyone's satisfaction,
or not.

Bill Tierney, the current president of AERA, has been very supportive of
gay/queer LGBTQ issues, publicly and privately. That should count for
something as well.

As to alternative professional homes, it may be wise to vet these
carefully. AESA looks on quick inspection reasonably progressive and
oriented to sociocultural perspectives on education. I believe there are
some other competing, and reasonably named, organizations that are more
inspired by right-wing views.

In any case, I have never had a high opinion of AERA because of the low
average intellectual quality of its far-too-big annual meetings. I stopped
reading AERJ quite a while ago. For a long time its sister AERA journal,
the Ed Researcher was meant to be the one that covered developments of
interest to the whole field, and the step-sister RER has been a review
journal of higher average quality IMHO that has kept to a policy of
periodically re-visiting the whole range of approaches within the field.

Thanks, Jenna, for the heads-up and alert.

JAY.

Please do not use my older email address jaylemke@umich.edu. That account
is being closed.

Jay Lemke
LCHC/Department of Communication
University of California - San Diego
www.jaylemke.com



On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 1:49 PM, Jenna McWilliams <jennamcjenna@gmail.com>wrote:

> I've been following an interesting discussion thread about this on AERA's
> Queer Studies SIG listserv--although I don't quite understand all the
> details, I know that many members of Queer Studies have chosen to terminate
> their AERA membership, boycott this year's Annual Meeting, and/or shift
> their conference focus to the American Educational Studies Association's
> annual conference (http://www.educationalstudies.org/conference.html).
> This, from John Petrovic, started the conversation:
>
> AERJ will be moving to an integrated format that eliminates the space for
> social analysis. Of course, in theory, the space will simply be
> "integrated." Nevertheless, this move will, as far as I can tell, make AERJ
> more narrowly empirical, ie, eliminating space for queer theoretical
> analysis and social theory of all sorts, philosophy, history, etc. [...]
>
> The Editors of the SIA section of the AERJ resigned effective July 1. I
> have followed suit and resigned from the Editorial Board. I will also
> discontinue all service to AERA and make AESA my professional and
> intellectual home.
>
> I would love to hear others' thoughts on any of this--AERA, AERJ, AESA, or
> other.
>
>
>
>
>
> Jenna McWilliams
> Cultural-Historical Research SIG Communications Chair
> Learning Sciences Program, Indiana University
>
> ~
> jenmcwil@indiana.edu
> jennamcjenna@gmail.com
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2013, at 4:20 PM, David Preiss wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> > For those of us that are less informed, does anybody know what AERA is
> understanding as the field of education in the decision reported below?
> Does it mean they would open the journal to alternative methodologies and
> approaches?  And how would this impact international dialogue? I have
> stopped going to AERA as it has became very local and scarcely sensitive to
> international contributions and shifted to other European conferences.
> >
> > Your thoughts will be appreciated.
> >
> > David
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> >> From: "AERA President & Executive Director" <president@aera.net>
> >> Subject: Council Decision on AERJ Proposed Change in Structure
> >> Date: February 17, 2013 7:24:18 PM GMT-03:00
> >> To: "David D. Preiss" <davidpreiss@uc.cl>
> >> Reply-To: "AERA President & Executive Director" <president@aera.net>
> >>
> >> Dear AERA Members,
> >>
> >> We are writing to report on the decision of AERA Council to transform
> the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ) into an integrated journal
> that spans the scope of the field, theoretically, empirically, and
> methodologically. In arriving at an affirmative decision, Council
> considered the reports of the AERJ Subcommittee and the Journal
> Publications Committee, background documents on the journal, a member
> survey related to the proposed change, and additional member input.
> >>
> >> The AERJ Subcommittee and the Journal Publications Committee
> unanimously recommended this change. The decision to alter the present
> structure was supported by two-thirds of the AERA Council.
> >>
> >> The Journal Publications Committee is being asked to prepare and submit
> an implementation plan no later than February 2014, to include a new vision
> statement, description of editorial structure, and a draft announcement for
> the editor search for a one-AERJ. AERA Council will need to review and
> approve the implementation plan.
> >>
> >> Assuming approval of the implementation plan, the AERJ change would
> occur with the 2016 volume year—the 100th anniversary of the Association.
> This timetable provides for a deliberative search to be conducted for a new
> editorial team and a lengthy transition.
> >>
> >> Over 400 members participated in the member survey. This is a much more
> substantial turnout than for other such surveys conducted of our members.
> Approximately 75 percent of the respondents favored change. Among those who
> did not, the primary concerns related to the editorial leadership and
> management of a one-AERJ, not the substantive aims or ambitions of an
> integrated journal. Fortunately there are models of field-spanning flagship
> journals with much higher manuscript submission loads each year than AERJ
> that the Journal Publications Committee can draw on in setting forth an
> implementation plan. Also, the Committee has benefit of how the Educational
> Researcher and the Review of Educational Research—two of AERA’s field
> spanning journals—organize to ensure breadth of vision and content coverage
> for these journals.
> >>
> >> On behalf of Council, we want to thank you for your interest in AERJ
> and in the AERA Journal Publications Program. This Association has always
> published peer reviewed research of the highest quality, visibility, and
> ranking and is committed to continuing to do so.
> >>
> >> Cordially,
> >>
> >> William G. Tierney, PhD
> >> President, 2012-2013
> >>
> >> Felice J. Levine, PhD
> >> Executive Director
> >>
> >>
> >
> > __________________________________________
> > _____
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