Conference Overview

We want to thank everyone for responding to the 2012 conference evaluation survey that has been useful in helping us plan for the 2013 conference. We would also like to thank the 2012 Conference Chairs, Tia Sukin, Craig Wells, and Gil Andrada, and Past President, Lynn Shelley-Sireci for all their great work in making the 2012 conference a success.

Conference Theme: The conference theme for 2013 is "Fairness!" We are organizing several invited sessions, panels and professional development workshops addressing Fairness in education. This year, Fairness will take on a broad perspective and participants will be excited to see the depth and breadth this topic can follow.

Conference Venue: The conference will return to the Sheraton Hartford South Hotel in Rocky Hill, CT. Formally known as the Hartford Marriot Rocky Hill, the Sheraton has promised new and updated facilities to house the conference. The dates of the Conference will be October 23-25, 2013. Membership and conference registration forms will be available on the NERA website: www.nera-education.org this summer.

Keynote Speaker: This year, we are happy to announce Charlotte Danielson, internationally recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness, specializing in the design of teacher evaluation systems, as our keynote speaker.

Keynote Panel: year, we will also host a panel of experts on Fairness from our own organization, NERA. This panel will include: Barbara Helms, Kristen Huff, Tom Levine, David Moss, and Thanos Patelis.

Professional Development Workshops: We are planning two pre-conference workshops and several embedded-conference workshops covering topics such as differentiated instruction in the college classroom, R software, measurement invariance, G theory, social network analysis, and qualitative data analysis.

Invited Panels: There will be several invited panels that will present throughout the conference on different topics such as: international education, school safety, and several aspects of fairness in education.

Round-table Discussions: New this year, we will be hosting a "table talk" round table discussion about educational topics outside the formalized presentation sessions. A facilitator will lead these round-table discussions.

Mentoring:The mentoring program, led by Ross Markle and Pamela Kaliski, will provide graduate students with the opportunity to meet with professionals in the education field. Mentors can provide individualized feedback on research projects and/or dissertations, as well as provide guidance during the conference. For more information, please visit http://www.nera-education.org/conference/mentor.php.

Social Events: The annual NERA conference has been a venue for creating a collegial and festive atmosphere. This year, we will be hosting two evening events that are sure to "bring down the house." In addition, we will be hosting a 5K walk/run on Thursday morning before conference sessions begin. This event will get your blood pumping early!

Online Proposal Submission System: We will continue using the online proposal submission process, which can be accessed at NERA Submission. The system will be open until June 7, 2013. Please see the Call for Proposals and FAQs for more information. We also encourage you to distribute the Call for Proposals to other educational researchers who may not have access to this publication.

We are looking forward to another successful and exciting NERA conference! See you all in October! Remember to like the NERA page on Facebook for up-to-date news from NERA or email us if you have any questions:NERA2013@gmail.com

Thank You!
Steven Holtzman, Educational Testing Service
Catherine Koehler, Southern Connecticut State University
Jennifer Randall, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
NERA 2013 Program Co-Chairs