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SREE 2025 Conference

Education in Context: Research, Systems, and the Future of Evidence-Based Change

A Message from the Program Co-Chairs

Shanette Porter & Francesca López, 2025 Program Co-Chairs

The education sector is influenced by a wide range of social, economic, and political systems. This year’s conference, Education in Context: Research, Systems, and the Future of Evidence-Based Change, invites participants to explore how education interacts with these broader systems to shape school-related policy, teacher and leader practice, and the experiences of students and families.

From shifting social landscapes, to evolving workforce demands, and advances in technology, education is intricately linked to other societal structures. How can researchers generate evidence that accounts for these interdependencies? What methodological approaches help bridge research and practice within multi-layered systems? How do we ensure that education research informs, rather than exists apart from, the realities that educators, students, and their communities navigate daily?

At this year’s meeting, we invite attendees to discuss relevant insights and findings about education in context, and to explore the approaches, frameworks, and tools necessary for research that not only examines educational practices, policies, and initiatives, but also considers the broader systems in which they unfold. 

In service of advancing understanding of how systems uniquely, differentially, or interactively contribute to outcomes in education, we encourage submissions that:

  • Analyze educational effectiveness within economic, social, and historical contexts, recognizing the ways broader systems shape educational opportunity and outcomes.

  • Examine intersections between education and fields such as public health, housing, law and ethics, transportation, and workforce development to better understand the structural forces influencing learning and development.

  • Highlight novel methodological approaches that enable researchers to assess the impact of education practices, policies, and initiatives in dynamic, real-world settings.

  • Explore the role of data and evidence in decision-making, including how researchers can gather input from, and share findings with, policymakers, practitioners, and students, families, and their communities.

  • Reflect innovative efforts around heterogeneity and/or community-specific experiences and effects   

  • Involve collaborations among researchers, practitioners, policymakers, students and families, or other stakeholders.

  • Use a range of causal, descriptive, and mixed-methods research methods to examine, evaluate, and identify key practices, policies, and approaches that improve outcomes for students. 

  • Speak to scale, sustainability, and long-term positive impacts across the lifespan. 

As the relationship between education and other sectors continues to evolve, so must our approaches to studying, interpreting, and applying evidence. We invite you to join us in both examining education in the context of surrounding systems and shaping the future of evidence-informed change at the 2025 SREE annual meeting.

Shanette Porter, UChicago Consortium on School Research, and Francesca López, Pennsylvania State University
SREE 2025 Conference Program Co-Chairs