James E. McLean Distinguished
Research Paper Award
Each year MSERA sponsors the James E. McLean Distinguished Research Paper Award. Any professional member in good standing of MSERA may submit an entry. The award winner(s) receives a plaque and reimbursement of up to $500 for costs affiliated with presenting at AERA following the MSERA annual meeting.
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To be eligible for this award, the paper must be an empirical research study. The author must use the online submission process to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words as outlined in the Call for Papers on the MSERA website AND the completed paper in PDF format by the deadline indicated in the Call for Papers.
The abstract (i.e., proposal) must be accepted for presentation at the annual meeting before it can be considered for the award. The paper submission may not exceed 25 double-spaced, typewritten pages, including narrative, tables, and bibliography. No identifying information should be included in the complete paper.
Selection Procedures
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Review for the award is a two-step process. First, the Distinguished Research Paper and Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Awards Selection Committee members, who are also members of the Program Committee, will review abstracts of the papers to determine if the paper will be accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting and the paper itself to determine if the paper will be in the final round of consideration for the award.
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Second, the Distinguished Research Paper and Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Awards Selection Committee will review the papers to identify the most outstanding among those remaining following the first stage of the review process. The chair of the committee will ensure that each paper submitted receives a minimum of two (2) blind reviews by members of the Distinguished Research Paper and Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Awards Selection Committee during the review process. The five (5) papers receiving the highest composite reviews (or all papers if fewer than five entries are submitted) will then be reviewed by members of the Distinguished Research Paper and Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Awards Selection Committee based on all possible pairwise comparisons.
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The paper judged to be most outstanding at the conclusion of the two-stage process will be declared winner of the competition. The chair of the Distinguished Research Paper and Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Awards Selection Committee will announce the award winner at the MSERA Business Session at the Annual Meeting of the Association. The abstract from the winning paper will be published, on the MSERA website, in the MSERA Educational Researcher, or both.
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The Award
The award consists of a plaque, a slot at the Spring meeting of AERA, and up to $500 reimbursement for costs affiliated with presenting at AERA. Upon receipt of the name of the recipient(s) from the Vice-President (Chair of the Distinguished Research Paper and Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Awards Selection Committee), the Executive Director prepares a plaque for the recipient(s). The plaques and checks are delivered to the recipient at the Business Session of the Annual Meeting of the Association.
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Following the annual meeting at which the award(s) is presented, the Executive Director forwards to the State and Regional Educational Research Association (SRERA) Vice President for Annual Meetings the following information: Name of Award Winner(s), Title of Paper, Abstract of Paper, and full text of paper. This action reserves a slot for presentation at the annual meeting of AERA in the special interest group of SRERA.
Past recipients of the James E. McLean Distinguished Paper Award
2023 Kate Barnes & Sarah McKenzie
2022 Donna Spencer-Pitts
2021 Jessica Herring-Watson, Nykela Jackson, and Chelsie Dubay
2020 Michelle Wilson, Margaret Rice, and Steven Yates
2019 Laura McNeil, Margaret Rice, and Vivian Wright
2018 Prathiba Natesan, Peter Boedeker, and Anthony Onwuegbuzie
2017 Nykela Jackson and Rachelle Miller
2015 Suzanne Franco
2014 Anthony Onwuegbuzie, Marla H. Mallette, Eunjin Hwang, and John R. Slate
2013 Anthony Onwuegbuzie and Kathleen M. T. Collins
2012 Franz H. Reneau
2011 Andrea Lynch Paganelli
2009 Larry Daniel, Lunetta Williams, and Katrina Hall
2007 Nancy Leach and Anthony Onwuegbuzie
2005 Glennelle and Gerald Halpin
2004 Nancy Leach and Anthony Onwuegbuzie
2003 Kathleen M. T. Collins and Anthony Onwuegbuzie
2002 Betty Porter
2000 J. Jackson Barnette and James E. McLean
1999 Kevin M. Keiffer and Bruce Thompson
1998 Katrina N. Rhymer, Karen I. Dittmer, Christopher H. Skinner, and Bertha Jackson
1997 Scott C. Bauer and Ira E. Bogotch
1996 Pat Wachholz and Carol Etheridge
1995 Christopher H. Skinner, Patricia Logan, Gregg A. Johns, and Sheri L. Robinson
1994 Yi-Cheng Wu and James E. McLean
1993 Alan S. Kaufman, Jane Ford-Richardson, and James E. McLean
1992 B. A. Nye, C. M. Achilles, J. Zahorias, and D. Fulton
1991 Robert L. Kennedy, Jianliang Wang, and Gene Harryman
1990 Marion Dana, Anthony Scheffler, Mark Richmond, Sandra Smith, and Howard Draper
1989 Jeffrey Gorrell
1988 James E. McLean and Alan S. Kaufman
1987 Larry Webber, Bruce Thompson, and Gerald S. Berenson
1986 Joan M. Butler, David DeRuzzo, John P. Wollenberg, and Herbert M. Handley
1985 Charles J. Achilles and M. Nan Lintz
1984 James Flaitz
1983 James M. Prater, Jr.
1982 Debra Joyce Steele
1981 Linda Newby
1980 Ruth Bragman
1979 Charles E. Standifer and Ernest G. Maples
1978 Robert E. Bills
1977 Robert H. Bradley and Bettye M. Caldwell