This year's conference theme invites educational stakeholders to share research that strengthens the vital connection between educational research and practice. Through collaborative knowledge building, we will construct a shared vision to enhance our research and evaluation capacity and amplify our impact across North Carolina. We are thrilled to announce, Jeni Corn as the keynote speaker for the 51st Annual Conference of the North Carolina Association for Research in Education (NCARE). As the Director of Research – Social Sciences for the NC Collaboratory, Jeni oversees grant-making for the social sciences research portfolio by partnering with academic institutions and government entities to transform research on the State’s most pressing policy problems into practical information and technologies for use by the State and local governments and the communities they serve.

Jeni has extensive experience conducting research in school settings and providing technical assistance to school, district, and state-level education staff focused on research, evaluation, and policy in the Southeast. Most recently, she served as the Director of Research and Evaluation at the NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), where she developed a robust research agenda, coordinated state- and local-level research and evaluation studies, and built research and evaluation capacity. Jeni grew up in Greensboro, attended UNC-Chapel Hill for her undergraduate and master’s degrees before moving to Raleigh to pursue her doctorate at NC State University.

We warmly welcome you to this year's conference. We look forward to fostering new partnerships and exchanging valuable insights across disciplinary, epistemological, and methodological orientations.