News from WCER

VARC, CPRE Contribute to Research in Urban Education Policy Initiative Brief

September 4, 2014

A new policy brief published by the Research on Urban Policy Initiative (RUEPI) explores the expanded role of principals in newly implemented teacher evaluation systems across the country.


Measuring Coherence in Teacher Knowledge

September 2, 2014

What does it mean for teachers to have coherent understanding of their subject?


It’s Time to Document Teaching Styles More Carefully

September 2, 2014

Discussions of college classroom teaching styles often categorize them as either “lecture” or “interactive.” But those terms do not reflect the realities of classroom practice.


Self-Affirmation Exercises Found To Boost Some Achievement

July 30, 2014

Self-affirmation writing exercises improved the achievement, especially in mathematics, of students who may suffer from stereotype threat.


WIDA Goes Global with Summer Academy for International Schools

July 30, 2014

From Afghanistan to Zambia, international schools are reconsidering their approach to teaching English language learners, and many are looking to tap into WIDA’s expertise.


Afterschool Program Reduces Mobility Among Some Families

July 1, 2014

An afterschool program for children and families was found to substantially reduce the school mobility of Black students who otherwise were especially likely to change schools. Improved relationships among families help explain this finding.


Quantifying Uncertainty: David Kaplan Explains the Usefulness of Bayesian Statistics

June 23, 2014

To most academics, and even many statisticians, the world of Bayesian statistics remains a dark and dangerous realm, rarely visited and greatly feared.


Department Chairs Become Instructional Leaders

June 2, 2014

Distributed throughout a high school, department chairs are ideally positioned to help increase student learning, and yet they receive little or no formal training, and there is no universally accepted job description.


Tackling Racial Disparities in School Discipline

May 22, 2014

MSAN hosted its 2014 Institute on April 14 and 15 in Madison, attracting hundreds of educators from public school districts


Aligning Educational Policy and Curricula with Employer Expectations

May 1, 2014

Millions remain unemployed as the nation’s economy recovers all too slowly from the recession of 2008.


The Network Seeks to Transform Public Education

April 29, 2014

Funded by Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, the UW–Madison School of Education, and WCER, the Network creates collaborative, interdisciplinary opportunities to share knowledge and turn research into effective practices that improve education both inside and outside of schools.


What Factors Make College Affordable for Low-Income Students

April 28, 2014

Many students from low-income families leave college before completing a degree, sometimes attributing their departure to college “unaffordability."


Creating a Computer Science Pipeline for African Americans

April 28, 2014

The number of African American faculty teaching computer science in higher education is alarmingly low, according to LaVar J. Charleston.


Nathan’s Paper on Study Habits Passes Popularity Milestone

April 23, 2014

A paper coauthored by Mitchell J. Nathan published in January 2013 in Psychological Science in the Public Interest has garnered more than 100,000 downloads/page views, making it the most downloaded article in the journal’s history.


Wisconsin HOPE Lab Set to Tackle Inequality in College Attainment

April 23, 2014

On May 5, WCER researcher Sara Goldrick-Rab will launch the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, dedicated to making the pursuit of a postsecondary education more accessible and obtainable for Wisconsin students of all backgrounds.