Author: klgrant2

Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC) evaluator/associate scientist Nicole R. Bowman is one of four guest editors of a special issue of the quarterly journal, New Directions for Evaluation. Bowman, an expert in culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) and a citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation in Wisconsin, also co-authored four articles for the 112-page volume examining the history, legacy, and future of …

Two new reports from the Madison Education Partnership (MEP) look at differences in the experiences of students enrolled in full-day and half-day four-year-old kindergarten (4K) in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) during the 2022–2023 school year, which was the second consecutive year of the full-day 4K program. Researchers assessed 341 4K students, observed 24 classrooms, and interviewed 23 teachers across …

WCER researchers Bailey Smolarek and Matthew Wolfgram are this year’s winners of the UW–Madison School of Education’s Award for Community-Engaged Scholarship. As leaders of the Student-Engaged Participatory Action Research Center at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), Smolarek and Wolfgram are setting new standards of excellence for high-quality, impactful community-engaged research that exemplifies the Wisconsin Idea. Beginning with their first community-based research …

Nicole Bowman, an associate scientist and evaluator with WCER’s Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC), and a traditional community member and citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation in Wisconsin, has been named one of the state’s 32 most influential Native American Leaders for 2024 by Madison365, an independent news organization covering Black, Latino, Indigenous and Asian American communities in Madison and …

A new partnership between the UW–Madison School of Education and Milwaukee Public Schools aims to combat a shortage of special education teachers in one of the state’s most high-needs school districts by training and placing 36 master’s-level special education teachers in Milwaukee schools over the next five years. The program is the second iteration of …

A lot of work goes into developing an assessment. At WIDA and the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), teams of language testing experts manage all stages of the test development process, from preparing new test content for field testing to measuring the validity and reliability of test content. (Read our recent article: Everything you’ve ever …

Registration Open Through March 21; Proposals for Breakout Sessions due March 1 Registration is open now through March 21 for the 2024 MSAN Institute, a two-day professional learning conference for K–12 teachers, principals, and school district leaders nationwide who want to learn about current research and district practices that further racial equity in schools. To be held April …

WCER Director Courtney Bell, a UW–Madison School of Education professor of learning sciences, shared insights on standards-based learning in a recent Wisconsin State Journal story about phasing out letter grades in a pilot program underway in some Madison East High School classes.  The story explains that instead, students in those classes are being graded on a scale …

Katie Eklund, a professor of educational psychology in UW–Madison’s School of Education, discussed efforts to address the nation’s shortage of school-based mental health professionals in a recent report on the growing issue by PBS Wisconsin that was broadcast nationally on PBS NewsHour. Eklund described how unmet mental health concerns can harm students in school and throughout …

Computer Game Will Use Latest Research to Take Learners to the Furthest Reaches of Space On Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, a small group of select librarians and teachers from across the state will gather with game designers and scientists for a day-long workshop in Madison to develop a new educational computer game that will take learners …