Category: News

WCER shares news and stories that highlight research discoveries, past achievements, publications, and the people behind the work.

MSAN Student Conference Seeks to Create Rich Connections, Seed Equitable School Change

Dozens of High School Students From Across the U.S. Met in Madison for the First Time Since 2019 Nearly 200 high school students and their chaperones/advisors from 19 U.S. school districts were in Madison Nov. 1–4 for the 24th annual MSAN Student Conference, presented by the UW–Madison School of Education (SoE), to develop youth leaders focused on ending …

Multilingualism is a Superpower: 10 Years of the WIDA Annual Conference

The WIDA Annual Conference is always a special time because it’s a conference by teachers, for teachers, but this year, it was extra special. It was the 10th WIDA Annual Conference and WIDA’s 20th birthday. More than 1,300 people joined us in Milwaukee to celebrate. From the very first moments of #WIDA2023, the energy was palpable. …

UW–Madison to Lead New National Center Addressing Lack of School Mental Health Providers

Proposal from Education Researchers will Receive $10.4 Million in Federal Funding over 4 Years UW–Madison education researchers have been awarded a 4-year, $10.4 million federal contract to launch and operate a national center to expand and improve the country’s school-based mental health workforce of school psychologists, social workers, and other practitioners. The winning proposal from …

Thomas A. Romberg, Professor Emeritus and Internationally Recognized Leader in Mathematics Education, Dies

Thomas A. Romberg, a professor emeritus with the UW–Madison School of Education, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023, in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. He was 90 years old. Romberg joined the UW–Madison faculty in 1966 and retired in 2005. Through his almost 40 years on the faculty, he became an internationally recognized leader in mathematics education. …

WIDA Welcomes Meg Van Voorhis as Chief Educator Learning Officer

WIDA, an educational services organization housed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research, is excited to announce the appointment of Meg Van Voorhis as its inaugural Chief Educator Learning Officer (CELO). With her extensive experience and her commitment to our mission, Meg will play a pivotal role in furthering WIDA’s vision of becoming the …

WEC Article Describing Kimball-Arrigoni Study of School Principal Evaluations Published

Wisconsin has required school districts to develop an evaluation system measuring the performance of teachers and principals since 2014. But while districts and schools in the state are increasingly tailoring local practices to support teachers, the aspect of principal evaluation and support has received less attention, producing a mixed bag of district effectiveness in leveraging …

New Project Addresses Need for Diverse School Materials for Jewish Children of Color

Shalom Curriculum Project to Survey Educators and Parents, Prototype and Test Revised Materials in Preschools Education experts at UW–Madison are working to ensure that Jewish children of color will be able to see themselves in the school materials they use to help them learn. The Shalom Curriculum Project (SCP) is a skilled coalition of researchers, educators, and …

UW–Madison’s Kim, Shaffer, Eagan Offer QE Masterclasses in Asia

David Williamson Shaffer, director of WCER’s Epistemic Analytics (EA) group, EA Associate Director for Partnerships and Community Engagement Brendan Eagan, and SoE Professor YJ Kim offered two QE Masterclass Series in Asia this year about the groundbreaking methodology developed by Shaffer and known as quantitative ethnography (QE). Kim uses QE in her own game-based learning and assessment research. In a series of seven …

WCER Launches Sample Proposal Library for SoE Grant Writers

Few graduate programs teach grant writing. Yet education researchers frequently must secure outside funding to test theories and gather evidence on what works in education. To help School of Education (SoE) faculty, staff, and students apply for—and hopefully win— more grant funding, WCER recently launched the Sample Proposal Library (SamPL). It contains full narratives from 16 funded …

From the South Pole to Rural Wisconsin via Virtual Reality

Field Day Lab and Librarians Explore Using Penguin Simulation to Engage Rural Latinx Communities with Polar Research Last month, 17 librarians from across Wisconsin convened at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) to explore how virtual reality (VR) experiences could help increase rural Latinx students’ engagement with scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic. …