Pracademics, or individuals who “occupy significant positions as both academics and practitioners” (Posner, 2009, p. 16), play a pivotal role at the crosshairs of multilingualism—the knowledge and use of multiple languages (European Commission, 2007); translanguaging—the practice in which individuals engage in sense-making using all of the language varieties available to them (Castro, 2020); and transculturalism—the dynamic and fluid navigation across communities (WIDA, 2021, 2023). …
The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) is excited to announce today that Carrie Parker has joined the center’s Multilingual Learning Research Center (MLRC) as a Research Director. As part of her role, Parker will collaborate with MLRC Research Director Mariana Castro and MLRC School Network Director Jon Nordmeyer to lead innovative research projects to improve educational …
The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), in collaboration with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, today announced recruitment for the 2025 cohort of the Special Education Teacher Residency Program is now open. This innovative program aims to address the critical shortage of special education …
The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) and the Multicultural Student Achievement Network (MSAN) today announced that more than 150 high school students and their chaperones from multiracial school districts across the country are meeting this week (Nov. 13-16) in East Lansing, MI, for the 25th annual MSAN Student Conference. The students and their chaperones …
The state of Minnesota has been awarded $3.998 million over four years for the Accessible Pathways Project through the Competitive Grants for State Assessments (CGSA) competition. This project aims to better understand and support multilingual learners (MLs) with low-incidence disabilities, in this case, students who are blind/have low vision (BLV) and those who are deaf/hard of …
A new multimedia resource aimed at combating the shortage of Black men in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields launched today at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As the shortage of Black men in STEM remains a dire challenge in the United States — according to 2022 statistics from the National Science Foundation, only 2% of …
Katie Grant joined WCER’s leadership team as the center’s new director of communications & marketing on Aug. 12. Grant is a communications professional with a focus on organic social media strategy and community engagement, marketing strategy, and crisis communications. She excels in executing forward-thinking, long-term strategies that get results, with experience amplifying social media reach …
Angela Crumdy, a postdoctoral researcher of teacher development at the University of Pennsylvania, had at least two compelling reasons for visiting UW–Madison for a week in July to learn a research methodology that’s without peer in pulling human insights from big data. First, she says, she was drawn to the method, known as quantitative ethnography, or …
Thirty-two UW–Madison faculty have been awarded fellowships from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research for 2024–25, including School of Education/WCER members David Kaplan and Andy Garbacz. The awardees span the four research divisions on campus: arts and humanities, physical sciences, social sciences, and biological sciences. “These awards recognize excellence in faculty research, academics, and outreach at various …
Fifteen faculty and campus members at UW–Madison have been named Morgridge Fellows for 2024–2025, including WCER members Matthew Wolfgram and Amanda Fowler, WCER/School of Education researcher/professor Shamya Karumbaiah, and SoE doctoral student Virginia Downing. The 15 were selected through a juried process for a year-long learning community designed to support community-engaged scholarship. The Morgridge Center for Public Service defines community-engaged scholarship as teaching, research, and scholarly activities performed in equitable, …