News from WCER

New Online Tools to Instruct and Assess English Learners with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

March 13, 2019   |   By Lynn Armitage

In the world of K-12 English language proficiency assessment, a population of U.S. students is often overlooked, learners with significant cognitive disabilities. Now, groundbreaking instructional materials and guides are available to help educators understand alternate English language development and assessment for students who have diverse needs related to language and disability.


School Districts Getting Free Evaluation Tools Developed by UW-Madison Education Researchers

March 12, 2019   |   By Karen Rivedal

WEC is helping to close a gap in state requirements by providing needed guidance on the crucial step of regularly evaluating the effectiveness of schools' academic and career planning for students in grades 6-12.


New Study Finds Hmong American Undergraduates Feel ‘Invisible’ on UW-Madison Campus

February 19, 2019   |   By Karen Rivedal

In their own words, Hmong American students at UW-Madison share hopes and concerns surrounding their undergraduate experience on campus.


Introducing CRECE (Cray-Say) at WCER

January 28, 2019   |   By Lynn Armitage

Last year with support from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Beth Graue launched the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (CRECE). Its missions is focused on equity, supporting cross-disciplinary research, conducting policy analyses and connecting teacher education directly to research. CRECE (pronounced “cray-say”) is quite an appropriate name for the new center. In Spanish, it means, “It grows.”


CIMER to Provide Mentoring Expertise in National STEM Diversity Campaign

January 18, 2019   |   By Karen Rivedal

WCER's CIMER will contribute to 40 percent of a $57 million National Science Foundation program designed to ramp up successful regional efforts to help diversify the STEM workforce nationally.


Changes Needed to Help Refugees in Wisconsin Access Higher Education

January 17, 2019   |   By Karen Rivedal

A new study shows refugees who resettle in Wisconsin face a daunting array of barriers, both systemic and situational, in getting college degrees. But creative remedies could be developed, UW−Madison researchers say, to ease their path to higher education and then to better jobs.


A Capitol and Very Wisconsin Idea

December 12, 2018   |   By Lynn Armitage

History can be a challenging subject to study, with so many names, dates and places to remember. But thanks to a new educational video game—“Jo Wilder and the Capitol Case”—created by UW–Madison’s Field Day Lab and Wisconsin Public Television, learning about history, specifically Wisconsin history, is “really cool,” says Camren Hokanson, a fourth-grader at Elmwood Elementary School in Elmwood who has played the game multiple times.


MSAN 2019 Institute: Call for Proposals Now Open

December 10, 2018

The call for proposals is now open for the 2019 MSAN Institute on Equity Leadership and Cultural Competence being held April 15-16 at The Concourse Hotel in Madison


Jackson to Receive Major Honor from ASHE

November 14, 2018

The Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) recently announced its annual award winners leading up to the organization’s 2018 conference, and two faculty members with UW-Madison’s School of Education are receiving significant recognition.


Video Game Play Can Change Human Behavior in a Good Way

November 1, 2018

Brain Scans Show Innovative Sci-Fi Game Increases Empathy in Some Children


Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions Launches Fall Seminar Series Nov. 5

October 30, 2018

Public Talk on Comparative Study of Internships in China and the U.S.


Wisconsinites Agree on Broad Purposes of Higher Education Despite Divisive Political Climate

October 30, 2018

UW-Madison student-led research shows residents with opposing ideologies share belief that public higher education serves broad and varied purposes


WCER Launches New Research-to-Practice Center in Early Childhood Education

October 23, 2018

Early childhood education is a well-studied field. However, Beth Graue, the Sorenson Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at UW–Madison’s School of Education and a former kindergarten teacher, realized something was missing. Graue decided a new type of research initiative was needed―one that grounds its work in the practical wisdom of classroom teaching.


Vlach, Matthews Earn Understanding Human Cognition Awards from McDonnell Foundation

September 20, 2018

UW-Madison’s Haley Vlach and Percival Matthews each recently received an Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award from the James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF).


Albers Named School Psychology Journal Editor

September 13, 2018

Craig Albers, an associate professor of educational psychology and co-principal investigator of WCER's new Rural Education Research and Implementation Center, has been named as the 11th editor of the Journal of School Psychology by the Society for the Study of School Psychology.