News from WCER

Cultivating Inquiry-Driven Learners: A College Education for the 21st Century

May 13, 2013

Clifton Conrad proposes a unifying purpose for a college education: cultivating inquiry-driven learners who can develop promising ideas for successfully navigating the rapidly-changing and inequitable world of the 21st century.


Developing and Implementing Value-Added Models for Schools and Classrooms

May 7, 2013

When the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) decided to use value added models in its multiple measures kit, the district contacted WCER's Value-Added Research Center (VARC) and technical/methodological experts from around the country.


Exploring the Dynamics of Organizational Learning

May 1, 2013

Organizational learning – the processes whereby organizations change and evolve over time in light of new information – is the subject of recent research by Matthew Hora and colleague Anne-Barrie Hunter.


Managing Education Talent Strategically

April 22, 2013

The education system has hired and tenured thousands of ineffective teachers and principals, particularly in high-poverty urban and rural schools.


MSAN Inspires Students to Organize Forum on Race

April 17, 2013

Inspired to be agents of change in their communities, eight students at Verona Area High School hosted hundreds of their peers from around Dane County for a two-day conference on April 8 and 9 featuring renowned educator Calvin Terrell.


Games-based Course to Enhance Women’s Interest in Engineering

April 15, 2013

This fall, the UW-Madison College of Engineering will offer for the first time a course entirely based on digital learning simulations.


Inspired by MSAN, Local Students Organize Conference

April 8, 2013

A group of high school students in Verona, Wisconsin, inspired after attending the Minority Student Achievement Network’s Annual Student Conference in Phoenix in October 2012, organized a two-day community building and leadership training event on April 8 and 9


Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness

April 8, 2013

WCER researcher Sara Kraemer is leading an evaluation study of the Teacher Union Reform Network.


Grants Can Improve Student College Success

April 1, 2013

Financial aid has long been evaluated for its effectiveness at promoting college attendance. But the utility of college at promoting social mobility hinges on students completing years of college credits.


Factors that Affect Student Academic Growth

April 1, 2013

The Value-Added Research Center (VARC) develops ways to compare school performance in a fair and accurate way, whether the school is public or private, urban or suburban, large or small.


What, Exactly, is an “English Learner” Student?

March 25, 2013

Because no two students are alike, developing a common definition for “English learner” will be tough.


Supporting Dual Language Children

March 18, 2013

Early Dual Language Learners (children, ages birth through 5 years) have been learning more than one language since birth, or begin to learn another language after their home language is partially established.


Mathematics for Social Justice

March 11, 2013

Anita Wager is among educators who explore, develop, research, and/or teach mathematics for social change.


After First Anniversary, WCEPS Looks to the Future

March 4, 2013

When Matt Messinger became the Wisconsin Center for Educational Products and Services’ first executive director in 2011, he knew the nascent organization had the potential to pay great dividends back to the University of Wisconsin.


Raising English Learner Achievement in STEM Subjects

March 4, 2013

Elizabeth Cranley and colleagues at WIDA are helping classroom teachers to make core STEM content accessible to English Learner students (ELs) and to put them on the path to college and career readiness.