Thought-Provoking Facts About Black Men Revealed in New Book
January 30, 2019 | By Michigan State University Press
Jerlando Jackson, director of WCER's WeiLab, penned the introduction to a new book published by Michigan State University Press, "The Handbook of Research on Black Males," edited by Theodore S. Ransaw, C.P. Gause and Richards Majors.
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.”
#BlackOnCampus, Campus Racial Climates & Black Men’s College Experiences
January 28, 2019
Derrick Brooms explores the sociology of African Americans in urban environments through research and activism focusing on educational equity, race and racism, diversity and inequality, and identity. In this lecture he will discuss his educational research, which centers on Black men’s college experiences.
Report: Lots of Access to Pre-K, But Quality Sometimes Lacking
January 24, 2019 | By Shamane Mills
A group that supports more and better pre-K programs finds access is good in Milwaukee but class sizes could be pared down. Ideally, 20 or fewer students are in a class, said Shelley Hearne, president of CityHealth, the organization which issued the report on Wednesday along with the National Institute for Early Education Research, on pre-K programs in the nation’s 40 largest cities. Local education experts, such as Beth Graue, say sometimes that’s not possible. "Particularly in large urban areas, they can't afford to have a class that low," said Graue, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Research on Early Childhood Education.
Why It’s Wrong to Label Students ‘At-Risk’
January 23, 2019 | By Ivory A. Toldson
A powerful quote from a 2007 speech by WCER education researcher Gloria Ladson-Billings helps anchor a new critique of using the term "at-risk" to describe students who don't perform well in traditional educational settings.
Jewish Women of Color—Including Shahanna McKinney-Baldon—Lead DC Women’s March
January 21, 2019 | By David Dahmer
A large delegation of women from around the country, led by WCER's Shahanna McKinney-Baldon carrying the Torah, was the first group in line for the National Women's March that took place in Washington, D.C. on January 19, 2019.
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.
Middleton High School Minority Mentors Work to Help Elementary Students Achieve
January 14, 2019 | By Pam Cotant
Every other week, Middleton High School students mentor younger students at three Middleton elementary schools. The members of the Black Student Union club “thought the elementary students needed something because there weren’t many teachers of color… so they know someone looks like them and is looking out for them in the district,” said Jaeda Coleman, a Middleton High School sophomore. The mentors are part of Leaders Emerging to Achieve Greatness by Uplifting Each Other, or LEAGUE, which incorporates other groups at Middleton, including the Latinos Unidos and the Student Voice Union. “I love it. ... The kids are just so adorable. It is really good to see them every week,” Coleman said. “It gives you sort of a break from high school where everything (academically) is really tough and stressful.” The Black Student Union, Latinos Unidos and the Student Voice Union all send leaders to the national conference of the Minority Student Achievement Network. It is a national consortium of 27 multiracial, suburban-urban school districts working together to understand and eliminate racial opportunity/achievement gaps that persist within their schools. The organization is based at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UW-Madison and includes the Madison school district, which is a founding member, and the Sun Prairie, Verona and Middleton-Cross Plains districts.
Baraboo Teacher Works with UW-Madison Researchers Examining Rural Education
January 10, 2019 | By Susan Endres
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are looking to school districts such as Baraboo for insight into what it’s like to teach in rural areas and how to better connect university graduates to those schools.
Educational Policies to Reduce Inequality: Deploying and Building Research in Wisconsin
December 12, 2018
Executive summaries and PDFs of presentations from the December 12 event
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
The 30-Year Reign of Lunchables
December 5, 2018 | By Joe Pinsker
WCER researcher Andrew Ruis thinks Lunchables has done so well because of how the packaged, compartmentalized lunch food for children it fits into families’ days. The meat-cheese-and-cracker boxes have been around for 30 years.
The Future Of Learning? Well, It’s Personal
November 19, 2018 | By Anya Kamenetz, Kyla Calvert Mason and Robbie Feinberg
WCER researcher Rich Halverson shares his take on indvidualized or personalized learning and the opportunities technology offers in an article published by National Public Radio. "What schools call personalized varies considerably," he says, and "a lot of schools are doing personalized learning, but don't call it that."
