Nominations Open for WCER Values Awards

June 8, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Do you have a WCER colleague who embodies the WCER Values? Nominate them to receive the WCER Values Award. This annual prize will be presented at the All-Staff Conference on Oct. 6. Deadline to nominate someone is on or before Aug. 25.


OVCRGE Grant to Investigate Asian American Pain

June 6, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

The two-year project is designed to improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficacy for multiple pain conditions, including informing whether to prescribe opioids and at what level, Kim says.


WCER’s CALL Project Celebrated on IES Blog

June 6, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

“The CALL project provides a model of how IES-funded research can have broad impact in schools around the country,” the blog post says. “We are thrilled that CALL developed into the rare educational survey that was embraced by the people who tested it as well as the research community.”


New MEP Reports Explore First Year of MMSD’s Full-Day 4K

June 6, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Researchers assessed 406 students, observed 16 classrooms, and interviewed 13 teachers across full- and half-day classrooms. The team estimated differences in student achievement gains, as well as qualitative differences in instruction, time use, and culturally responsive practices.


In Memoriam: National Education Giant Marshall S. (Mike) Smith Led WCER from 1980–1986

May 16, 2023

Smith died May 1 of cancer at age 85 at home with his family in Palo Alto, California.


WCER Researcher Makes News on School Lunches

May 9, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Andrew Ruis, a WCER research scientist and expert on the history of school lunches—he wrote the book Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States—has done many interviews and media consults this year as the topic has been often in the news.


Publish Your Research in WCER Working Paper Series

May 9, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Since 2002, scholars and projects affiliated with WCER have published new educational research in the center’s Working Paper Series.


Big Changes Planned for 2023 WCER All Staff Conference

May 9, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

A different location. A later date. A shorter but still engaging schedule of events. And no keynote speaker.

Those are the biggest changes planned so far by ASAC organizers for our 2023 All Staff Conference, which customarily has been held on-site for most of a full day in August, shortly before the start of the school year.


WCER’s Christine Pfund Earns Distinguished Senior Scientist Status

April 30, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Pfund’s two decades of work has focused on developing and studying interventions to optimize research mentoring relationships across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM).


U.S. Educators Met in Madison for MSAN Institute Focused on Educator Shortage

April 24, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Breakout sessions with a local bent included a look at UW−Madison’s Discussion Project, the story of how the Monona Grove Parent Equity Council started in 2018 and its impact on the school community since then, and an examination of staff recruitment and retention trends in the Madison Metropolitan School District, with the sharing of one promising district practice to increase teacher morale developed with two MMSD elementary schools over the last 10 months.


Don’t Miss May 8 Webinar on How to Expand Impact of Community Schools Model

April 16, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Wisconsin coalition worked with national and local partners to create a community schools guidebook, and the MN coalition is making progress towards statewide policies and funding. Topics include policy, funding, sustainability, and starting and/or improving community schools.


AT AERA: “Teachers as Policy Advocates” Book Event to Feature Co-authors Hara, Good

April 5, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

​In the book, case studies explore four contemporary policy areas—school safety, student assessment, public health, and digital learning—to identify what teachers know about policy, how they view their relationships to advocacy, and the impact of collaborative professional development on their beliefs and practices.


New $6M Grant to Expand Culturally Responsive Mental Health Services in Madison Schools

April 4, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

The project’s goal is to prepare a new generation of school psychologists equipped with the knowledge and skills to better serve children and youth in Madison schools.


Associate Director of Human Resources Mary Hegge Retiring After 20 Years at WCER

March 29, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

Hegge’s last working day at WCER will be March 31. Few people will leave a deeper imprint on WCER’s people, process and practices.


WCER’s Brad Carl Quoted in WPR Article on School Calendar Change in La Crosse

March 29, 2023   |   By WCER Communications

The March 10 story, titled “‘A break from the monotony’: Some La Crosse parents upset by end of year-round calendar at elementary school,” focused on the School District of La Crosse’s decision to end year-round attendance at Hamilton Elementary, where that schedule had been in place for almost 10 years.