Making the first day of kindergarten a success
August 29, 2019
Channel 3 WISC-TV, the local CBS affiliate for Madison, Wisc., interviewed UW-Madison professor and director of WCER's CRECE, the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education, on how to make the transition to kindergarten as positive as possible for children and parents.
Five ways parents can help their kids transition smoothly to middle school
August 27, 2019 | By Phyllis Fagell
This Washington Post article, also picked up by the New Hampshire Union Leader on Sept. 1, quotes UW--Madison professor and WCER researcher Geoffrey Borman. The article describes research he conducted to determine if it is possible to bolster kids’ sense of belonging by sharing with them that it is normal for students to be anxious about starting middle school, but that they eventually feel better.
Experts share how to make transition back to school as smooth as possible
August 27, 2019 | By Isabel Lawrence
Beth Graue, director of WCER's Center for Research on Early Childhood Education, is featured in a news segment by Madison's local NBC news affiliate, WMTV Channel 15, on how families can make the transition back to school as smooth as possible.
Why mentoring is important for biotech careers
August 22, 2019 | By Don Potochny
WCER researcher Chris Pfund, director of the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research, (CIMER), helps break down the benefits of mentoring in a biotech career for an article on the BioSpace website, commenting, “In short, good mentorship impacts who does science, how productive they are, and how satisfied they are on a science career path."
How grad schools became the hidden culprit behind America’s student-debt crisis
August 22, 2019 | By Allana Akhtar and Hillary Hoffower
Business Insider notes that in 1992, 45% of advanced-degree households comprised the national $41.5 billion student-loan-debt total (in real 2016 dollars); in 2016, 51% of advanced-degree households comprised the $1.3 trillion in debt, according to "Inequality and Opportunity in a Perfect Storm of Graduate Student Debt," a working paper by WCER researchers Jaymes Pyne and Eric Grodsky.
Wisconsin should rethink its entire teacher certification process
August 20, 2019 | By Mark Schug and Scott Niederjohn
In January 2018, the Wisconsin Center for Education Research in the School of Education at UW-Madison released a rigorous working paper titled "Supply and Demand for Public School Teachers in Wisconsin." The authors state that there is no statewide teacher shortage. However, this guest column in the Milton Courier addresses the "perceived" teacher shortages for which a bipartisan group of state legislators have introduced a bill to make it easier for qualified teachers from other states to become licensed in Wisconsin.
Increasing graduate student debt affects African American students most, study finds
August 15, 2019 | By WCER Communications
A new study shows low-income and African American graduate students increasingly face a double-edged sword of advanced-degree promise and peril: better-than-average income returns on graduate and professional degrees but levels of debt to earn those degrees that outpace the debt borne by white students.
Study links positive messages about middle school to better grades, behavior
August 12, 2019 | By Linda Jacobson
Website Education Dive breaks down a new study by WCER education researchers showing the benefits of proactively addressing students’ anxieties to ease the path to middle school for sixth graders.
Easing the middle school transition
August 11, 2019 | By Tribune News Service
Guam Daily News carries coverage of a study by WCER scientist Geoffrey D. Borman and his team showing how proactively addressing transition anxieties can lead to higher grades, better attendance and fewer behavioral problems for sixth graders starting middle school.
What I learned when I studied six Chicago schools transforming to personalized learning environments
August 11, 2019 | By Rich Halverson
As a guest author in the newsletter Getting Smart, University of Wisconsin School of Education Professor Rich Halverson describes the benefits of personalized learning he witnessed during a study of six Chicago public schools involved with LEAP Innovations, a national organization that connects innovation and education to transform how students learn.
WIDA goes global
August 1, 2019 | By Lynn Armitage
In 2008, the Shanghai American School contacted Timothy Boals, executive director of the WIDA Consortium at WCER, about using WIDA’s acclaimed research-based standards and assessments to help English-language learners. “A teacher there had used our language development tools in the States and recommended them,” Boals recalls the conversation that unofficially launched the WIDA International School Consortium. Today, WIDA’s international program has pioneered the improvement of teaching and learning for multilingualism around the world. It has grown into a worldwide ELL network of more than 400 accredited preK-12 international schools where English is the language of instruction, in more than 100 countries.
Positive messaging early in the school year can help sixth graders transition to middle school
July 31, 2019 | By Negassi Tesfamichael
Madison's Capital Times newspaper featured the new study from WCER's Geoffrey Borman and his research team, which found that proactive positive messaging intended to spur a sense of belonging helps young adolescents handle the transition to middle school.
These Academics Spent $1.35 To Make Middle School Less Awful. Here’s How.
July 31, 2019 | By Belinda Luscombe
Time magazine interviews WCER's Geoffrey D. Borman about his team's study showing that proactively addressing 6th graders' middle school transition worries with two sessions of brief, inexpensive messaging early in the school year can lead to a lasting record of higher grades, better attendance and fewer behavioral problems.
Study Shows Power of Refocusing Student Stress in Middle School Transition
July 30, 2019
Science website Phys.org carries a recent WCER news release in full about a new study by WCER scientist Geoffrey D. Borman and his team showing how proactively addressing transition anxieties can lead to a lasting record of higher grades, better attendance, and fewer behavioral problems for sixth graders embarking on their stressful first year of middle school.
Power of Refocusing Student Stress in Middle School Transition
July 30, 2019
Website ScienceDaily.com carries a recent WCER news release in full about a new study by WCER scientist Geoffrey D. Borman and his team showing how proactively addressing transition anxieties can lead to a lasting record of higher grades, better attendance, and fewer behavioral problems for sixth graders embarking on their stressful first year of middle school.
