News from WCER

New Education Game Group in Town

February 14, 2017   |   By Lynn Armitage

Impact. It’s a word that Mike Beall uses often when defining the mission of the eight game developers he leads at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, the new home for this dynamic band of software programmers and artists.


MacDonald Presents as Invited Speaker for the Multimodal Observation Protocol Project

January 30, 2017

Rita MacDonald was an invited speaker for the Multimodal Observation Protocol Project in the School of Education at the University at Albany-State University of New York on January 21, 2017


2017 MSAN Institute Call for Proposals Open Through February 17

January 18, 2017

The Call for Proposals is now open for the 2017 MSAN Institute on Equity Leadership and Cultural Competence being held April 27-28 at The Concourse Hotel in Madison, WI.


Wisconsin Receives $2 Million Grant to Improve Career Pathways

January 12, 2017

WCER is pleased to be among the many partners contributing to this important multi-phase project. WCER researchers conducted a needs assessment of a career pathways system that helped inform the action plan that won this second phase grant award.


Ed Psych Professor Earns Distinguished ​Professorship Award

December 9, 2016

Recognizing his extraordinary achievements as a UW faculty member, David Shaffer, a professor and chair of the Dept. of Educational Psychology's Learning Sciences program, was recently named to a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship. The professorship provides flexible funding over five years and is named after professor, Senator and UW System Regent William F. Vilas (1840-1908).


Education and Youth Agency: Qualitative Global Case Studies

November 1, 2016

As co-editor and chapter author of a new book, WCER researcher Kate McCleary offers a comprehensive overview of youth engaged in social change in Africa, the Americas and South Asia. It explores diverse perspectives of youth agency in relation to education, citizenship and future livelihoods, modernity and tradition, gender equality, and social norms and transformations.


The Force of the GEDI

October 31, 2016   |   By Paul Baker

Like any Jedi, Tenah Hunt is a scientist and a teacher who values knowledge, wisdom and serving others. She does not, however, carry a light saber.


The Digital Lives of African American Students and Families

October 21, 2016

Wei LAB director Jerlando F.L. Jackson served as an advisor to the study


Going the Country Mile

September 29, 2016   |   By Lynn Armitage

Wisconsin attracts thousands of tourists year-round who make the trek to explore its scenic farmlands, and camp, canoe, ski, fish and hike its great outdoors. While visitors to Wisconsin’s rural and wilderness areas are plentiful, attracting teachers to its smaller cities and townships can be a challenge, say some education experts.


UW–Madison Post-Act 10 Teacher Pay Study to Help Inform Wisconsin School Boards, Policymakers

September 27, 2016

School districts and policymakers across Wisconsin exploring teacher pay alternatives have new information to help guide them–a recently-released study from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) in the UW–Madison School of Education.


UW-Madison Wins Two First-Ever NSF INCLUDES Awards

September 12, 2016

Funding Supports Bold Methods to Diversify U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce


Rethinking the Skills Gap: Teaching 21st-Century Skills to Meet Workforce Demand

July 5, 2016   |   By Lynn Armitage

Teaching 21st-century skills to meet workforce demand


Motion Meets Emotion: Unique Dance Program Empowers Underserved Girls

June 13, 2016   |   By Lynn Armitage

In 2011, with a $1,500 grant from what is now Dane Arts, the two women started a pilot dance program for middle schoolers at Kennedy Heights Community Center, pioneering the combination of dance education and dance/movement therapy—with G-rated versions of popular music and a little hip hop thrown in, too, which is a real “hook” for students.


Teaching Prep for STEM Ph.Ds. Improves Teaching Methods, May Increase Prospects for Faculty Hire

May 23, 2016

New Study Finds Teaching Preparation for STEM Doctoral Students Boosts Use of Effective Teaching Methods and May Increase Prospects for Faculty Hire


Bowman Appointed to new American Evaluation Association Network

May 10, 2016

LEAD Center evaluator Nicole (Nicky) Bowman has been appointed the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) representative to a new network called EvalIndigenous,