News from WCER

Dual-Credit Courses Improve College Access and Success

December 18, 2014

Dual-credit courses allow high school juniors and seniors to enroll in a college course and earn simultaneous credit in high school and college.


WIDA Researchers Meet with Alaskan Native Educators

December 9, 2014

As part of a new initiative to study the ways WIDA can serve American Indian communities, WIDA researchers traveled to Alaska for the 2014 National Indian Education Association (NIEA) Convention and to meet with educators working in schools that primarily serve Alaska’s American Indian population.


Oleson, Hora and Benbow Seek Definition of ‘STEM job’

December 1, 2014

Students entering college generally have an idea that studying science, technology, engineering, or math – the STEM disciplines – can lead to a good-paying job after they graduate.


Three UW-Madison Scholars Among Finalists for CUNY Research in Education Equity Award

November 24, 2014

Three UW-Madison scholars, all fellows in WCER’s Interdisciplinary Training Program (ITP) in the Education Sciences, were named finalists in a recent national competition with one, Megan Shoji, winning the first prize and an award of $2,500.


WCER’s 50th Anniversary: A Celebration for Staff, Researchers, Colleagues, Students and Family

November 24, 2014

The Wisconsin Center for Education Research recognized its 50th anniversary on October 20, 2014, with a celebration that connected five decades of researchers, staff, colleagues, students and family.


Goldrick-Rab Named Keynote Speaker for Policy Summit

November 17, 2014

Sara Goldrick-Rab has been named a keynote speaker for the 10th annual Midwestern Higher Education Compact Policy Summit.


New Look at School Discipline Confronts Wisconsin’s Opportunities Gap

November 16, 2014

Across the nation, from kindergarten through high school, black, Native American and Latino students in public schools are disciplined more frequently and severely for more subjective reasons than their white peers, according to UW-Madison’s Aydin Bal.


Studying Far from Home, Xueli Wang Discovers Kinship with Two-Year College Students

November 11, 2014

In 2004, Xueli Wang moved from China to attend graduate school at The Ohio State University. The transition was far from easy.


Mentors Deserve Better Training

October 28, 2014

Strong research mentorship has been linked to improved mentee self-efficacy, productivity, and ultimately career satisfaction. Unfortunately, mentors usually learn their craft by doing what their mentors did, or by trial and error.


New Website Launched for WCER’s i3 Family Engagement Project in Philadelphia

October 1, 2014

WCER’s PhillyFASTi3 project, funded by a $15 million U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, has launched a new website to inform parents and educators about the Families and Schools Together (FAST) program targeting 60 Philadelphia elementary schools.


Indiana Becomes 36th State to Join WIDA Consortium

September 24, 2014

The WIDA Consortium is now 36 states strong after the Indiana Department of Education moved to implement WIDA’s English Language Development Standards and Assessments statewide starting this school year.


Hora Enters National Academies of Science Debate

September 5, 2014

A letter to the editor by WCER researcher Matthew T. Hora appears in the current issue of the prestigious journal, Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (PNAS).


VARC, CPRE Contribute to Research in Urban Education Policy Initiative Brief

September 4, 2014

A new policy brief published by the Research on Urban Policy Initiative (RUEPI) explores the expanded role of principals in newly implemented teacher evaluation systems across the country.


Measuring Coherence in Teacher Knowledge

September 2, 2014

What does it mean for teachers to have coherent understanding of their subject?


It’s Time to Document Teaching Styles More Carefully

September 2, 2014

Discussions of college classroom teaching styles often categorize them as either “lecture” or “interactive.” But those terms do not reflect the realities of classroom practice.