News from WCER
Don’t forget: 2021 WIDA eConference features Pulitzer Prize-winning author, sessions on new WIDA resources
September 28, 2021 | By WIDA Communications
The 2021 WIDA eConference, which takes place on October 14, features a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. It also includes sessions led by and for educators, plus sessions on new WIDA resources – and how to use them in the classroom – like Marco ALE, a Spanish language arts framework, the WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition and WIDA Screener for Kindergarten.
WIDA Español releases Marco ALE, a brand-new Spanish language arts framework
September 28, 2021 | By WIDA Communications
Check out Marco ALE, a Spanish language arts framework from WIDA! Available now are two Marco ALE documents — Aplicación para la actualización y desarrollo de estándares and Aplicación para la enseñanza. These documents inform Spanish language arts standards development and instruction and are meant to guide states, districts and teachers as they implement Marco ALE.
New Research Brief Examines How Wisconsin’s Technical Colleges Adapted to COVID-19
September 23, 2021 | By WCER Communications
The first research brief from WCER Principal Investigator Xueli Wang’s three-year, NSF-funded study of change and innovation in technical education finds Wisconsin’s tech colleges have moved rapidly to revamp services and instructional practices to serve students and meet their critical needs since March 2020.
New Paper Summary: Study Reveals How Teaching Practices in Communication Courses Reveal Need for Socioculturally Informed Faculty Development
August 19, 2021 | By WCER Communications
WCER researchers Matthew T. Hora, Ross J. Benbow and Changhee Lee have published a new paper in the Journal of the Learning Sciences showing the three factors most important to teaching decisions in communications courses are prior experience in industry, social networks and student skills.
A Closer Look: Andy Garbacz Using $4M Grant to Probe Family-School Partnership Intervention
August 2, 2021 | By WCER Communications
The research team led by Principal Investigator Andy Garbacz will examine how a family-school partnership intervention impacts behavior, practices and relationships for elementary school students at risk of serious emotional disturbance.
CRECE Seeks Applications for Undergraduate Research Fellows Program
July 27, 2021 | By WCER Communications
The program’s goal is to diversify the research communities that address early childhood education issues. CRECE hopes to do this by providing mentored research experiences to traditionally underrepresented and other minoritized undergraduate students.
New Study Reveals Only 22% of College Students Did Internships During COVID Pandemic
May 18, 2021 | By CCWT/WCER Communications
The first rigorous study of online internships during the pandemic uses survey data from 9,964 students at 11 colleges and universities, yielding valuable insights for students, employers and university officials going forward.
U.S. Educators Meeting Online in MSAN Institute to Advance Anti-Racist School Leadership
April 15, 2021 | By Karen Rivedal, WCER Communications
Conference attendees are sharing current research and learning promising practices to eliminate barriers to learning and create a more equitable educational environment for students of color.
UW–Madison research reveals benefit of ethnic studies for Hmong American students
March 11, 2021 | By Janet L. Kelly, WCER Communications
A new report from WCER’s Center for Research on College-to-Workforce Transitions reveals second-year research findings from a unique study of current and former UW–Madison students of HMoob (Hmong)* descent, a population of students rarely researched in higher education. Mentored by WCER research scientists, an eight-member team of current and recently graduated HMoob American UW–Madison students interviewed nearly 100 members of the university’s HMoob American student community. The study found that exposure to ethnic studies courses and programs during college can transform the students’ lives.
UW−Madison Researchers Partner with Madison Schools on Equity Advances, COVID Fixes
March 1, 2021 | By Karen Rivedal, WCER Communications
The Madison Education Partnership (MEP) issues awards annually to university researchers, supplementing research done internally by MEP directors and staff. MEP is a research-practice partnership formed in 2016 between the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Madison Metropolitan School District. The number of grants awarded in 2021 was triple that of most previous years of MEP’s sponsored-research program.
‘Real Talk for Real Change’ Panel to Feature WCER Deputy Director Mariana Castro
February 17, 2021 | By WCER Communications
The Real Talk for Real Change symposia series focuses on critical issues of racial justice in education by centering the voices of UW–Madison scholars of color and community members. Organizers hope to share knowledge and facilitate conversations that will help UW–Madison and the wider education community focus on equity in education policies, curriculum, and practices of teaching and learning.
Gates Foundation awards WCER’s Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions $1.1 million to serve national audience
January 5, 2021 | By Lynn Armitage, WCER Communications
The Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions (CCWT), housed at UW‒Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research, has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
WCER Improving Mentoring Relationships for Next Generation of Academic Science Leaders
December 7, 2020 | By Karen Rivedal, WCER Communications
WCER experts Christine Pfund and Angela Byars-Winston are leading a $1.2 million program providing culturally aware mentorship education for dissertation advisers of leading PhD students in the sciences from diverse backgrounds throughout the country. Byars and Pfund also designed leadership training for the mentees, who were selected for research support as future academic science leaders by the renowned Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland.
UW-Madison researcher’s instrument design fuels groundbreaking international study of teaching and learning
November 18, 2020 | By Janet L. Kelly, WCER Communications
This week the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced the findings of the Global Teaching InSights: A Video Study of Teaching, which looked directly into the classrooms of 700 teachers across eight countries and economies to capture on video how each taught the same mathematics topic to their students.
Essential to the study’s success are observation systems designed by Courtney Bell, a principal investigator of the study and a UW–Madison learning sciences professor who directs the School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research. In building these systems collaboratively with global teaching experts, Bell’s team created the first standardized observational instruments used to measure the teaching and learning of the same unit of instruction across multiple countries.
Dual VETWAYS studies show social support is key to successful academic outcomes for student military
November 11, 2020 | By Lynn Armitage
The transition from military to college life can be a socially difficult one for military service members and veterans (SSM/Vs). However, members of this unique and talented student population stand a better chance of success when they are supported by a strong network of fellow students, veteran coordinators, faculty or other higher education practitioners, according to two separate reports by the Veteran Education to Workforce Affinity and Success Study (VETWAYS).
VETWAYS is a three-year $556,000 project funded by the National Science Foundation, launched last year at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research in UW–Madison’s School of Education. The project is focused on the college-to-workforce pathways of SSM/Vs from five, four-year University of Wisconsin System institutions: Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Stout. In the last academic year, more than 3,000 veterans attended UW System universities.
