Announcements

�� education scholars launch new academic journal focused on Black life, language, and culture

Carrie Spector — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 17:46:20 +0000

�� education scholars launch new academic journal focused on Black life, language, and culture

Carrie Spector Tue, 10/21/2025 - 10:46

A new academic journal based at �� explores Black language and culture through a multitude of disciplines. (Illustration: Mary Long / iStock)

Announcements | Diversity and Identity | Language and Literacy

The journal, a project of the GSE’s Black Academic Development Lab, crosses disciplines to advance research and conversation on Black identity and cultural practices.

October 22, 2025

By Carrie Spector

A new scholarly journal with a home base at �� is making its debut this fall, taking a unique approach to the study of Black life, language, and culture.

The Journal of Black Language and Culture (JBLAC) is the first publication of its kind to approach its theme through a multitude of disciplines, bridging research areas that are typically siloed in academia, the editors said.

“We’re challenging the traditional boundaries of language and culture research, with a focus that just isn’t found in other journals,” said Anne Charity Hudley, a professor and associate dean of educational affairs at �� Graduate School of Education (GSE), who serves as the journal’s lead editor. “There are journals that focus on linguistics or culture separately, but we’re offering a space where they’re fully interconnected – where language practices are centered as both a product and shaper of Black cultural life.”

The open-access, peer-reviewed journal will begin publishing in early 2026, with articles including an analysis of teacher survey data on African American language in STEM, an exploration of Black community identification at a historically white university, and a study of how Black linguistic and cultural practices can support communities affected by diabetes.

The journal will host a series of webinars beginning on Nov. 7, including guidance for submissions, applying to join the editorial board, and introductions to special themes for upcoming issues.

JBLAC is a project of the GSE’s Black Academic Development (BAD) Lab, a collective of scholars from universities across the country, led by Charity Hudley. The journal is published by Cambridge University Press in partnership with the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), making it one of four major journals sponsored by the LSA.

Anne Charity Hudley

Building on decades of research

�� is a fitting home for the journal, the editors said, given decades of scholarship on Black language and culture from faculty at the university such as Arnetha Ball, John Baugh, and John Rickford.

“So much research has come out of �� from these scholars and all the students they’ve worked with over the years,” Charity Hudley said. “But there wasn’t a journal specifically designed to address it. Early on we didn’t think there was enough work to necessarily sustain a journal, but we’ve had so many more people in this generation doing research in this area that it seemed like it was time.”

The launch of JBLAC also builds on last year’s departmentalization of the African and African American Studies program at ��.

“The journal is an enterprise that’s aligned with the goals of the institution to grow that space, and it gives our new department an anchor,” Charity Hudley said.

JBLAC fills a gap in the current landscape of academic journals, the editors said, by explicitly connecting the study of Black language practices with cultural life and identity. Other journals that publish work on African linguistics, for example, don’t often include the cultural specificities of Black life, they said, and those focused on Black culture and social structures frequently overlook the role that language plays.

The motivation to develop JBLAC grew largely out of experiences Charity Hudley and other scholars shared in submitting papers to journals focused on a discipline such as linguistics or anthropology, and being told the work was outside the scope of that publication. With JBLAC, the editors aim to mitigate those disciplinary boundaries and lift barriers that scholars of Black language and culture often face in publishing their work.

In addition to an editorial board providing primary oversight for the journal’s direction and focus, JBLAC has a board of senior advisors and reviewers representing a range of disciplines, including education, sociology, communication, and disability studies.

To help demystify the process of academic publishing for undergraduate and graduate students, the editors also established fellowship programs that get students involved in soliciting, reviewing, and editing submissions.

“A big theme of the BAD Lab is collaboration, and this project is collaborative in a way that’s not commonly done at academic journals,” said Mia Harris, social science researcher at the BAD Lab and managing editor of JBLAC. “These spaces have historically been closed to marginalized folks, and when it comes to how to navigate these frameworks of finding a journal that suits your work and getting published, we’ve been really intentional about educating as we go.”

Expanding the perception of linguistics

The editors plan to publish 20-24 articles a year on an ongoing basis as pieces are accepted. In addition to empirical studies and more theoretical articles considering existing research, the editorial team is interested in pieces written by and for students for classroom use (both K-12 and college level), and “how did you do that?” articles that share practical, behind-the-scenes insights into conducting Black language and culture research.

They identified a set of rubrics for evaluating submissions, including whether the ideas involve a scholarly area concerning both Black language and culture, how comprehensively the author considers the implications of the work for the lived experiences of Black people, and whether the work would be of interest to readers across disciplines.

Upcoming issues are slated to take on special themes, such as Black media, academic freedom, and the language and literacies of Africana spirituality.

The editors said they hope to expand the public understanding of what the field of linguistics can involve, and to encourage dialogue among scholars in linguistics and other fields that contribute to the study of Black language and culture.

“A lot of people are doing language and culture work without realizing it – they might be looking at rap music, or the way Black language is informing social and digital media, like Black Twitter,” said Harris. “Our hope is that JBLAC can be a space for folks who are doing this work in different corners to come together and have more of a community.”

In celebration of its launch, the journal will host a series of webinars beginning on Nov. 7, when the JBLAC editorial team will share an overview of the journal’s mission, scope, and goals. Learn more and register.

JBLAC managing editor Mia Harris, pictured here fourth from left, with (l-r) GSE doctoral student Kevin Anderson, a graduate fellow with JBLAC; Lionnell Smith, assistant editor of JBLAC; and Ericka Cannon and Jaylen PIttman, both GSE doctoral students and JBLAC graduate fellows. The editors established fellowship programs to build undergraduate and graduate students' involvement and help demystify the process of academic publishing.

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Faculty mentioned in this article: Anne Harper Charity Hudley

Three GSE alumnae receive recognition for excellence in education

Jeannie Crumly Cole — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 21:51:13 +0000

Three GSE alumnae receive recognition for excellence in education

Jeannie Crumly Cole Mon, 08/18/2025 - 14:51

From left to right, the 2025 Alumni Excellence in Education honorees are Tina Cheuk, Laura Evans, and Heather Kirkpatrick. (photo credits: courtesy Tina Cheuk; Herve Philippe; courtesy Heather Kirkpatrick)

Alumni | Announcements | Awards

Tina Cheuk, Laura Evans, and Heather Kirkpatrick are the recipients of the 2025 Alumni Excellence in Education Award.

August 18, 2025

By Aimee Richer

As classrooms around the nation begin to come alive for the new academic year, the �� Graduate School of Education (GSE) celebrates the educators at the heart of it all. The annual Alumni Excellence in Education Award (AEEA) is the highest honor bestowed by the GSE in recognition of the extraordinary achievements of alumni who exemplify excellence in their work, embody the values of the GSE, and extend its impact far beyond the university.

This year’s AEEA honorees are Tina Cheuk, Laura Evans, and Heather Kirkpatrick. Through research, transformative teaching, and pioneering leadership, each distinguished honoree has made a lasting impact on the educational landscape.

“AEEA offers a chance to reflect on the collective impact that GSE alumni have had on education and the communities they serve,” Dean Dan Schwartz said. “For over a decade, we’ve had the opportunity to publicly recognize and celebrate alumni for achievements ranging from being exceptional teachers here in California to transforming entire school systems in faraway nations.”

Each year, award recipients are selected by a committee of GSE alumni, faculty, and the dean. The nomination and selection process has continually evolved over the years to ensure the awards are equitable, inclusive, and reflective of the broader alumni population.

Director of Alumni Relations Marly Solebello said the yearlong process of determining each year’s award winners is essential to the success of the program. “One of the reasons this award is so meaningful is that it is an award decided upon by their peers. Any graduate of the GSE can be nominated, and every nomination is thoroughly considered by our alumni and faculty who care deeply about this community and the work our alumni do in service to education.”

Moolani Napolitani, MA’06, chair of the nominating committee, has participated in the award process for 11 years. “I am honored to be counted among such accomplished professionals as part of the GSE community,” she said. “Bringing visibility to their work not only celebrates the award winners but also elevates the profession of education and all that’s possible as a career path.”

Tina Cheuk

Dr. Tina Cheuk, MA ’07, PhD ’19, is a tenured associate professor of elementary science education at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her work focuses on expanding access to high-quality science and bilingual education, with a sharp focus on equity and student-parent success. She has advised the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, has contributed to the California State Literacy Plan, and serves on the advisory board for the California Alliance for Student Parent Success. Dr. Cheuk leads teacher preparation and research efforts that shape educational policy and practice nationwide.

“Since graduating from �� in 2019, Tina has emerged as a transformational leader whose advocacy and dedicated strategies have advanced practices and policy supporting student parents, an often invisible population,” said Ann Jaquith, GSE lecturer and director of the Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies master's program.

Laura Evans

Laura Evans, MA ’97, has spent over 25 years championing equitable mathematics instruction. Her teaching and coaching are rooted in the belief that all students deserve access to math as a meaningful, creative, and collaborative endeavor. Through her work with �� Teacher Education Program (STEP), the Knowles Teacher Initiative, and the San Mateo-Foster City School District, she has guided hundreds of educators in designing inclusive math experiences that inspire curiosity and confidence.

One of the newest AEEA nominating committee members, Vaibhavi Gala, MA '00, captured Laura’s impact well: “‘I can do math!’ These words are magical to hear, yet still too rare. Laura hasn't just helped students believe them in her classrooms; she's sparked a systemic shift through a range of powerful initiatives and programs, making math confidence a reality for thousands.”

Heather Kirkpatrick

Dr. Heather Kirkpatrick, PhD ’00, is the president and CEO of Alder Graduate School of Education. Heather began her career in service and teaching before helping to grow Aspire Public Schools from two to 40 schools, ultimately launching Alder GSE as a pioneering residency-based graduate program.

“I cannot overstate the importance of Heather's contribution to the field in creating a teacher preparation program that produces one of the highest number of teachers in California who are most likely to stay in teaching and excel in the classroom,” said Professor Susanna Loeb.

Celebrating the awardees

“When I think of the Alumni Excellence in Education Awards, it’s a little like graduation,” Schwartz said. “Graduation isn’t for the students; it’s for the parents. For the awardees of AEEA, it’s great, but the program is really for the rest of us—to be able to celebrate these amazing accomplishments.”

This year’s awardees will be celebrated at a ceremony on October 17, 2025, during ��’s reunion weekend.

AEEA is made possible by the generosity and vision of Angela Filo, ’93, and David Filo, MS ’90, and the philanthropic support of the Skyline Foundation and others.

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�� education professor Amado Padilla appointed to endowed chair

Olivia Peterkin — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 16:58:25 +0000

�� education professor Amado Padilla appointed to endowed chair

Olivia Peterkin Fri, 07/25/2025 - 09:58

Amado Padilla was named the Vida Jacks Professor of Education. (Photo: Sherry Tesler)

Announcements | Awards

Padillo is honored with the Vida Jacks Professorship of Education.

July 25, 2025

By Olivia Peterkin

�� Graduate School of Education (GSE) Professor Amado Padilla has been appointed to an endowed chair, the highest honor the university can bestow upon faculty.

Padilla, whose research focuses on resilience in education, was named the Vida Jacks Professor of Education.

GSE Dean Dan Schwartz announced Padilla’s appointment to GSE faculty in June.

“Throughout his career, Dr. Padilla has maintained a steadfast commitment to equity, student development, and educational access, with a particular focus on historically underserved communities,” Schwartz wrote in his nomination for Padilla’s professorship.

“Dr. Padilla’s contributions have shaped the institutions he’s served and inspired a generation of educators and learners,” Schwartz continued. “His lifelong dedication to academic excellence, equity, and transformative education makes him a compelling candidate for professorial recognition and a valuable contributor to the academic community.”

Padilla joined �� in 1988, and he was also the associate dean for faculty affairs at the GSE for four years.

His research centers on three areas: students who excel academically despite being raised in challenging backgrounds; acculturation, its negative impacts, and bicultural strategies; and learning a second language and bilingual proficiency. He also co-authored a book entitled Positive Psychology and Second Language Education, with Xinjie Chen, about theories and practices related to teaching and learning second/foreign languages for all ages.

He has held key leadership roles in public school systems and university settings, where he has designed and managed comprehensive student support programs. He is also the founding editor of the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences and principal investigator of the California World Language Project, a program that assists California teachers in world language instruction.

“I have received other awards and honors during my academic career, but receiving the Vida Jacks Chair in Education is perhaps the most significant since it comes from the GSE, which has long been my academic home,” Padilla said. “I have been in the GSE long enough to have known prior recipients of the professorship, scholars who I’ve respected, and it’s an honor to follow in their footsteps."

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Faculty mentioned in this article: Amado Padilla

�� education students share research, build community at AERA conference

Olivia Peterkin — Tue, 20 May 2025 23:13:17 +0000

�� education students share research, build community at AERA conference Olivia Peterkin Tue, 05/20/2025 - 16:13

Announcements | Events | Research and Practice

From helping attendees navigate the conference, to sharing research, four GSE students share their experiences at the annual meeting.

June 2, 2025

By Olivia Peterkin

The �� Graduate School of Education (GSE) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) have deeply intertwined histories; both revolve around the betterment of society through educational research, both began within a year of each other, and more than 15 GSE faculty and alumni have led AERA’s board as president.

At AERA’s annual conference — a meeting where educational stakeholders connect, collaborate, and disseminate research — this year another chapter was added to the history between the two as several GSE students were there to attend and present, and GSE Professor Maisha Winn officially began her tenure as AERA’s newest president.

“One of my priorities as AERA president is to work closely with the incoming executive director on creating a 10-year plan for the association and doing a deep dive into how we envision the future of AERA,” said Maisha Winn, a GSE professor whose tenure as president of AERA began at the end of this year’s conference.

About 14,000 attendees including more than 4,500 graduate students were present at the conference this year and GSE students presented on topics ranging from drawing connections between social emotional learning in K-12 schools and civics education, to preparing teachers how to best support multilingual learners. The GSE also hosts an annual reception for alumni, faculty, and students to connect, exchange ideas, and reunite with their cohorts.

Working behind the scenes to help graduate students navigate the conference

“I’m actually on the AERA Graduate Student Council as program chair, so I was involved with creating and promoting all of the graduate-facing programming at the conference,” said Marjorie Hahn, a doctoral candidate studying Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education. It was really an amazing experience.”

“I got to run the graduate student welcome orientation for the first day, and there were more than 200 people there getting ready for the conference, and my role involved giving tips and apprising them of resources that would be available for graduate students throughout the week, chief among them was the graduate student resource center (pictured above), where students could go with questions,” she said.

(Photo courtesy Marjorie Hahn)

Connecting with familiar faces in overwhelming spaces

"While AERA can be an overwhelming space given the conference's size and the many interesting sessions to choose from, I have come to see the conference more like a class reunion, or even a family reunion, with some of my closest scholar-friends," said Darion Wallace, a doctoral candidate studying Social Sciences, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary Policy Studies (SHIPS).

"I remember feeling lost in the sea of scholars during my first in-person AERA, but this time around I saw so many familiar faces at every turn of the conference. Sharing new and emerging ideas at AERA has traditionally been an enriching experience, as it has pushed me to think differently about my research questions and affirm the significance of my interventions in the field," he said. "I departed from my conference experience this year knowing that my cup overflowed with gratitude, connection, and intellectual stimulation."

(Photo courtesy Darion Wallace)

Seizing opportunities to share research

"This was one of the first years where being around the people at the conference, I realized that I couldn’t have gotten the experience I did if I hadn’t gotten on a flight and come out here," said Jan Weiss, a doctoral candidate studying curriculum studies and teacher education, who presented on preparing teachers to support multilingual learners.

"I also didn’t realize that editors and publishers attend AERA and are reaching out to different researchers like me. But there was a whole room in the convention center with 20 to 30 publishers and after my presentation an editor approached me about writing a book," she said. "So I would tell graduate students wanting their research to be seen, known or published that AERA is a really good networking experience because editors are there with that in mind."

"I think if I had just published my paper on this topic and not presented it at AERA, it might not have gotten the attention that it had."

(Photo Courtesy Jane Weiss)

Building a community of scholars

"It’s interesting how people from different places come together to build a community that is outside the university or organization they’re embedded in," said Tom Nachtigal, a doctoral candidate who presented on connecting the line between social emotional learning and civic education.

"I think some people are hesitant to go to AERA because it can be a heavy lift, but for me as a young scholar, being exposed to these kinds of spaces is very helpful to see what other people are working on, what they’re thinking about, and how they’re responding to your work," she said. "I think this is a very important part of our growth and development."

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GSE professor among seven �� faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Olivia Peterkin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 21:42:50 +0000

GSE professor among seven �� faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Olivia Peterkin Wed, 04/23/2025 - 14:42

Walter Powell is the Jacks Professor of Education at the GSE.

Announcements | Awards

Walter Powell is the Jacks Family Professor in the Graduate School of Education and faculty co-director of the �� Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

April 23, 2025

Walter Powell, a professor at �� Graduate School of Education (GSE), was one of seven �� faculty recently elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an honor that recognizes exceptional scholars and researchers who discover, advance, and apply knowledge to the problems of society.

Powell, who is the Jacks Professor of Education and co-faculty director of the �� Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, focuses his research on how ideas and practices move across organizations, and the role of networks in facilitating or hindering the transfer of ideas.

“The Academy honors excellence across a wide range of disciplines and professions, and our newly elected members have demonstrated expertise and leadership of astonishing breadth and impact,” said Academy board chair Goodwin Liu, associate justice of the California Supreme Court, in the announcement of the new members. “We look forward to engaging their diverse talents and experiences through Academy initiatives that bring interdisciplinary inquiry and unfettered pursuit of knowledge to bear on our society’s greatest challenges.”

In addition to Powell, ��’s newly elected members include Anne Brunet, professor of genetics in the School of Medicine; Lance Dixon, professor of particle physics and astrophysics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory ; Ian Gotlib, professor of psychology in the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S); Christopher Manning, professor of linguistics in H&S and the Thomas M. Siebel Professor in Machine Learning and professor of computer science in the School of Engineering; Paul Segall, professor of geophysics in the �� Doerr School of Sustainability; and Kang Shen, professor of biology in H&S and professor of pathology in �� Medicine, were among nearly 250 newly elected members this year.

“These new members’ accomplishments speak volumes about the human capacity for discovery, creativity, leadership, and persistence. They are a stellar testament to the power of knowledge to broaden our horizons and deepen our understanding,” said Academy President Laurie L. Patton, in the announcement. “We invite every new member to celebrate their achievement and join the Academy in our work to promote the common good.”

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Faculty mentioned in this article: Woody Powell

�� GSE Professor Emeritus David Labaree elected to the National Academy of Education

Olivia Peterkin — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 22:52:02 +0000

�� GSE Professor Emeritus David Labaree elected to the National Academy of Education

Olivia Peterkin Fri, 02/07/2025 - 14:52

GSE Professor Emeritus David Labaree was recently elected to the National Academy of Education.

Announcements | Awards | Research and Practice

Labaree’s research centers on the history of the American school system and the relationship between school and society.

February 7, 2025

By Olivia Peterkin

David Labaree, a professor emeritus at �� Graduate School of Education (GSE), has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Education (NAEd).

He joins a cohort of 22 distinguished professors selected for membership earlier this year, representing a diverse scope of expertise in education research and policy.

Labaree is one of more than two dozen �� colleagues in NAEd, the highest representation of any university, including fellow GSE Professor Alfredo J. Artiles, who will begin his presidency at the organization in October.

“Our distinguished colleagues now joining the National Academy of Education bring the range of expertise and commitments needed for our field to update itself and wrestle with these complexities [of our democratic experiment in governance] continuously,” said Carol D. Lee, current NAEd president. “We are delighted and honored that this cohort of scholars will join us in tackling these complexities.”

Labaree, the Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emeritus, joined the GSE in 2003. His work focuses on the history of education through the lens of sociology.

“I was very excited and also quite surprised when I found out,” Labaree said. “I was already long retired so I figured it was past my time to get elected.”

Labaree’s research and interests center on exploring the development of the American school system and the relationship between education and society in the United States, and the role school plays in America. He is the author of several books and articles including How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning, The Trouble with Ed Schools, and A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education.

Labaree taught courses on the history of school reform, the history of higher education in the United States, and historical and sociological perspectives on schools of education. He has served as president of the History of Education Society, and is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association.

“As someone who thought their days of accomplishment were behind them, I value joining the National Academy of Education very highly,” he said. “I’m excited to see what this next chapter holds.”

Founded in 1965, the National Academy of Education advances education research and its use in policy formation and practice. The Academy consists of U.S. members and foreign associates elected based on outstanding education-related scholarship.

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Faculty mentioned in this article: David F. Labaree , Alfredo Artiles

�� professor elected president of the National Academy of Education

Brooke Donald Gorlick — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 03:27:42 +0000

�� professor elected president of the National Academy of Education

Brooke Donald … Mon, 10/21/2024 - 20:27

�� Professor Alfredo Artiles named president-elect of the National Academy of Education. (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

Announcements | Faculty and Programs | Research and Practice

Alfredo J. Artiles, who studies disability and racial disparities in education, will begin his term at the honorific society in October 2025.

October 21, 2024

By Olivia Peterkin

�� Graduate School of Education (GSE) Professor Alfredo J. Artiles has been selected to be the next president of the National Academy of Education.

Beginning in October 2025, Artiles will serve a four-year term. He is the fifth �� scholar to hold the title. He will replace current president Carol Lee, a professor emeritus of education at Northwestern University, who is in the final year of her term.

“This is a tremendous achievement. Alfredo is a strong advocate for education and knows deeply the value of education research,” said Dan Schwartz, the I. James Quillen Dean at the GSE.

In his new role, Artiles says he hopes to produce and advance educational research while building on the work of past presidents to shape the future of education.

“Learning about my election as president was a humbling and joyful moment given the impact and importance of the NAEd in the field and its importance in my own trajectory in this illustrious community,” Artiles said.

Artiles, who joined the GSE in 2020, studies how disability can be used as both an object of protection and a tool of stratification in education settings. His work focuses on topics such as the cultural-historical contexts of racial disparities in special education and discipline, and whether a disability diagnosis is associated with differential consequences for minoritized groups.

Artiles brings extensive experience as an interdisciplinary scholar to the role having served as vice president of the American Educational Research Association’s Division on the Social Contexts of Education, member of several consensus panels of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and resident fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences.

“I am a firm believer in the power of rigorous educational research to transform people’s lives, address societal inequalities, and contribute to the public good,” said Artiles, who is also a faculty affiliate of the �� Accelerator for Learning. “I also have deep expertise in the study of differences and opportunities in educational systems.”

“These values, personal experiences, and expertise will serve me well as I work to enact the vision and mission of the NAEd,” he said.

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Faculty mentioned in this article: Alfredo Artiles , Dan Schwartz

Two �� education professors appointed to endowed chairs

Olivia Peterkin — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 00:56:14 +0000

Two �� education professors appointed to endowed chairs

Olivia Peterkin Tue, 10/08/2024 - 17:56

(Photo: Andrew Brodhead)

Announcements | Faculty and Programs

Philip Fisher, who focuses on early learning, and Maisha T. Winn who researches equity in education, were appointed to endowed chairs.

October 9, 2024

By Olivia Peterkin

�� Graduate School of Education (GSE) professors Philip Fisher and Maisha T. Winn have been appointed to endowed chairs, the highest honor the university can bestow on faculty.

Fisher, who has been at the GSE for two years, was named to the newly established Diana Chen Professorship; and Winn, who recently joined the GSE, was named to the Excellence in Learning Graduate School of Education Professorship, which was previously held by Fisher.

GSE Dean Dan Schwartz announced both Fisher and Winn’s appointments at a GSE faculty meeting on Oct. 8.

“Professor Fisher is an exceptional intellectual leader who not only generates discoveries and practical applications in his own work, he is also a field builder who brings together talent and helps faculty collaborate,” Schwartz wrote in nominating Fisher for the professorship.

In Winn’s nomination Schwartz said, “Professor Winn is one of those hires where everyone within �� and beyond is stunned that we managed to bring her to ��. And everyone is extremely excited that we did.”

“She seeks to understand how communities that have been depicted as under-resourced create practices, processes, and institutions of their own — and what we can learn from those examples to build more just, more collaborative, and more equitable futures,” she said.

Philip Fisher was named to the newly established Diana Chen Professorship.

Philip Fisher

Fisher joined the GSE in 2022 as a professor of education and, by courtesy, pediatrics. He is also the faculty director of the �� Center on Early Childhood, an initiative of the �� Accelerator for Learning.

His research focuses on developing and evaluating scalable early childhood interventions in communities, and applying research on healthy development amid adversity to social policies and programs.

He has published more than 200 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, and developed several evidence-based interventions for supporting healthy child development in the context of social and economic adversity. He was awarded the 2012 Society for Prevention Research Translational Science Award, and is a 2019 Fellow of the American Psychological Society.

Fisher received his Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine; his master of science in clinical psychology from the University of Oregon, Eugene; and his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Oregon.

He is the first person to hold the Diana Chen Professorship, which was established this month with a donation from entrepreneur and philanthropist Diana Chen. The endowment was created for a scholar whose research and teaching is in early childhood learning.

Maisha Winn was named to the Excellence in Learning Graduate School of Education Professorship.

Maisha T. Winn

Winn joined the GSE on July 1 as professor of education and faculty director of the Accelerator’s initiative for equity in learning, and her research focuses on restorative justice and contemporary and historical perspectives in Black education.

She was named an American Educational Research Association Fellow in 2016, received the William T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellowship in 2014, and received the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award in 2012.

Winn was also a 2022-23 Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at ��, is an American Educational Research Association Fellow and the Association’s President-Elect, and a member of the National Academy of Education.

She is the second person to hold the Excellence in Learning Graduate School of Education Professorship, which was established in October 2022.

The endowment was created for a scholar who demonstrates a depth of excellence in the field of education and is committed to pursuing equitable, accessible, and effective learning for all.

Winn received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Davis; her master’s degree in Language, Literacy & Culture from ��; and her PhD in language, literacy and culture from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Faculty mentioned in this article: Philip Fisher , Maisha Winn

Collaboration is key: New education students build a community bound by purpose

Olivia Peterkin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 19:04:31 +0000

Collaboration is key: New education students build a community bound by purpose

Olivia Peterkin Tue, 10/01/2024 - 12:04

GSE students pose for a picture at the dean’s fall kickoff barbecue on the CERAS rooftop on September 26th. (Photo: Joleen Richards)

Announcements | Students

Nearly 150 students joined the GSE this fall hopeful to effect positive change through teaching, policy, technology, and other levers for success.

October 1, 2024

By Olivia Peterkin

When Carter Cote was a high school student in Santa Clarita, Calif., one of his greatest accomplishments was building a career exploration website that connects students in rural areas to resources that would help them secure their dream jobs.

However, just before his school district was about to acquire it, Cote shuttered the project.

“The problem with that solution is that it was a library that literally gets outdated every year because jobs are changing all the time,” said Cote, who is a master’s student in �� Graduate School of Education’s (GSE) Learning Design and Technology (LDT) program.

“The only way that people adapt is through other people, through social capital and cultural capital,” he said. “Here I want to learn how to build something in AI that gets rid of all the friction that existed in that first solution.”

Cote is one of several students who joined the GSE this fall hopeful they will effect positive change in education through teaching, policy, technology, and other levers for academic and professional success.

The new cohort includes 24 doctoral students and 121 master’s students, 57 of whom started in the �� Teacher Education Program (STEP) over the summer.

GSE Dean Dan Schwartz, in an address to students during new student orientation, said many at the school have the same overarching goal even if there are different ways to achieve it.

“What matters most is that we all want to get to the same place, which is where all learners are prepared to thrive,” he said.

Professor Anne Charity Hudley, associate dean of educational affairs at the GSE, offered another bit of advice during new student orientation: stay true to yourself.

“I would like students to keep a sense of all of the experiences they’ve had so far that brought them to this place and how those experiences have helped shape their values,” said Charity Hudley. “I hope they keep that sense of self and who they are with them — we need to all learn from each other in that way.”

PhD students participate in an improv session as part of new student orientation. (Photo: Joleen Richards)

Connection builders

Mychaela Anderson, STEP ’25, sees her year in the teaching program that combines class time at �� with instructional time at a local school as a period of growth. She’s looking for skills that will help her teach with intention and for the long haul.

“One thing that has been on my mind a lot is what it means to be a resilient educator,” said Anderson, who is originally from Honolulu.

She says she leans on the varied perspectives among her peers for support and insight.

“Something I’ve been learning about with my cohort is this concept called thick solidarity, where we think about how we can build connections because of our differences rather than in spite of them,” she said. “It’s something I’ve really been holding with me in my interactions with a lot of my peers that’s really been framing my time here.”

New students pose with props at the photo booth station during the dean’s fall kickoff barbecue event. (Photo: Joleen Richards)

Solution seekers

Tonya Murray, LDT ’22, is returning to �� for her PhD in Learning Sciences and Technology Design (LSTD) after working as a research coordinator with ��’s Rapid Online Assessment of Reading project, or ROAR, which assesses foundational reading skills under the �� Reading & Dyslexia Research Program.

“I got into this field because I have a child who was successfully remediated from dyslexia,” said Murray, who is originally from St. Louis, Mo., and previously worked as a software engineer. “So I’m really interested in how our schools can support all students to learn to read.”

Her goal is to learn how to better translate some of the cognitive research she’ll gather over the next five years into practices that will be used in schools.

“I’m really interested in foundational reading because I think it’s a fundamental right that every kid in the country learns to read,” she said.

Blake Castleman, a fellow LSTD student, plans to find ways to use AI to enhance teaching and learning, and to create tools for students and educators.

“Currently with AI, I feel like a lot of people overemphasize and try to incorporate it into tools where it might not be needed or be inefficient,” said Castleman, who received his master’s in computer science from Columbia University last year. “I’m really hoping to be an integral part in pragmatically using these tools in education in ways that really benefit everyone.”

He will use his time at the GSE to gain more knowledge of the learning sciences, and make use of his exposure to professionals and thought leaders in other facets of education to try to create holistic solutions.

“In a place like the GSE, where there could be a lot of different perspectives on how to implement an idea, action or policy, you really have to listen to your colleagues and ask why when you don’t understand where they’re coming from,” he said.

PhD students sit on the floor to share personal stories during an improv session as part of new student orientation. (Photo: Joleen Richards)

Lifelong learners

Yue Ma joins the GSE’s Social Sciences, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary Policy Studies in Education (SHIPS) doctoral program this fall for what will be his second PhD.

Prior to starting with the new cohort in September, he spent four years working as a researcher with ��’s Rural Education Action Program (REAP), where he used his background in economics to conduct field experiments that will benefit the children of China’s rural poor population.

“Gradually I realized that the things I was doing were becoming less challenging, and I hit a limit where I saw that I needed to improve,” said Ma, who is originally from the Shaanxi Province in China. “I want to gain the ability to come up with cutting edge and important research questions to help the poor.”

Despite working in academia “for a long time,” Ma says he’s looking forward to enjoying every opportunity to learn and interact with different opinions on how to improve education.

“Right or wrong, politics or research, I just want to practice engaging in a way that’s not so black and white,” Ma said. “This means gently speaking up about my opinions and fundamentally giving myself more compassion when it comes to being challenged.”

Similarly, Cote anticipates hearing from educators on what challenges are most prevalent in the classroom.

“What I’m excited about this year is finding people who are authentically passionate about the problems we’re solving,” he said. “That civil discourse between people on different sides of an issue is what actually creates the solution.”

New students pose for a picture during new student orientation week. (Photo: Joleen Richards)

New students mingle and get to know one another at the dean’s kickoff barbecue. (Photo: Joleen Richards)

The newest cohort of Education Data Science master’s students, with program director Sanne Smith (far right) (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

The newest cohort of International Comparative Education master’s students, with program director Christine Min Wotipka (far right) (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

The newest cohort of Learning Design and Technology master’s students, with program director Karin Forssell (far left) (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

The newest cohort of Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies master’s students, with program director Ann Jaquith (far left) (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

The newest doctoral cohort at the GSE includes 24 students. (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

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Faculty mentioned in this article: Dan Schwartz , Anne Harper Charity Hudley

�� Graduate School of Education relaunches School’s In podcast

Olivia Peterkin — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:44:51 +0000

�� Graduate School of Education relaunches School’s In podcast

Olivia Peterkin Tue, 08/27/2024 - 10:44

GSE Dean Dan Schwartz (left) and Senior lecturer Denise Pope are back to host a new season of School's In. (Photo: Ryan Zhang)

Announcements | Innovation | Research and Practice

The GSE’s Dan Schwartz and Denise Pope host spirited and insightful conversations about current topics in teaching and learning.

August 27, 2024

By Olivia Peterkin

From exploring entrepreneurship in education, to discussing the use of AI chatbots in the classroom, �� Graduate School of Education (GSE) Dean Dan Schwartz and Senior Lecturer Denise Pope are back hosting the School’s In podcast with a new lineup of expert guests and insights to help navigate the future of education.

The award-winning podcast relaunches after a two-year hiatus with 12 episodes and a new look, yet the same playful and straight talking hosts that School’s In listeners have come to know and love.

“I think the themes we cover this season are really important and often top of mind for educators and parents,” Pope said. “Our goal is also to help people get to know the amazing faculty members at the GSE and to have some fun along the way.”

The first episode of the new season features GSE Professor Thomas Dee discussing his research on post-pandemic learning and absenteeism in public schools.

“One of the reasons I do these podcasts is I get to learn from the faculty and their research – it’s always interesting,” Schwartz said. “To be able to ask them questions, to follow up and think of questions that the listener might ask, really helps me understand it better.”

We spoke with the hosts about what to expect from the new season and what it’s like working together.

Why is the podcast important and who’s it for?

Dan: I think everybody has had a lot of experience with education, but I don’t think they can easily tap into the vantage of people who are studying it, who have a bigger horizon to make sense of things. School’s In brings the expertise and discoveries of our faculty into the conversation so people can benefit from them.

Denise: The podcast is for parents and educators, or really anyone who is interested in hot topics in education. And for the �� community – both alumni and current students, faculty and staff – it offers another way to learn about each other as well as the subject matter.

I think there’s a lot of information out there and it’s really hard to know if it’s coming from a worthy source, if this information is correct, or if it’s at a level most can understand. I see the podcast as a way to translate really cutting-edge information into usable knowledge for people every day, which is really important to me.

How are the topics in this season relevant to what’s going on in the world?

Dan: This year, I think the episodes are really about meeting the moment. With COVID, the emergence of new technologies, the mental health crisis in our youth – there are big issues this year that people want to know about. This is an amazing period of time to share meaningful insights.

Denise: With everything we’re doing, we’re thinking what’s front-of-mind for listeners that we can offer insight because either our �� researchers are studying it, or it’s something we know will be studied.

What’s it like working together?

Dan: With Denise? She’s a great colleague. We have a good brother-sister rapport, and she’s phenomenal at summarizing things at the end of each episode. She also has this dulcet voice that’s really nice and rings like a bell.

Denise: I love working with Dan on the podcast. One of my favorite things about working with Dan is when we prep for a show by discussing themes, and then think of personal stories that relate. He has had such a diverse career, so I really look forward to hearing his stories and learning about his past teaching adventures.

What’s different this season?

Dan: There’s a slightly new organization to it that we think will get into the topics at hand more quickly, but also keep it lively. There’s a little more foreshadowing of what’s going to be in the podcast, so we’ll see if the audience likes that.

Denise: Video is a different element that we’re introducing this season, so that’s kind of exciting. We are also offering more tips at the end for some of the episodes. We are also experimenting with some new formats for the show. I am excited to see how it all goes.

Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information about the show and its hosts, visit the School's In website.

Check out the first episode of the new season of School's In, featuring Tom Dee, below.

Transcript

Tom Dee (00:00):

Basically an additional six and a half million kids in K-12 public schools are now chronically absent.

Dan Schwartz (00:08):

Today we're tackling one of the most significant challenges post-pandemic, learning loss and chronic absenteeism. Our guest is Tom Dee. He's a professor at the Graduate School of Education and he's an expert in education policy and economics. He's also been deeply involved in researching the impact of Covid-19 on students' academic performance and their attendance.

Denise Pope (00:29):

Welcome to School's In, [00:00:30] your go-to podcast for cutting-edge insights in learning. Each episode, we dive into the latest trends, innovations, and challenges facing learners. I'm Denise Pope, senior lecturer at �� GSE and co-founder of Challenge Success, and I'm with my co-host, Dan Schwartz, Dean of �� Graduate School of Education, and the faculty director of the �� Accelerator for Learning.

Dan Schwartz (01:00):

[00:01:00] Denise, so good to see you. I hope you're doing well. It's good to be here and I'm looking forward to our show today, as always.

Denise Pope (01:08):

Me too, Dan. I'm so excited. It's going to be a really good one. If you were long-time listeners, we are so glad to have you back. We are so appreciative. And if you're new, we're glad you found us.

Dan Schwartz (01:21):

Denise, it is so good to hear the dulcet tones of your voice yet again.

Denise Pope (01:25):

Oh, Dan.

Dan Schwartz (01:26):

I'm so glad we're back together.

Denise Pope (01:27):

It's very exciting.

(01:29):

Tom has [00:01:30] been spending a lot of time looking into what's happening in schools post-pandemic, and in today's episode we're going to hear about his research on learning loss and absenteeism, and we're going to discuss what schools and parents can do to help students get back on track. So important.

(01:45):

Tom, we are thrilled to have you here. So we're going to just go ahead and dig in with the big question, just how much learning was lost during the pandemic?

Tom Dee (01:54):

Thank you, and thanks for having me. So in terms of learning loss, pretty substantial. So [00:02:00] basically 20 years of test score gains have been wiped out with particularly large losses in math and smaller ones in reading. For those in the audience who used to listening or reading about education research, on the order of 10 to 15% of a standard deviation. So pretty substantial. But those gains over 20 years were more modest than we would like.

(02:23):

But I also think there are important dimensions of the pandemic learning loss that we have yet to understand. [00:02:30] In particular, what a lot of my work done in collaboration with journalists and collecting data on enrollment has shown is that the kids who experienced the most substantial disruptions missing pre-K, skipping kindergarten, switching schools, were our very youngest learners who are just beginning to age into testing windows where we'll really know about how their trajectories have changed.

(02:54):

So we're going to learn a lot more in the next few years about that as those kids grow up. And [00:03:00] I've argued in some of my writing too, it creates a kind of bias in our discourse because we look where the light shines, we look at the older kids in tested grades, but there may be very serious harm to the kids who aren't yet in the penumbra of that light. It's not shining on them yet.

Denise Pope (03:19):

That's a little scary.

Dan Schwartz (03:22):

No, I've been worried about this. In particular, is there a developmental window that closes that there was some kinds of learnings that you can't get [00:03:30] at another age? Language acquisition gets a lot harder as you get older. I'll be interested to see the results.

Tom Dee (03:37):

Also though, I want to stress a kind of historical-minded perspective on this because anyone who's studied education knows that crisis rhetoric comes up as regularly as the sun. And so I have that in the back of my mind as I'm sitting here saying, this feels very much like a crisis, that we've said this before, but we really mean it this time.

(04:00):

[00:04:00] But I think it is serious both because of that learning loss, because of the enrollment disruptions, but even more disturbingly what we're seeing about how kids are readjusting to a kind of return to normal and in-person instruction. And with some of the most recent work I've done in collaboration with the Associated Press has underscored this, that we've seen a near doubling of chronic absenteeism among students in the '21 - '22 school year. And all the data available [00:04:30] to us suggests that has persisted into the '22 - '23 school year, and to suggest a large scale failure of many kids to fully reintegrate into schooling as we knew it before the pandemic.

Dan Schwartz (04:43):

Yeah. So tell us more about that research. Part of my reaction to learning loss if I'm feeling jaded is does it really matter if kids graduate with one year less of schooling? At 12th grade you're not doing anything anyway, so [00:05:00] I can be sort of jaded. But then, if there's this part where there's sort of these lingering effects that are just going to keep cascading through the system, I start to get very, very worried. So say more about how you found out.

Tom Dee (05:12):

Yeah. Well, on how we found out, I mean this was really my work and my collaborators at the Associated Press most recently trying to infill the deep inadequacies of the data systems that the pandemic has exposed. Because I had been hearing scattered anecdotal accounts from districts [00:05:30] and a state or two that my gosh, chronic absenteeism has really spiked. And so there was a kind of folk wisdom among the cognoscente that this appeared to be a problem, but nothing like comprehensive data.

(05:43):

So I mounted this effort to go state by state and collect, verify and draw together those data, and that was the substance of the report that I put out in August. And the linked reporting from the Associated Press have documented that doubling, basically an additional [00:06:00] six and a half million kids in K-12 public schools are now chronically absent.

Denise Pope (06:06):

Tom, can you define chronically absent, because I don't know if people understand what that actually means?

Tom Dee (06:11):

Yeah, that's a great point. Thanks, Denise. It basically refers to kids who are missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused. The typical school year has about 180 school days, so we're talking about kids missing typically 18 days or more. And this is a metric [00:06:30] that's really come into broad use as a kind of index for barriers to learning under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Because schools were given a lot more flexibility to move beyond test scores and thinking about how they were meeting kids' needs, and chronic absenteeism became kind of instantiated as a very widely used measure.

(06:51):

And that's why I was able to collect these data because for the last five or six years, virtually all states have been reporting that. So we were able to get data covering [00:07:00] 92% of school kids across the US.

Denise Pope (07:04):

So it's missing 18 days. They don't have to be all in a row, just 18 days-

Tom Dee (07:09):

That's right-

Denise Pope (07:10):

... the course of a school year. What was interesting is you said excused or unexcused absences.

Tom Dee (07:16):

That's right. And it's very intentionally meant to be this sort of very broad index for, could be in school, out of school factors that are just inhibiting kids opportunities to learn.

Denise Pope (07:27):

Because you get Covid and [00:07:30] you can't go back when you're testing positive. That's practically in the old days, that was 14 days. I know it's less now. I think it's like five or six at schools, but still, you're like a third of the way there, you get Covid once.

Tom Dee (07:41):

I think that's right. And that raises the questions of how do we understand this sharp rise in chronic absenteeism? And I tried to engage that in my analysis. I think we're going to need richer, more disaggregated data to do this really definitively.

(07:54):

But basically I linked the state level growth in chronic absenteeism to a variety of candidate [00:08:00] factors that might explain it, the prevalence of Covid infections during that year kids were returning to school, the presence of bans on wearing masks or requirements to wear masks, information on CDC data on the deterioration in student mental health over this period, enrollment change. We might think that the differential exodus from public schools during the pandemic could mechanically create changes in the chronic absenteeism rate.

(08:30):

[00:08:30] None of these seem to explain the state level growth. Only one thing really did. And that was the extent to which during the previous 2020 - '21 school year, schools had been in remote only instruction. If the schools had been closed during that first full school year during the pandemic, predicted much higher chronic absenteeism when kids returned to school in fall of 2021.

(08:58):

So again, this is just [00:09:00] correlational, it's not definitive evidence, but it's consistent with the idea that the major factor was kids falling out of the habit of going to school or maybe parents no longer seeing the value in regular school attendance.

Dan Schwartz (09:14):

So Tom, the threshold of 10% is interesting to me. How do you choose it? I guess the question behind it is, is there a strong linear slope between absenteeism and school grades [00:09:30] or school achievement tests, or is it more of a dogleg that suddenly when you hit 18 days, test scores start to get affected?

Tom Dee (09:38):

Yeah, I don't think there's anything sacrosanct about that particular threshold. The way researchers commonly do, they alight upon it for a variety of reasons. But we see similar reductions in attendance. And all the evidence I've seen is that across all margins, attending school more is beneficial to kids on a variety of outcome indicators. [00:10:00] But there's nothing particularly sacred about the way we've chosen to define.

Dan Schwartz (10:05):

I'm worried about parents out there. If their kid misses four days, are they going to do worse, like six days or should the parents relax?

Tom Dee (10:14):

I think first they should relax 'cause being relaxed probably makes them better parents, but they should also try to make sure their kids are in school as much as they can healthfully be.

Dan Schwartz (10:29):

When [00:10:30] you were a kid, did your parents let you skip school and did they force you to make it up?

Denise Pope (10:36):

I was a kid a long time ago, Dan. That's asking me to really think back. I can tell you, it's sort of funny that you're asking this because we have this story in my family that my grandmother tells about missing school. So I'm going to sidestep that question and just tell you the grandma story for a second, which is I don't know why, but this comes up at family dinners where she'll say, "You know, I was absent on the one day that they [00:11:00] were teaching square root," and she always would say square root. And she said, "And I've regretted it my whole life."

(11:07):

So when any of our kids or at this dinner would say, "Oh, they weren't excited to go back to school," or whatever, she would say, "You know, be careful 'cause you could miss the one day where you learn square root." And so it's like ...

Dan Schwartz (11:19):

I had that experience.

Denise Pope (11:21):

What do you mean?

Dan Schwartz (11:22):

Oh, it was statistics in graduate school and there was one day where I was tired too much and I missed it. And it's turned out every year a graduate [00:11:30] student asks me exactly about the thing I missed. And I bluff. I do a good job of bluffing, but it is pretty amazing. It was that one, one day.

(11:44):

Tom, time to recover. How are schools doing? Anything working especially well?

Tom Dee (11:51):

I think we've got a few bright spots. I mean, there's a great deal of enthusiasm, for example, around providing tutoring opportunities for kids, though I think [00:12:00] real challenges in doing that well and at scale.

(12:03):

I think I'm also encouraged by the fact there's really good evidence on tier one initial strategies to promote school attendance among kids and tactics that are low cost and scalable with fidelity. In particular, there've been a number of carefully designed experiments that simply will communicate to parents through texting or through postcards, personalized information about how their child is [00:12:30] doing, that they might be missing too much school.

(12:33):

And there's some interesting design elements that are kind of psychologically informed that can enhance the impact of that. So for example, what in the literature is called social norming, saying this is where your kid is and this is where their classroom peers are. Adding that little bit of social context can be impactful.

(12:50):

And also attending to the language used in that communication, making it less judgmental and instead kind of underscoring shared purpose around having kids [00:13:00] attend school regularly. But getting that communication out is low cost, can be done at scale with great fidelity. And I think any school district that's not doing that now should really look into making that happen.

Dan Schwartz (13:13):

Tom, you're going to get a postcard from me pretty soon about the social norms of faculty.

Denise Pope (13:19):

Who else is showing up?

Tom Dee (13:20):

I don't think I'll be alone.

Denise Pope (13:23):

Is part of this just making it more attractive to go to school, making school more fun and exciting? Is part of this just like [00:13:30] school seems like boring and they took all the fun stuff away?

Tom Dee (13:34):

Well, I don't know that the school has changed per se, as much as just people's sense of engagement with it. I think we really, this is purely subjective on my part, as I said again in my home office, but we fell out of the habit of regularly going to the place of work or study, and I think that's proved enduring for kids in ways that are going to be problematic.

Dan Schwartz (13:57):

So Denise, you underestimate habits. [00:14:00] I'm wearing pajamas now at the office so..

Denise Pope (14:03):

We got out of the habit of coming in every day. That was our kids that were the adults. That was a bunch of us. Right? That's one theory.

Dan Schwartz (14:13):

So Tom, you did some interesting work on a reading curriculum or an interesting approach that showed some catch up effects. So talk a little bit about this study and intervention.

Tom Dee (14:24):

Yeah. And this is part of the Science of Reading debate, which I just think is one of the most fascinating issues in education [00:14:30] research and policy right now. Many listeners may be familiar with the decades-long reading wars, which basically had researchers and policymakers sparring over the best way to teach, in particular young learners how to read. And it pitted an older tradition of more phonics-based instruction against a newer tradition based on whole language and then a kind of middle ground called balanced literacy that purported to combine the two.

(14:59):

So there's been [00:15:00] that long-standing debate, but a shift in recent years I think, and a sense that the science of reading, which includes for young readers more phonics-based instruction is really the right way to go. Now the problem we have is that efforts to really make that happen in the classroom simply haven't worked.

(15:20):

There was a major federal initiative as part of No Child Left Behind that had no effects on student outcomes. And there've been a variety of state level initiatives that purport [00:15:30] to push out and encourage teachers to use science of reading practices and haven't really worked.

(15:36):

Now, we studied a California initiative that targeted the 70 lowest achieving elementary schools in California and came out of a legal settlement. The state had been sued for violating its constitutional obligation to educate children and to provide them with early literacy skills. As a result, they took around $50 million and directed it towards science [00:16:00] of reading pedagogy in these schools. And in a recent study with a �� doctoral student, we found looking over the first two years of that program that it really appears to be working. It's moving the needle on reading achievement in meaningful ways.

Denise Pope (16:14):

Okay. I have a hypothesis about this, and you can shoot me down, Tom 'cause you're the expert, but here's my hypothesis. When I was reading about this, they said they weren't just handing people a curriculum to use saying, "This is the Science of Reading curriculum, use it." But that money was going toward professional [00:16:30] development for educators, it was involving parents in this, and maybe you can say more about that, but it was doing a lot more than just saying, "Go back to those boring phonics instruction books."

Tom Dee (16:45):

Yeah, this is such an important question Denise, because I think generally in education, when we see a policy effort that appears to have been impactful, we have such trouble replicating it and doing it a second time. So I think it's really important to pay attention to the unique design and implementation [00:17:00] details of what went on with this money. And it was this, seems like this delicate balance between being prescriptive and also providing school flexibility.

(17:08):

So just to sketch it out briefly, they began by offering eligible schools money to develop school level literacy action plans and support in the contours of that, making it consistent with the science of reading.

(17:23):

Then they provided oversight of those plans and looked at the proposed budgets before approving them. They gave [00:17:30] schools, it was over half a million dollars for three years to implement those plans on average and gave them broad spending guidelines, four different categories that could include professional development for teachers, additional instructional support staff, strategies for family and engagement, money for new textbooks and things of that sort. So broad guidelines, but then flexibility within them for schools to kind of design their own plan.

(17:56):

So I think these kind of design features are probably really critical [00:18:00] for the early success of this program. That balance of being prescriptive in evidence-based ways and flexible in ways that engage substantive change within the school and ultimately critically within the classroom.

Dan Schwartz (18:15):

So is it possible that the gains were just because the school got aligned as opposed to the science of reading? Everybody's lined up, right? They're consistent. They're coherent. There's an agreement. Is it possible this is what's driving these results [00:18:30] as opposed to the science of reading?

Tom Dee (18:32):

Well, that might be because there is that embedded in it, but there's always this challenge in understanding the impact of these kinds of policy initiatives because they're so multifaceted. And so there's often this effort when we see it's having an effect to say, "Okay, I see it was doing seven different things." It probably compelled some instructional coherence and alignment as you're describing along with the science of reading.

(18:57):

And so people will commonly ask what the special [00:19:00] sauce is. And I'm at a point where sometimes I think that question is too reductive and to think that there could be one singular silver bullet within it because they may interact in ways that aren't additive and they really have to be there together as complements.

(19:18):

But if we were to learn, it was really about forcing instructional coherence and alignment, I'm happy to claim that is the reason for the success. I have no history in the reading wars, [00:19:30] but I'd be curious what perspectives you guys have on that long-standing debate.

Denise Pope (19:35):

Well, there's actually an entire School's In show on the reading wars where Dan and I enter into a debate with Rebecca Silverman here, who's at the School of Education. So our listeners can find that one. It's a very juicy, interesting debate that if my memory serves, Dan and I completely lost to whatever the competition was that Rebecca was setting up about is it this or this? And we always [00:20:00] chose the wrong one. So I don't know. Dan, do you have a strong opinion, phonics versus whole language?

Dan Schwartz (20:05):

I'm a math science guy.

Denise Pope (20:08):

Way to skirt.

Dan Schwartz (20:09):

How's that?

(20:09):

Way to skirt the issue.

Denise Pope (20:10):

The thing I always wonder is how these wars get started is a war between ... I mean, it's like two faculty member quibbling with each other. How did it become a war?

Tom Dee (20:19):

Well, I think this is actually really fascinating. For all the attention that reading wars and the science of reading has received, at some level I feel it's as if it's not enough. Because when I think about [00:20:30] if you believe the science of reading and phonics-based instruction for early readers is important, the scale at which we've been failing is at some level mind-numbing 'cause surveys indicate that something like 80% of teachers are using three cueing methods in the classroom and have been doing so for something like four decades.

Denise Pope (20:50):

Three cueing. Tom, you want to just tell, again, tell our listeners-

Tom Dee (20:53):

Oh, sorry. Three cueing is an instructional method sometimes associated with balanced literacy, but really grounded [00:21:00] in whole language. And the idea is you don't have to be didactic in teaching students phonemic awareness, the sounds of words and their components and how to sight read. Instead, you have them draw clues from the context, the sentence, any graphical images available, et cetera.

(21:17):

And so the science of reading would emphatically discredit that type of three cueing instruction. Yet we've been doing it at scale for decades, and my rough calculations suggest in our nation of over 300 million [00:21:30] people, that implies that something like 200 million people have been taught a foundational academic skill the wrong way. So that's really striking, and-

Dan Schwartz (21:40):

Okay, maybe I do have an opinion...

Denise Pope (21:43):

Okay. I was waiting for this. Go ahead, Dan.

Tom Dee (21:45):

I knew I could draw him out.

Dan Schwartz (21:46):

Yeah, yeah. So meaning-based approaches where you're trying to figure things out and connect them are really important. You need to learn to interpret a passage, and that's meaning making. You can do it at the word level. What must this [00:22:00] word be?

(22:01):

On the other hand, there is some value at just memorizing routinized things like recognizing that BR is a blend and this is how you pronounce it. So I would've assumed that the blended would've won, except there's probably a mistake in the execution of the blending.

(22:16):

But you need both. I mean, I haven't memorized every word that exists. I have to look at some and figure it out, and I may not use context. I may sound it out.

Tom Dee (22:26):

So I think part of the confusion here too though, is that people think the science of reading [00:22:30] is just phonics.

Denise Pope (22:31):

Yes.

Tom Dee (22:32):

It's phonics at early stages, but there are different science of reading for the kinds of comprehension and fluency you're describing. But it's just that the phonemic awareness and sight reading and all of those foundational skills are where you need to begin.

Dan Schwartz (22:47):

The number of times someone, I try to explain to someone that there's a different way to learn that might be more effective. And they say to me, "No, no, no, no. I learned that way. I did just fine." And my response to them is, "You [00:23:00] may have other people didn't work so well for."

Tom Dee (23:03):

I would just quickly note how we got here too, because based on what I've read about the evolution of the reading wars, at some level the villain is siloed academic scholarship. The fact that these different intellectual traditions were able to persist in isolation because intellectual communities within the academy were not talking to each other and engaging with each other sufficiently. And so that allowed those who were closer [00:23:30] with teacher training to have one view and another community to have a very different view. And we need to do better collectively, I think.

Denise Pope (23:38):

So important. So true. Thank you so much, Tom. What a great show.

Dan Schwartz (23:43):

I agree. Thank you, Tom.

(23:47):

The past year or so, we've finally started learning how consequential Covid was for our students and where the effects are taking place. So thank you.

Denise Pope (23:55):

100%. Now, as good educators, we like to end our [00:24:00] lessons with some tangible takeaways. So Dan, I'm going to put you on the spot. Are you ready for this? What stood out to you?

Dan Schwartz (24:08):

What stood out to me is that Tom's research just clearly shows that absenteeism is a problem that we need to get under control. You know some districts have had successes, but overall, getting kids back to school has been harder than everybody anticipated.

Denise Pope (24:20):

Oh my goodness, way harder than people anticipated.

(24:24):

You know another thing we heard was that schools need better communication strategies with parents and students. So [00:24:30] I'm thinking when Tom mentioned things like getting in front of parents more with text messages or other interesting low cost ways to just inform them and nudge them, it's really about ditching the judgment and together focusing on the shared purpose.

Dan Schwartz (24:50):

Okay, so that gets folks back in. Now we need to catch them up.

Denise Pope (24:51):

We absolutely do. Tom mentioned that a lot of schools are having success with tutoring, and I know there's a lot of research to back that up. Also, [00:25:00] we probably need to shed old ways of teaching and really be open to adopting more evidence-based approaches.

Dan Schwartz (25:06):

Tom did mention a recent study on a reading program that's boosting student achievement. It's a great example of how targeted evidence-based strategies can make a significant impact.

Denise Pope (25:16):

Well said, Dan. Thank you again to our guest, Tom Dee, for this thoughtful conversation. And thank you all for joining us on this episode of School's In. Remember to subscribe to our show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your [00:25:30] podcasts. I'm Denise Pope.

Dan Schwartz (25:32):

And I'm Dan Schwartz.

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