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School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Cover Story
Hot Topics, Civil Discussions

Diana Hess
Diana Hess

“Without dialogue, self-government cannot exist.”—Paulo Freire

If you watch TV political news coverage, listen to talk radio, or read blog comments, you’re exposed to lots of opinion. It’s often heated, and often uncivil. Have we lost the capacity for thoughtful debate? It’s true that all views matter in a democracy, but it’s also important to express views civilly. The most interesting discussions may be the loudest, but the most effective discussions are based on genuine knowledge and mutual respect.

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International Research
Learning with Latin American Colleagues

UW Madison education professor Mitchell Nathan won’t say whether he prefers Argentina or Chile, but he will tell you that both locations have afforded stimulating discussions with colleagues who work at the intersection of neuroscience and education.

In Atacama, Chile, and Calafate, Argentina, he has participated in The Latin American School for Education, Cognitive and Neural Sciences. The LA School, as it’s known, gathers thinkers from many fields, once a year, to find ways to improve all areas of education, including traditional research areas like math, science and reading, but also areas of nutrition, proper sleep habits, morality, judgment and decision making, and self-regulation and impulse control.

Read the rest of the article here.

 

Events & Press

Press

Sara Goldrick-Rab discusses ways to bring more efficiencies to student loan programs in general and to Texas Grants in particular (Houston Chronicle, 4 May).

Adam Gamoran says the achievement gap is the greatest challenge that all urban school districts face (Isthmus.com, 4 April).

Robert Mathieu welcomes the University of Rochester to the CIRTL neetwork, which works to improve the teaching of STEM subjects in colleges and universities (Rochester.edu, 3 April).

Allan Odden recommends that teacher salary schedules replace 'years of experience' with metrics that reflect a teacher’s instructional expertise and impact on student learning (Education Gadfly, 21 March)

 

 

 


CENTER SITES

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and LearningCenter for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning

Center on Education and Work

Children, Families & SchoolsChildren, Families & Schools

Consortium for Policy Research in EducationConsortium for Policy Research in Education

CoMPASSCoMPASS

CALLComprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning

CCHERCulture, Cognition, and Evaluation of STEM Higher Education Reform

Formative Language Assessment Records for ELLs in Secondary Schools

Interdisciplinary ITPTraining Program in the Education Sciences

LSFFLongitudinal Study of Future STEM Scholars

Mobilizing STEM for a Sustainable FutureMobilizing STEM for a Sustainable Future

Minority Student Achievement NetworkMinority Student
Achievement Network

ONPARONPAR Assessment

Strategic Management of Human CapitalStrategic Management of Human Capital

Surveys of Enacted CurriculumSurveys of Enacted Curriculum

System-wide Change for All Learners and EducatorsSystem-wide Change for All Learners and Educators

TransanaTransana

Value-Added Research CenterValue-Added Research Center

WIDA ConsortiumWIDA Consortium

WeilabWisconsin's Equity and Inclusion Laboratory


Research News

Learning to Speak the Language

Federal accountability provisions require states to establish accountability systems for English language programs in school districts that support EL students. Unfortunately, current federal requirements exceed the technical resources of many states and districts. WIDA researcher Gary Cook and colleagues have co-authored a federal report that illustrates several methods state policymakers, standard-setting panels, and technical advisory panels can use to do this work. The document addresses analytical methods for determining meaningful English language performance standards; methods for establishing a realistic time frame for attaining performance standards; and how to account for students’ EL proficiency level when setting academic progress and proficiency goals. More information is available here