Equity

In Washington's Highline School District, as many as 25 languages can be spoken in a single classroom. That presents a serious challenge to educators who want to provide English learners with rigorous, grade-level appropriate curriculum.

All too often in teacher preparation programs, families and communities are portrayed as obstacles to teachers' work, says Ken Zeichner of the University of Washington College of Education.

"We're parachuting teachers into schools and communities to try and save students," said Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at UW. "Most universities have neglected their communities and the deep knowledge that parents and other community members can offer as we prepare the teachers of their children."

Debates about educational equity often overlook or disregard the voices of the families and communities most impacted by educational disparities. During an April 16 session at the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting, Professor Ann Ishimaru of the University of Washington's College of Education discussed an ongoing UW project that aims to change this reality by tapping the knowledge and experience of parents.

Highland Middle School Principal Anissa Bereano, a 2004 graduate of the University of Washington's Danforth Educational Leadership Program, has been named 2015 Washington State Middle Level Principal of the Year.

The University of Washington has named Dr. Mia Tuan, a distinguished scholar who has held several leadership roles at the University of Oregon over the past 18 years, as Dean of the College of Education.

The University of Washington College of Education will host a community discussion of race and mass incarceration on May 7 as part of this year's Common Book reading.

Research focusing on today's most pressing issues in education will be presented by University of Washington College of Education faculty and students at the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting April 16 - 20 in Chicago. The theme of this year's AERA meeting is "Toward Justice: Culture, Language, and Heritage in Education Research and Praxis."

When Libia Gil immigrated to the United States as a teenager, she could speak some English but struggled with a limited vocabulary, weak grammar skills and no knowledge of common cultural references. Now, she’s helping make sure more than 4.4 million English language learners in the nation’s public schools receive high-quality instruction.

Socio-economic status, language and race too often predict student academic achievement in schools here in Seattle and across the nation.

An article written by a University of Washington College of Education professor that offers guidance to school leaders on how to close opportunity and achievement gaps among students has been honored as the most read article of 2014 in the journal Leadership & Policy in Schools.