In the News

Christine Tran, a doctoral student in educational leadership, policy and organizations, writes about the role of school food labor amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its connections to school food history and social justice movements.

EdX launches the “Positive Behavior Support for Young Children” course by UWashingtonX. Registrations for the courses are open and the course will start on 10th of June, 2014. And in just 3-4 hours per week you will learn evidence-based practices to support the social and emotional development of infants and young children.

Professor Meredith Honig comments that threats to withhold federal funds from school districts not bringing all students back for full-time, in-person instruction will exacerbate the stress school district leaders are facing during the pandemic.

Professor Virginia Berninger comments on the value of handwriting in the development of children's literacy.

Teacher’s College Press announced that the series titled Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies Series and edited by Django Paris, associate professor and director of the Banks Center for Educational Justice at the UW College of Education, has published the first book in the series: Protecting the Promise: Indigenous Education Between Mothers and their Children.  This book is co-storied by Timothy San Pedro, Michael Munson, Alayna Eagle Shield, Tara Ramos, Kristina Lucero and Faith Price with forward by Megan Bang, associate professor at the UW College of Education. The book features a collection of short stories told in collaboration with five Native families that speak to the everyday aspects of Indigenous educational resurgence rooted in the intergenerational learning that occurs between mothers and their children.

Professor Deborah McCutchen discusses the development of reading skills and comments on the debate about exposing kids to quality literature versus comics and mainstream books.

Dr. Ann Ishimaru, associate professor of educational foundations, leadership and policy, was quoted in an article published by The New York Times about new research tracking the impact of pandemic disruptions on student learning. Using data comparing test results from the past year with earlier years, the findings paint an alarming picture of an education system plagued by racial and socioeconomic inequities that have only gotten worse. But contrary to images conjured by phrases like "learning loss," almost all students made gains during the pandemic, just at a slower rate than normal. Additionally, the usefulness of measuring student performance during a year of upheaval and trauma has been contested. "The problem with the learning loss narrative is it is premised on a set of racialized assumptions and focused on test scores," said Dr. Ishimaru, who engages in community-based research that centers the experiences of BIPOC and immigrant families navigating educational systems. "What if we were to focus on the learning found, and then we rebuild our education systems from that learning?" she added.

Professor Ilene Schwartz comments on a U.S. Department of Education draft vision statement about inclusive early education and recommendations for implementation in schools.

Affiliate professor Megan Bang is featured in an article in The Daily Northwestern titled “ETHS stopped a Native student from walking at graduation. Family members say it indicates a need for schoolwide change.” The article features Megan’s son, Nimkii, and how his high school administrators did not allow him to walk at graduation because he added an eagle feather to his cap and traditional Ojibwe floral beadwork to his cap and stole. “I couldn’t just give up my eagle feather in the hands of a stranger,” Nimkii Curley said. “I couldn’t give up my identity like that.” “For us, him graduating and walking and doing what he’s done is an act of leadership,” Megan said. “It’s actually an act of community healing and familial healing.” Megan also speaks about this educational injustice and her son’s act of leadership in the Chicago Sun Times, The Epoch Times and ABC7. 

Dafney Blanca Dabach investigates how teachers and their students of different citizenship statuses navigate tensions in formal state-sponsored citizenship education.