SESP in the Media: January 2022
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Training Future K-5 Teachers in STEM
Professor Megan Bang and alumna Carrie Tzou (PhD08) received a $1.8 million National Science Foundation grant to better prepare aspiring elementary school teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Six Scholars Named as Nation’s Most Influential
For the third straight year, six Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy faculty members were named to Education Week’s annual list of 200 influential academics in education policy. The scholars are among the top in their fields and were selected for moving academic research findings into the national conversation.
Making an Impact: Faculty Research Named Year's Best
Two papers coauthored by researchers at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) were named to the Edutopia’s “10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2021.”
Vossoughi Promoted to Associate Professor
Northwestern University’s Shirin Vossoughi, a learning scientist best known for her work studying culture, equity, social relations, and learning in a range of educational environments, has been promoted to associate professor of learning sciences at the School of Education and Social Policy.
Lam Honored for Immigration Research
School of Education and Social Policy Professor Eva Lam and her coauthors received the Alan C. Purves Award from the National Council of Teachers of English for their research looking at what happens when young people tell their own immigration stories through documentary filmmaking.
Here’s How Black Communities Responded to School Closures
Black Chicagoans who lived near a school that was shuttered during the largest wave of public-school closures in US history became more politically active and held their local officials accountable, according to a new Northwestern University study coauthored by professor Sally Nuamah.
SESP in the Media: November 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Researchers Tackle Inequity in STEM Education
Four School of Education and Social Policy researchers and alums will help address systemic inequities in PreK-12 STEM education as part of an esteemed National Academies’ committee.
Shrodes Wins AAUW Dissertation Fellowship
Graduate student Addie Shrodes has received a highly competitive American Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to support her work looking at how trans and queer teens learn critical digital literacies through everyday activities on social media.
Researchers Find Important Nuances in Race, Preschool Discipline
Teachers tend to complain more about Black preschool students and identify their behavior as problematic compared to white students — even though researchers found no differences when the children were observed in a laboratory setting, according to a new Northwestern University study.
Why We All Pay When Black Girls are Punished
Northwestern University’s Sally Nuamah received the 2021 American Political Science Association, Best Paper on Intersectionality Award, for her work looking at how race and gender stereotypes affect public support for punishing Black girls.
SESP in the Media: October 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Seeking Early Career Visiting Scholars for K-12 Education Research
The E4 Early Career Visiting Fellows Program is currently seeking four up and coming scholars to conduct K-12 education research at Northwestern University's Center for Education Efficacy, Excellence, and Equity (E4) during the 2022-23 academic year.
Emma Adam Named Associate Vice President for Research
Emma Adam, the Edwina S. Tarry Professor of Human Development and Social Policy in the School of Education and Social Policy has been named associate vice president for research at Northwestern University.
Uttal Receives $1.3 Million to Study Spatial Thinking
Psychologist David Uttal has received four grants worth $1.28 million to study new ways to enhance spatial thinking, the process of looking for patterns in the relationships between objects.
Teens’ COVID-19 Stress Levels Tied to Parents’ Education
Family education levels predicted how much stress teenagers felt during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study by researchers at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy.
CTD Researchers Win Book, Paper of the Year Awards
Researchers at Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development have won both Book of the Year and Paper of the Year awards from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC).
Graduate Students Win Spencer Dissertation Fellowships
Graduate students Nikki McDaid and Sebastián Kiguel have received highly competitive NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowships to support their research and career development.
Addressing America's Death Problem
Americans have shorter lives than similarly situated Europeans, even in the richest areas, according to new Northwestern University research coauthored by School of Education and Social Policy professor Hannes Schwandt. At the same time, longevity of Black Americans has been catching up, and the life expectancy gap between Black and white Americans fell by 48.9%.
Meet SESP's Newest PhD's
Thirteen Northwestern University graduate students earned doctoral degrees in three of the School of Education and Social Policy's pioneering programs: Learning Sciences, Human Development and Social Policy, and Computer Science and Learning Sciences (CS + LS), a joint degree with the McCormick School of Engineering.
New Research: Illinois Fared Well Amid COVID-19 Chaos
Illinois is a national model for how to equitably allocate resources during trying times, according to a new report by Northwestern University researchers assessing the response to COVID-19 for child care programs in Illinois.
SESP Launches New Research-Practice Partnership with $5.8-Million Grant
Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) received a $5.8-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support an innovative partnership that links University researchers and Curriculum Associates, a leading provider of digital assessment and instructional materials, with several school districts.
SESP in the Media: September 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Two Faculty Members Honored for Education Research
Professors Carol D. Lee and Megan Bang were honored by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for their cutting-edge education research, scholarship, and service to the field.
Trautvetter to Help Probe the Universe’s Deepest Mysteries
Professor Lois Trautvetter is part of a new cross-disciplinary fellowship program that brings together astrophysicists and social scientists to tackle data from a massive sky survey, according to Northwestern News.
SESP in the Media: August 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Undergrad Wins Inaugural P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale Research Grant
School of Education and Social Policy undergraduate Daniela Hernandez received the inaugural P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale Undergraduate Summer Research Grant in Social Policy for Children and Families.
SESP in the Media: July 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
SESP Faculty 2020-21 Awards Roundup
Known for innovative interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach, School of Education and Social Policy faculty members are routinely honored for producing pathbreaking work on many of the world’s most challenging questions.
FUSE Studios Expands to Southern California
Students in underserved elementary schools in Southern California will have access to Northwestern University’s FUSE Studios program this fall, thanks in part to a $150,000 grant from the Mazda Foundation.
These Two Rising Stars Won Early CAREER Awards
Northwestern University’s Eleanor O’Rourke and Marcelo Worsley received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for projects designed to strengthen and diversify the field of computer science.
Honors Students Present Senior Thesis Projects
Twelve School of Education and Social Policy honors students were recognized for rigorous and thoughtful scholarship by Dean David Figlio and faculty members during an online ceremony and poster presentation session.
New Research: Why We Should Listen to Preschoolers
Early childhood policies could be vastly improved by listening to the unexpectedly wise voices of those who stand to benefit: children as young as four years old, according to new Northwestern University research published in Translational Issues in Psychological Science.
Leading Education Scholars: There's No Going Back
Schools should not return to the old “normal,” despite concerns about potential learning loss after a year of disruption, leading education scholars argue in a new report by the Spencer Foundation and the Learning Policy Institute.
New Study: Having More Immigrant Peers Can Boost Scores For U.S.-Born Students
A timely new study coauthored by School of Education and Social Policy Dean David Figlio finds that immigrant children and teenagers “could be an unexpected boon for native-born students should they reach American classrooms,” Asher Lehrer-Small wrote in The 74.
Coburn Honored With Excellence in Teaching Award
Cynthia Coburn has been awarded the Charles Deering McCormick University Professorship of Teaching Excellence Award for her innovative classroom instruction, the compassion and care she has shown undergraduates, and her pioneering contributions to the field of education research.
SESP in the Media: May 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Qu Receives Early Career Award
Northwestern University developmental psychologist Yang Qu has received an Early Career Award from the Society for Research in Child Development’s Asian Caucus for his work studying the experiences of teenagers in the United States and China.
Undergrads Pursue Novel Research Projects
Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy students received 2020-21 Academic Year Undergraduate Research Grants (AYURG) to study everything from athletic shoe culture to the impacts of COVID19- and the Black Lives Matter movement on Black-owned businesses.
Presence of Immigrant Students Boosts Test Scores for All
U.S.-born students with high exposure to immigrants in their schools scored better on math and reading tests than similar students with low exposure to immigrants, according to a working paper co-authored by School of Education and Social Policy Dean David Figlio and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Evelyn Iritani wrote in UCLA Anderson Review.
A Sneak Peek Inside the Destin Lab
Northwestern University social psychologist Mesmin Destin, a recent Guggenheim Fellow selection, explores how the presumed “disadvantages” related to students’ backgrounds can carry unrecognized strengths, Kirsten Weir wrote in “Finding Strength in Hardship.”
‘Inclusive Making’ Helps Students Design for People with Disabilities
A college design course that takes a critical look at the field of ‘making” and includes partnerships between students and people with disabilities can promote accessibility in computing, according to new Northwestern University research.
SESP in the Media: April 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Carol Lee Leads SESP Scholars at AERA
More than two dozen School of Education and Social Policy faculty members, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars will present their latest research on a wide range of education issues at the 2021 virtual American Education Research Association annual meeting held April 8 through 12.
Vakil Receives Spencer Grant to Study Engineering Students, Islamic Revolution
Northwestern University’s Sepehr Vakil received a $346,000 Spencer Foundation large research grant to study how the cultural, religious, and political context of late 20th century Iran shaped a premiere engineering university in the years leading up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Three Faculty Members Join National Academy of Education
Northwestern University Professors Megan Bang, Jonathan Guryan, and Brian Reiser were among 22 exceptional scholars elected to the prestigious National Academy of Education (NAEd) for their stellar contributions to education scholarship and research.
Adult vs. Child-Centered Learning: Why We Need Another Path
Teachers often act as hands-off facilitators in makerspace settings, letting children lead the way. But what happens when they step back too far?
SESP in the Media: March 2021
An ongoing, monthly roundup of appearances in the news media by School of Education and Social Policy faculty, researchers, and our community.
Marginalized Students’ Backgrounds a Strength, Researchers Say
Rather than “fixing” students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, colleges and universities should view their experiences as assets and a source of strength, according to two new publications by SESP researchers.