In the News

In an op-ed, Professor Soojin Oh Park discusses how the novel coronavirus pandemic threatens to exacerbate inequalities and systemic oppression that endanger the well-being of underserved children and argues for robust investments in high-quality, affordable child care.

It’s becoming more common to have robots substitute in for humans to complete dirty or sometimes dangerous work. But researchers are finding that, in some cases, people have started to treat the robots like pets, friends, or even as extensions of themselves. This raises the question that if soldiers attach human- or animal-like characteristics to a field robot, will it affect how they use the robot? What if they “care” too much about the robot to send it into a dangerous situation? That’s what Julie Carpenter, who just received her UW doctorate in education, wanted to know.

Yanko Michea, director of information and learning technologies, discusses how UW College of Education adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the continuation of productive teaching and learning (story starts on page 4).

Leighanne Law's journey to the front of the classroom began nearly a decade ago when she hosted a monthly book club for middle schoolers. That spark led her last year to the one-year education master’s program at the University of Washington in Seattle – and, starting Day One, to the teaching life.

Professor Nancy Hertzog comments on a new school launched by entrepreneur Elon Musk with once-a-week online classes.

In a four-part video interview, Professor James Banks discusses his early years, his research in multicultural education, current education policies and much more.

Professor Virginia Berninger comments on how writing by hand contributes to the cognitive development of children.

Alumna Sheila Edwards Lange (PhD, 2006) has been selected as chancellor of the University of Washington Tacoma. Her appointment, pending approval by the UW Board of Regents, is set to begin on Sept. 16. Prior to her current role as president of Seattle Central College, Dr. Edwards Lange served as vice president for Minority Affairs and Diversity at the UW. Through these roles and others, she has been a leading advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. While earning her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the College of Education, Dr. Edwards Lange developed research and teaching interests in higher education policy, diversity in higher education, assessment and program evaluation, and underrepresented student access in STEM fields. 

Professor Min Sun's study on the association of district principal evaluation with learning-centered leadership practice is featured.

The Brotherhood Initiative (BI) was featured in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education titled “The Problem Nobody’s Talking About” which discusses how men have trailed women in degree completion for decades and how programs like the BI have helped remedy this issue. Students who are in the BI Oscar Joya and Thomas Efrem are featured in the article, as well as associate professor and founding director of the BI Joe Lott and student success coordinator Paul Metellus. The article highlights how cohort programs like the BI are successful, yet uncommon, on most college campuses and how when the BI started, there was a ten-percentage-point graduation gap between underrepresented minority males at the UW and their white peers and six years later that gap has nearly closed for BI participants.