News

The Penn GSE stories from this year that got the most attention from readers like you!

Student-athletes are cashing in on their name, image, and likeness like never before—creating ripple effects across campuses nationwide. At Penn GSE’s recent Homecoming panel, alumni experts unpacked what this billion-dollar shift means for recruiting, retention, and the future of higher education.

Following years of research in Philadelphia schools, Penn GSE’s Responsive Math Teaching team is sharing the practical tools and guiding principles they identified in a new book to help educators make math more meaningful and equitable.

Digital literacies expert Amy Stornaiuolo provides a framework to help teachers design writing assignments that ethically incorporate—or creatively dissuade—use of generative AI.

Learning Sciences and Technologies master’s student Ashley Zingillioglu won the Daniel Walden Prize for an interactive social story she first developed as an undergraduate and is now continuing to refine at Penn GSE.

Estefanie Aguilar Padilla’s work with Associate Professor Rachel Baker reveals why students walk away—and how colleges can help them stay.

In City & State PA, Michael Golden says that teachers and students must work to demystify common misconceptions about AI, emphasizing the importance of understanding both the risks and the powerful educational opportunities the technology presents.

In The New Jersey Herald, Matt Hartley says that smaller universities routinely undergo structural reorganizations and that Montclair State’s centralization will likely lead to the creation of new administrative roles to guide decision-making.

Registration is now open for the Introduction to Negotiations virtual workshop in January and the global symposium in February.

In Memecita, Karen Weaver says that the NIL landscape is rapidly maturing, with collectives becoming more sophisticated, athletes gaining a clearer understanding of their market value, and colleges developing policies to support responsible NIL activity.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Robert Zemsky says that the three-year college model offers a more efficient alternative to traditional four-year programs, reducing academic waste by at least a quarter while maintaining educational quality.

The newly endowed faculty chair, made possible through a generous gift from Andrea Pollack, C’83, L’87, GED’17, and Adam Usdan, will support innovative research, teaching, and leadership in the field of special education.

Laura Perna says the net-price calculators that universities use when establishing the cost of attendance for students are not standardized and often misleading.

Karen Weaver says that other athletic conferences are likely to follow in the footsteps of the Big Ten, assuming they can successfully navigate a maze of thorny legal and political concerns.

The vice provost for faculty and the GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education joins 24 scholars from across the country in the first class of fellows of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

Karen Weaver says that new promotional strategies focused on impact and community from colleges are a great response to recent threats to college enrollment.

Students in Jen McLaughlin Cahill’s course on YA literature, media, and culture welcomed ninth-grade students from Science Leadership Academy at Beeber into their classroom for discussion and activities focused on Ibi Zoboi’s "Pride."

At a ceremony at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, Cathy N. Davidson, Frederic Bertley, Joe Wolf, and Rapelang Rabana were honored with this year’s McGraw Prizes in Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Pre-K–12 Education, respectively.

Current student Celine Xu and recent alum Jade Peterson brought their startups to the showcase at the Pennovation Center, representing Penn GSE and reflecting how educators are shaping the future of learning through technology, creativity, and community.

Penn GSE’s Yasmin Kafai—in collaboration with Danaé Metaxa from Penn’s Computer and Information Sciences department and high school computer science educators across the country—developed the “AI Auditing for High School” curriculum to introduce students to algorithmic bias and guide them through hands-on audits of real-world AI applications.

In Mark Cuban's article discussing the importance of AI, Angela Duckworth's comments on AI's usefulness as a pedagogical tool from her 2025 Penn GSE Commencement speech are quoted.

Michael Gottfried says a large and growing body of research demonstrates the benefits of assigning students to teachers who share their racial or ethnic backgrounds, ranging from improved test scores and attendance to reduced suspension rates and higher graduation and college enrollment rates.

Vivian Gadsden has been appointed the vice president of the National Academy of Education. Dr. Gadsden co-directs the Penn Early Childhood and Family Research Center.

Michael Gottfried says that parents are often unaware of their children's school absenteeism and discusses the effect this can have on students' learning.

Michael Gottfried says that threatening legal action and the prospect of children being put in foster care will not solve the problem of parental negligence leading to student absenteeism.

Penn GSE was one of the hosts—alongside the PA Governor’s Office, Penn Engineering, and PennAI—of the “Unlocking AI for Public Good” summit at which experts from around the University and policymakers from throughout the Commonwealth explored how generative AI can be responsibly harnessed for public benefit.

Vivian Gadsden has begun her new role as the Vice President of the National Academy of Education

The education historian says that new academic guidelines under consideration in Florida are highly biased.

The professor of literacy education says that it should be up to individual teachers to influence how AI will be used in their classrooms rather than enforcing institution-wide technology policies.

Principal Julia Snyder, GED’10, discusses the gains of today and the plans for tomorrow at the Henry C. Lea School in West Philadelphia, one of Penn GSE’s partner schools.

Michael Golden says that by equipping educators with the tools, knowledge, and ethical frameworks they need, the PASS program is helping to shape a future where AI enhances learning and promotes equity in every classroom.

With this new funding, the Pioneering AI in School Systems (PASS) program will expand to five school districts or regions across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware in December and will be offered free of charge to participating districts.

The William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education is an expert on at-risk youth, parental engagement, and intergenerational learning.

Dean Strunk says that developing strong partnerships is person-dependent and takes time to build trust and repair past areas that may be lacking in trust.

Howard Stevenson is among the donors to help fund small Philadelphia non-profits amidst federal funding cuts

Lecturer in Literacy Studies Jessica Whitelaw, a literacy coach and former middle school teacher, shares how to combine art with texts to maximize critical inquiry and the imagination.

The alum of the Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership founded a social impact firm advancing youth voice and agency in philanthropic practice.

After participating in Penn GSE's Experiences in Applied Computational Thinking (EXACT) professional development program, Nick Pesola transformed his school’s curriculum by launching a computer science program and leading efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into classrooms.

Jonathan Zimmerman says that the chaos around the Department of Education will adversely affect many students

Karen Weaver says that newly developing policies on college athletics are troubling for the future of the industry

Peter Eckel and Kandi Wein discuss their views on why university leaders are burning out and how to reverse it in a joint op-ed

Michael Gottfried says that students have more academic success when they have a teacher who matches their racial/ethnic/linguistic background

Laura Perna says that East Coast schools are more heavily featured among the best colleges in the country because many institutions in that part of the country were established long ago. She also mentioned population density as a factor leading to more schools on the East Coast.

Seeking the best way to conduct research that would support Latinx students, Professor Nelson Flores has made a career of studying bilingual education.

A new study coauthored by Penn GSE’s Michael A. Gottfried is the first to show that teachers’ ability to teach in students’ home language, combined with a shared racial or ethnic background, drives greater academic gains.

Professional Counseling student Truth Mjumbe built Recall Aid, an AI-powered memory-support platform inspired by his own experience with epilepsy, his grandfather’s dementia, and his father’s work preserving civil rights histories.

The alum and digital literacy specialist at Philly's Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy gives us a tour of the multidisciplinary makerspace where he works, using its technology and tools to involve students in hands-on learning.

The assistant professor says that research agendas across the country have been impacted by administrative funding cuts and attitudes, which may mean longer hours for faculty.

Howard Stevenson and his brother and civil rights attorney Bryan, discussed race and justice on Sept. 25 at the Filter Club in Center City.

Penn undergrad Cole DuHaime, a student in Penn GSE's Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s Degree Program, taught math to seventh graders over the summer in a service opportunity made possible by Generation Teach and the Ben Franklin Scholars Program.