The five-year program kicked off this summer with programming that empowered adolescents to assess their skills and imagine what’s possible for their careers.
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 the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, Cathy N. Davidson, Frederic Bertley, and 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Professor of Practice Anne Pomerantz, an applied linguist, teacher educator, and longtime language teacher, provides advice on how best to employ AI in teaching languages—and when human instruction works best.
The alum of Penn GSE's Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management who grew up in a small village of cocoa farmers in Ghana recently built a road to connect children in his village to their education.
Recent Global Higher Education Management program alumni Sarah Bauman-Kaye and Sasha Lussaint wrote a piece for "University World News" as a part of their capstone project, based on interviews conducted with Chinese high school students bound for undergraduate study in North America this fall.
Rapelang Rabana and Joe Wolf, Dr. Cathy N. Davidson, and Dr. Frederic Bertley are recognized for their pioneering contributions that have advanced learning opportunities and impacted countless lives.
As part of the fellowship, the Education Policy doctoral student who studies absenteeism will connect with graduate students from across campus who are all working to bridge their research and global policymaking.
Jonathan Zimmerman says that right-wing students are as eager as their left-leaning peers to censor allegedly ’problematic’ speech, and that And students across the political spectrum are biting their tongues, lest they incur the wrath of their opponents.
The 2025 Library of Congress Literacy Awards recognized both Penn GSE’s Philadelphia Writing Project and a startup founded by alum Rina Madhani, GED’19, for their contributions to literacy and community engagement.
Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington tells ABC News about the district's PASS Program partnership with Penn GSE to train its teachers and leaders in AI.
Penn GSE's Pioneering AI in School Systems (PASS) program helps local teachers and school and district leaders build competence in AI governance, policy, oversight, and practical application.
The program’s faculty includes a cadre of sought-after leaders in the field who live around the globe—from South Africa to the U.K.—and are able to come together in one classroom, thanks to technology.