News

Vice Provost for Student Engagement Valarie Swain-Cade McCollum was interviewed about Penn’s summer program for rising high school seniors.

Principles to guide state policymakers through higher education’s trying summer and beyond.

Karen Weaver discussed how enrollment totals may impact sports budgets for colleges and universities.

Sharon Ravitch joined a filmmaker and a pediatrician as guest speakers on the Reinventing School podcast in which they explored the many aspects of hope in the midst of challenging times.

Higher Education assistant professor Amalia Daché received an NAED/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.

‘I was more terrified to teach small kids than to join the Army. I did it, and it was the best experience of my life.’

Karen Weaver discussed the college sports landscape and the big questions universities and athletics programs are tackling during the coronavirus pandemic.

Aaron Gerwer will be the new leader at Lea and Lauren Overton will head Penn Alexander. Penn GSE has partnerships with both K-8 schools.

Howard Stevenson spoke about how parents can best address race with children. “They’re listening to you, but they’re also watching how you say it,” he said.

Howard Stevenson spoke with Vox about how parents can teach their children about racism. He explained that simply being a good person is not enough. To teach their children, parents need to understand how racism works and how to fight it.

Leading an EDTECH WEEK Masterclass, Marsha Richardson said educators need to take care of their own wellness needs, as well as those of their students.

Howard Stevenson said, “We underestimate the negative effects of swallowing our feelings during racial moments. Research is showing more and more that if we don’t manage racial stress and trauma, it comes out in our health and bodies and sleep.” To make progress, people need to start having hard conversations about race to improve racial literacy — the ability to read, recast, and resolve a racially stressful moment.

Howard Stevenson said, "Teachers can be incredibly powerful in teaching young people to engage in these conversations rather than avoid them."

A Q&A with Howard Stevenson on how parents and guardians can find a balance between two questions: Do we try to explain the strife our child sees on television? Or should we try to shield her from such “grown up” problems?

Sigal Ben-Porath asks teachers not to pretend protests about institutional racism and police brutality don’t exist.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shifted Rand Quinn’s class online this spring, his students decided their main project should change too.

Sharon Ravitch joins Angela Duckworth of Penn School of Arts & Sciences in a discussion of leadership, grit, and flexibility.

Caroline Watts commented on the six weeks it took for the Philadelphia school district to distribute laptops to its students after Gov. Wolf ordered schools to close. “The greater the lag in the time off, the harder it is to engage students,” said Watts.

Karen Weaver said she has seen some ideas to address the crisis, but real strategies are still lacking.

Howard Stevenson on what COVID-19 has revealed about race and health.

Ryan Baker said “A lot of these companies, it’s a matter of life or death if they get some evidence up on their page. No one is trying to be deceitful. (They’re) all kind of out of their depth and all trying to do it cheaply and quickly.”

Graduating student Nimet Eren received the William E. Arnold Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Student.

Karen Weaver is interviewed about the issues surrounding college athletics returning in the fall in the face of coronavirus pandemic.

Karen Weaver talks about the importance of college sports on campuses and the impact on college athletics from the pandemic.

Laura Perna said of colleges’ approaches to the fall 2020 semester, “I think we are going to see a lot of variation.”

Penn GSE congratulates the many members of our community who are achieving outstanding successes.

Members of the Penn GSE community have stepped forward amidst the shortage of personal protective equipment brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.

Penn GSE’s graduate assistantship program provides practical experience that complements students’ coursework and prepares them for future careers.

As leaders and educators, Penn GSE alumni are making an impact in urban education across the country.

Penn GSE’s new Center for Professional Learning will allow working professionals to deepen their knowledge, build their professional networks, and grow their careers.

Penn GSE is working in Philadelphia to establish national models of instruction and data use—and improve children’s lives both in and outside of school.

As the COVID-19 crisis brought dramatic changes to the education landscape this spring, Penn GSE faculty shared their perspectives to help educators and families.

Laura Perna and Jeremy Wright-Kim write that while Pell Grants reduce financial pressures, this does not translate into higher graduation rates.

Sharon Ravitch joins host Rob van Nood of Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon to discuss the current crisis as an opportunity to rebuild learning experiences based on a world in flux and from ideas and visions that put students at the center. "As educators, we have to find active ways to nourish ourselves, connect with each other, and really think about this moment," said Ravitch.

Penn GSE’s Amy Benedict on the art of virtual networking, lessons learned from the Great Recession, and charting a path to a dream job.

Robert Zemsky said, in the face of the pandemic, colleges with 1,500 or fewer students are facing the question of how much they can shrink and continue to function.

Peter Eckel said, “Part of the challenge is the complexity of the issues that university boards are facing. There is also a degree of unpredictability regarding short-term challenges, like enrollment and finances, endowments and financial resources, but also safety and security in the future. We don’t know if there’s going to be a new normal, a next normal, or return to normal.”

Jonathan Zimmerman wrote about efforts by those at both ends of the political spectrum to censor certain books in schools. “It’s too easy to mock the conservatives out in Alaska. It’s a lot harder to look in the mirror, and to ask whether we liberals might be imitating them,” he wrote.

Penn AHEAD brought together administrators from across the country to discuss how pandemic has affected their schools, and how they are evaluating their future.

Ryan Baker discussed adaptive learning, which can use algorithms to adapt lessons to individual students, as well as other computer-based learning tools.

Sundai Riggins, a Penn GSE graduate and principal in Washington, DC, appeared on a CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall to talk about how the pandemic is affecting kids and parents.

Penn GSE doctoral student Rabani Garg has created a list that showcases ‘the diversity of Muslim life across the world’.

Robert Zemsky said, “It’s revenue pressure, and the sense that ‘if we’re the one that doesn’t open, we lose our share of the market permanently.’”

Karen Weaver discussed some issues that colleges athletics programs are facing during the coronavirus pandemic.

In his book The College Stress Test, Robert Zemsky predicted that 10% of private, liberal arts colleges in the U.S. were likely to close within the next five years. Now, with the pandemic’s damaging effects on school finances, his prediction has changed to 200 schools in the next year alone.

When Ebola hit Liberia, Penn GSE student Jasmine Blanks Jones’ youth theater company took on conspiracy theories and a lack of trust in the government. If that sounds familiar, she has ideas for improving messaging during the pandemic.

Robert Zemsky, in his new book, The College Stress Test, estimates that 10 percent of the nation’s colleges – smaller schools with poor retention rates – were already at risk of closing. Now, he said, “we think another 10 percent is at risk because of the virus.”

College instructors have moved their courses online, but Penn GSE's Sharon Ravitch says they need to do more to meet their students' needs during this pandemic. Here, she gives ideas for instructors to consider.

"Teamwork has traditionally played a critical role in schools, and while many of us find ourselves physically isolated, our collaborative work with one another may be more important now than ever," Zachary Herrmann writes.

In the debut of her Parent Scoop podcast, Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher discusses the most important things parents and kids can do while they are stuck at home.