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This year’s theme, “The Leadership Moment,” addressed significant challenges in the field, from the enrollment cliff to school mergers and acquisitions and speech freedom.

In this episode of The Practitioner Scholar, hosts Maria Luisa Underwood and Lisa-Marie Aird interview Dr. Douglas Clayton, a visionary in corporate learning and culture transformation. Dr. Clayton, founder and CEO of Leadership Filmworks LLC, shares his journey through the Penn CLO program and how it shaped his unique approach to leadership development using filmmaking.

The organization, founded in 1965, is an honorific society of U.S. members and international associates elected based on outstanding education-related scholarship.

He says the program helped refine his leadership practices, and his cohorts were supportive and collaborative.

In an interview with the Jacobs Foundation's science blog BOLD, Sharon Wolf shares her research aimed at improving children’s educational outcomes by supporting parents and teachers, particularly how nudging parents to engage with their children about their education reduces educational inequality.

The competition provides unparalleled benefits for education entrepreneurs, including expert mentorship, access to a global network of innovators, and the chance to compete for cash and prizes.

She has a bold vision for the future of Penn GSE that builds on the School’s strengths, responds to pressing needs, and aims to change the world.

Eight Penn GSE faculty feature prominently in the rankings, which celebrate the most influential education researchers in the nation.

Dr. Lilian Ajayi Ore has worked with the UN, established a foundation advocating for youth and women’s rights, and now works as a research scholar. She says Penn CLO’s practitioner–scholar approach has had a profound impact on her work.

Caroline Watts says that children who are frequently exposed to violence can struggle with regulating their emotions and may not know how to resolve issues in any other way, perpetuating the cycle.

The researcher and entrepreneur, who was formerly the CIO for for NASA's Johnson Space Center, gives a tour of her office including her launch photos and neurotech device.

Look back with us at some of the stories that defined 2024 for our community.

Laura Perna explains that college promise programs are structured differently across the many colleges and universities that offer them, but they generally provide students an up-front guarantee that some or all of their tuition will be covered. She adds that a "first-come, first-served" disclosure is a good caveat for students to know, so they don't expect anything they might not receive.

Historically, as students get older and exams get more challenging, there is more variation in academic performance within each grade level, and that trend can result in lower average proficiency levels for secondary students, Jonathan Supovitz explains.

Campbell draws on strong educational ties to the Philadelphia region and a depth of experience in educational leadership in his new role.

As teachers and researchers, Penn GSE alumni are at the forefront of the movement to educate savvy news readers who can parse fact from partisan fiction.

Nelson Flores’ Becoming the System examines how bilingual education has historically framed Latinx students through a deficit lens, urging new narratives that empower students to define their own identities.

The collection brightening Penn GSE’s halls, which will help provide art supplies and programming to under-resourced public schools locally and across the country, includes a piece created years ago by a current Penn GSE student.

Michael Gottfried stressed that high student absenteeism reduces teachers' job satisfaction by limiting the fulfillment they get from helping students learn, underscoring the need to address absenteeism for better student and teacher outcomes.

Jonathan Zimmerman suggested that colleges facing declining enrollment should adopt entrepreneurial strategies, such as upgrading their academic programs, to attract more students and remain competitive in a shrinking higher education market.

The PASS program equips educators, school leaders, and administrators with AI-driven tools to enhance learning, drive innovation, and prepare students for a tech-driven future.

Richard Ingersoll identifies high teacher migration as a key indicator of school dysfunction, signaling ineffective administrative systems that disrupt student learning by causing instability and the loss of experienced educators.

Katharine O. Strunk said the PASS program aims to prepare educators and students for a tech-driven future by fostering creativity, critical thinking, and responsible AI use.

Sometimes student interactions turn contentious. Sarah Kavanagh explains how teachers can guide students in setting their own rules and norms for class discussions and enforcing those rules.

Julie Wollman emphasized that university presidents now face heightened complexity due to societal shifts, including political polarization and a decline in respectful discourse, and must exhibit strong principles, interpersonal skills, transparency, and a proactive approach to foundational leadership functions rather than reactive crisis management.

Jonathan Zimmerman states that literacy rates were low after the Civil War, particularly in the South and poorer states.

Penn GSE has partnered with the Philadelphia School District to provide workshops for leaders aimed at increasing understanding of antisemitism and Islamophobia in response to community tensions surrounding the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Last year’s rollout of the redesigned FAFSA form was disastrous. Laura Perna offers advice to help you get through it this year.

Julee Gard — Vice President for Administration & Finance at the University of St. Francis in Illinois — has gained attention for her model’s ability to provide institutional leaders with actionable insights to enhance financial stability.

At a celebration for the public launch of the School’s new strategic vision, the superintendent joined the dean to discuss how the district and Penn GSE can partner to recruit, retain, and support educators amidst a national shortage.

Penn GSE faculty and students contributed to discussions on quantitative ethnography at ICQE 2024, exploring innovative methods and applications in education.

Ryan Baker is interviewed about the launch of our new master’s program in “Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence.”

In a newsletter roundup, Technical.ly highlighted the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education launching a new education degree in artificial intelligence, marking the third AI-related degree from Penn this year, alongside an undergraduate program and an online master's.

Ryan Baker announced the University of Pennsylvania’s new master’s program in “Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence” to train professionals in applying AI within education and meeting industry demand.

Launching Fall 2025, this fully online program prepares professionals to integrate AI and learning science, driving innovation in education globally.

As reported in 'Education Week,' Gottfried finds chronic student absenteeism disrupts classroom dynamics, damages teacher-student relationships, and steadily erodes teacher job satisfaction.

Nominations for the 2025 McGraw Prize are now open.

Jonathan Zimmerman states that cultural spaces should prioritize free and open dialogue, even when discussions are unsettling, asserting that public thinkers and artists must embrace the "rough-and-tumble" of discourse as essential to their mission.

This week, Dean Strunk announced the School’s strategic vision, Together for Good.

Penn GSE, the School District of Philadelphia, Foundations, Inc., and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education are partnering to create an innovative and scalable college and career readiness model for students.

Michael Gottfried states that rising student absenteeism lowers teacher job satisfaction, stressing that addressing absenteeism is essential for improving student outcomes and retaining teachers.

Andrew Porter suggests that elite universities with lower acceptance rates often minimize racial graduation rate disparities by selecting students who are the best academic "fit" and fostering a "sense of belonging" through significant investments in support systems that address both academic and emotional challenges specific to nonwhite students.

Julie Wollman explains how out-of-state recruitment has become essential for Pennsylvania colleges in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, raising questions about access for local students.

Laura Perna highlights that recent FAFSA application delays have caused “confusion and real challenges” for students and colleges but believes the planned modifications will ultimately make the process simpler and more beneficial for students.

The appointment is part of an expansion of the office focused on research to drive the School’s community engagement efforts.

The collaboration with public benefits corporation Thinkist is funded with a four-year, $2.2 million Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Participants learn pedagogical approaches in their UTR courses in the evening that they can immediately apply in the classrooms in which they teach.

The institutions’ memorandum of understanding is being renewed following a literacy and community engagement research conference held at Penn Oct. 14–15.

Jonathan Zimmerman observes that America's "brittle and abusive" political climate has shifted culture war debates within education from race to issues of gender and sexuality, disproportionately impacting English teachers who more directly address these subjects in their curricula.

Karen Weaver highlights that differing state laws pose a major obstacle to college athletes' unionization within conferences, creating legal disparities and recruiting challenges.