In the News

UW uses upcoming dam removal to study teaching techniques. The National Science Foundation awarded O’Mahony and UW Professor John Bransford a one-year RAPID (Rapid Response Research) grant. The pair is using the $200,000 to study teaching methods regarding the Elwha River and the upcoming removal of its two dams. Half of the more than 300 participating middle-school students from nearby Port Angeles are doing traditional science projects with PowerPoint presentations. The other half will create five-minute videos that tell the story of the watershed’s past, present and future, including the swamping of local tribal land, the blocking of more than 70 miles of superb habitat from five salmon species, and the biggest dam-removal project in U.S. history.

Julie McCleery, a researcher with the UW Center for Leadership in Athletics, comments on a new report investigating young people's access to sports, play and outdoor recreation in Seattle and King County, which she led as principal investigator.

UW profs urge central school district office personnel to get out to the schools in a new education report. The transformation was phenomenal, said one school superintendent who put the research into practice.

Professors Roxanne Hudson, Carly Roberts and Elizabeth Sanders have been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the National Center for Special Education Research for a study to identify “malleable” reading factors — such as phonological awareness and letter sounds — among elementary students with intellectual disabilities, with the long-term aim of developing effective literacy interventions.

Fordham's April 9 event, Can Budget Cuts Catalyze Education Reform?featured Marguerite Roza from the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education.

Debi Talukdar, a UW College of Education doctoral student, contributed to a new guide helping families broach big questions and feelings that may be surfacing as kids experience the current realities of sickness and isolation.

Everyone has a moment when past experiences tumble together and point the way forward. For Kimberly Mitchell, Special Assistant to Dean Tom, Stritikus, that happened in 2005, as she stood in front of a crowd of suburban schoolteachers who folded their arms across their chests in disgust, as Mitchell tried to explain her concept of “inquiry-based” classroom instruction.

Debi Talukdar, a doctoral student in multicultural education and philosopher-in-residence at Seattle's Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, highlights work Talukdar has been involved with through the UW Center for Philosophy for Children.

The life and work of the late UW professor John I. Goodlad, a giant in 20th-century education and former elected president of AACTE, is highlighted.

David S. Knight, assistant professor of education, finance and policy at the UW College of Education, co-wrote an Op-Ed piece focused on prioritizing education funding. “The Biden administration must make public education its top domestic priority because Covid has exacerbated pre-existing social and educational inequities and, if left unaddressed, will lead to serious harm to our children - our nation’s greatest asset."