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Primary Education
What is the impact of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan?
A Graduate School of Education expert and faculty director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model’s take a look at the budgetary costs and distributional impact of the U.S. President’s initiative.
Penn GSE makes math meaningful for West Philly kids
The Responsive Math Teaching project, currently funded by the National Science, has kids in West Philly schools engaging in the work, rather than passively completing it, through summer “math festivals.”
Who, What, Why: Kimeze Teketwe brings Luganda to Penn
The GSE master’s student from Uganda taught the first ever course on this language in the spring of 2022. This fall the program continues with another intro class, followed by an advanced class next spring.
STEM summer: Grad students and middle schoolers tackle drones and coding
For six weeks, West Philadelphia middle schoolers learn and play through a partnership between Penn GSE and Drone Cadets, an education program accredited by STEM.org.
Learning nursing care in a different type of classroom
Penn Nursing students Aman Uppal and Michelle Tran spent the summer before their final semesters in a clinical rotation at the HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy.
Supporting education in Ghana
The Graduate School of Education’s Sharon Wolf is leading a research project on reaching parents in remote and impoverished regions of Ghana with supportive text messages to share information on helping their children, especially girls, succeed in school.
Penn and Lea School celebrate signing of $4.1 million commitment
The Henry C. Lea Elementary School, the University of Pennsylvania, Penn GSE, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and the School District of Philadelphia celebrated the formalization of Penn’s deepened commitment to supporting the West Philadelphia K-8 school.
Six tips to help explain the realities of war to children
Explaining the complex emotions and realities of war to children is a daunting and challenging task, but not impossible, says Penn GSE’s Marsha Richardson.
Rowana Miller and Cosmic Writers want to make writing education equitable
Along with a team of passionate fellow students, Miller runs a nonprofit called Cosmic Writers, which provides virtual and in-person writing workshops for young writers.
Building off years of success, Penn and Lea School formalize partnership
The University and its Graduate School of Education will contribute more than $4 million to the West Philadelphia K-8 school throughout the next five years.
In the News
Sandra Day O’Connor and the promise of civic education
Jonathan Zimmerman of the Graduate School of Education writes that teaching schoolchildren about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship might be the only way to heal our polarized society.
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Schools in poorer neighborhoods struggle to keep teachers. How offering them more money and power might help
Richard Ingersoll of the Graduate School of Education says that giving educators more authority at their workplace makes them feel like respected professionals.
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Lego, martial arts and dance classes: How one school tackled school absenteeism
A 2022 Penn study found a return of three dollars for every dollar invested in City Connects, a pilot project that links students with support for basic needs and enrichment activities.
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How gross inequalities in institutional wealth distort the higher education ecosystem and shortchange the vast majority of middle- and lower-income undergraduates
Penn is noted for its pledge to contribute $100 million over 10 years to renovate decrepit Philadelphia schools, potentially assisting a more diverse student body.
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New Mexico can turn the tide by increasing classroom time
A study co-authored by economists at Penn found that a longer school year showed an “extremely robust” association with higher student achievement.
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Africana studies can save education—and the world
Ismael Jimenez of the Graduate School of Education writes that "Africana studies is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the study of Black people and history, but it also represents a foundational building block of a more just world."
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