Primary Education

Cross-disciplinary collaboration for a healthier planet

The Environmental Innovations Initiative announces a third round of funded research communities to catalyze interdisciplinary research at Penn, investigating issues from regenerative agriculture to project-based learning for global climate justice.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Green solutions are transforming a West Philadelphia grade school

With support from grants and the Netter Center, the Andrew Hamilton School in Cobbs Creek is now home to a food forest and a thriving garden, providing healthy produce, green space, stormwater management, and educational opportunities.

Katherine Unger Baillie

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.”

From Penn GSE

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.

Michele W. Berger

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.

Marilyn Perkins , Michele W. Berger, Ed Federico

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.

Louisa Shepard



In the News


The Irish Times (Dublin)

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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Inside Higher Ed

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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Albuquerque Journal

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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Education Week

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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Philadelphia Inquirer

This Philly-area elementary school saw test scores plummet. Now it’s putting all its resources toward catching up.

Nicole Carl of the Graduate School of Education says that teachers are feeling pressure from administrators to boost test scores.

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Need more teachers? Why not groom students?

Dean Pam Grossman of the Graduate School of Education says that “grow your own” teaching programs that recruit locally have been successful.

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