Primary Education | Penn Today

An elementary school student works on a large drawing on the floor of a classroom.

A new high-touch, low-tech approach to summer learning in West Philadelphia

The format of the joint pilot collaboration with the Netter Center and Penn GSE has been transformed to better focus on the needs of the young students.

Two people holding up children’s books written in Spanish.

A Book a Day inspires young readers with inclusiveness and representation

A Book a Day, a nonprofit run by Penn GSE’s Sibylla Shekerdjiska-Benatova, has partnered with medical providers like the Puentes de Salud clinic to provide books to children, including titles in Spanish and other languages.

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.

Four scientists speak in a dairy cow facility

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.

Suzanne McGraw smiling as an audience member.

Suzanne McGraw Foundation makes $5 million gift to Penn GSE around early childhood education

The gift is one of the largest ever to the School. It will support student scholarships, a cross-University graduate concentration, and cross-disciplinary programming.

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.

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.

Four students dig a hole in a garden at Hamilton School in Philadelphia.

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.

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.

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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