Research avenues that examine the superintendency are limitless – and winding. Just ask Rachel White. “When I ask a question, I think I’m going to find an answer,” White told about three dozen aspiring superintendents enrolled in NIU Ed.S. in Educational Administration
Read moreShine on! Two alumnae named finalists for Chicago-area Golden Apple awards
One dreamed of teaching art but eventually decided that she would not pursue that goal – until, well, she did. The other wanted to work as a print journalist, and even did so for a while, but ultimately realized that she needed
Read moreFood for thought: Carolyn Pluim to talk school lunches, academic implications
Food, says Carolyn Pluim, is more than fuel – especially when it comes to school. Pluim is a widely published researcher and author on the topic of school lunch – and, as part of her work, she is able to set a
Read moreLynn Gibson co-authors children’s book with son, plans more ‘tiny hero’ stories
Lynn Gibson, clinical assistant professor in the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, has co-authored and published a children’s book with her son, Bryn Sheedy Gibson. “How Elfie the Owl Saved Christmas – A Tiny Hero’s Tale,” the first in
Read moreYear 14: Double-alum Jason Dietz savors role as Sundling Middle School principal
When Jason Dietz started teaching fourth-grade, he immediately thought that he’d found his forever home. The place was Mundelein, the year was 1998 and Dietz had just completed a fresh-out-of-college stint working in a middle school as a program assistant for special
Read moreCongratulations!
BREAKING NEWS! The NIU College of Education ranked No. 54 out of 313 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Online Master’s in Education Programs! This is the 13th consecutive year that our online graduate programs have been nationally ranked. ***
Read moreFour-time alumna Monica Schroeder ready, eager to become North Shore 112’s first Latina superintendent July 1, 2026
Monica Schroeder grew up attending a private school in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago and then parochial and public schools in north-suburban Skokie. She was a first-generation American with bilingual parents who immigrated to this country as teens; her father, Raul
Read moreAspiring Superintendents Forum offers tips for gaining, thriving in leader roles
How do superintendents establish good working relationships with the school boards they serve? How do they prioritize their to-do lists? How do they continue their professional development while on the job – or tend to their personal well-being? Such questions and more
Read moreFall numbers of graduate students ranks College of Education atop NIU’s campus
Student numbers in the NIU College of Education have reached levels not seen in a decade. “Our graduate enrollments are up by 9.9%, or 112 students, which is the highest graduate enrollment we’ve had in the last 10 years,” said David Walker,
Read moreLEPF celebrates 62 summer graduates
Sixty-two professionals are now ready to advance their careers with degrees earned this summer from the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations (LEPF). Among the new alumni are 25 educators prepared as school principals, 15 from the Rockford cohort and
Read moreMerritt speaker Megan J. Laverty to talk on importance of engaging children, students in discussions of philosophy
Megan J. Laverty remembers the moment when life delivered an unexpected turn. She was a philosopher, working at the University of Melbourne in her native Australia and pursuing her Ph.D. in that exact field at the University of New South Wales. “Everything
Read moreA person in the world: Educate Global students transformed by Indonesia visit
Nicholas Koronkiewicz was born and raised in Bolingbrook, the only place he’s called home. Just coming to the cornfields of DeKalb as a transfer student in the Department of Computer Science supplied some stranger-in-a-strange-land sensations for suburban Koronkiewicz, who soon declared a
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