Rockford RISE has graduated 18 new teachers. Launched in 2024, the “Rockford Inspiring School and Community Excellence” initiative to turn Rockford Public Schools paraprofessionals into licensed teachers is the result of a grant from Grow Your Own Illinois, a long-time nonprofit organization
Read moreNIU PLEDGE-Elgin Community College graduates learn of their power, mission in the nurture of thriving communities
Nicole Morys knows what kind of teacher she will become this fall. “I want to teach because I want to inspire kids to grow and to be the best version of themselves, and also to just make my teaching environment comfortable for
Read moreNIU celebrates community engagement: COE ingenuity, initiatives take spotlight
NIU’s two-day Community Engagement Exemplar Symposium put several College of Education faculty front and center. Held April 15 and 16, and hosted by the Division of Outreach, Regional Engagement and Development, the event gathered “impactful NIU community-engaged scholars, practitioners and community partners
Read moreCansu Tatar teams with NIU colleague to design, deliver ‘Secure-AI’ curriculum for Marmion Academy high schoolers
Networking, anyone? When Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment colleagues Cansu Tatar and Michael Tscholl were measuring how well students at DeKalb’s St. Mary Catholic School understood artificial intelligence, they also met the teachers. And when one of those teachers took
Read moreAI project at St. Mary School advancing to examine teaching ability of chatbots
Michael Tscholl’s long-term project at DeKalb’s St. Mary Catholic School has entered its next phase. Last year’s study by Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment researchers focused on 50 students in sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grades to measure their comprehension of AI
Read moreResearch partnership with Tetova gains steam toward writing, publication stage
A pair of collaborative research projects between the NIU College of Education and the University of Tetova are accelerating toward final analysis and writing this spring. One study focuses on trauma-informed and resilience-focused practices in North Macedonian schools while the other focuses
Read moreNIU-Tetova partnership invites chapters for ‘Peace as a Transcultural Language’
NIU’s College of Education and the University of Tetova, in the Republic of North Macedonia, have issued a call for book chapters that will anchor a new edited volume and international conference focused on peace as a transcultural, democratic practice. The project
Read moreRockford LEAP graduates celebrate bachelor’s degrees in special education
Andria Williams stepped behind the podium, smiled and raised a victorious fist in the air. “We did it, y’all!” The new graduate of the NIU College of Education’s LEAP (Licensed Educator Accelerated Pathway) program with the Rockford Public Schools served as the
Read moreMary Earick fueled by first Tetova visit, ready to advance longtime partnership
One year after representatives from the University of Tetova visited DeKalb to nurture and advance the longtime partnership, an NIU delegation continued the discussions during a September trip to Macedonia. And, for new College of Education Dean Mary Earick, her first visit
Read moreTeaching the ropes: Jim Ressler delivers workshop on adventure-based learning
Jim Ressler, professor of Physical Education Teacher Education, delivered a well-received Nov. 8 workshop on adventure-based learning at Glenbard East High School in District 87. The event drew a diverse group of participants from across Chicagoland, including preservice educators from community colleges
Read moreSEED’s Michelle Sands procures return of statewide Early CHOICES grant to NIU
Early CHOICES is returning to NIU. Funded by an Illinois State Board of Education Training and Technical Assistance grant, the initiative that launched on campus in 1990 focuses on the “least restrictive environment” (LRE) for children ages 3 to 5, which is
Read moreNSF-funded study: Pi-Sui Hsu partners with West Aurora 129 for new research
Pi-Sui Hsu is celebrating a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to advance her study of teaching scientific argumentation with technology. The federally funded, one-year project with teammate West Aurora School District 129 will examine challenges to that practice but also
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