Mary Noe knows the key to flourishing and informational transactions between high school students and educators. Listening. “I feel that a lot of students do not have many people who would listen to them talk; they would talk at them but not
Read moreBuilding bridges: RISE to revolutionize teaching, learning in Rockford schools by engaging community, valuing voices
Taren Turner frames her obligation as an educator in terms of “ensuring responsiveness and innovation.” And the director of Alternative Education Programming for the Rockford Public Schools has discovered ways to do just that in the RISE (Rockford Inspiring School and Community
Read moreETRA researchers explore AI knowledge of St. Mary School middle-level students
Researchers from the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (ETRA) are working with nearly 50 middle-level students and their teachers at St. Mary Catholic School to measure their comprehension of Artificial Intelligence. How do they engage and interact with AI? What
Read moreQuortne Hutchings among 2025 quintet of ACPA Emerging Scholars in higher ed
Quortne Hutchings believes the mission is to pay it forward. And that, it turns out, is a family tradition. “When I was applying for college, one of the things my mom and my grandma said was, ‘We don’t know if higher education
Read morePi-Sui Hsu traversing multiple avenues to explore potential of instructional tech
After years of equipping Rockford middle schoolers to create makerspaces, Pi-Sui Hsu wanted to elevate her outreach to another level. Hsu, a Presidential Engagement Professor in the NIU Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, had taught her after-school students and summer
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 moreNIU celebrates fall commencement
Congratulations to our newest NIU College of Education alumni! Two of our amazing graduates were featured in videos shown during the ceremonies. Meet Genesis Miranda, who earned her B.S.Ed. in Special Education: Visual Impairments … … and Jordan White, who completed his
Read moreWishing you a joyful holiday season
A message from Bill Pitney, acting dean of the NIU College of Education. Dear Faculty and Staff, Like it often does, December is delivering days that are frigidly cold next to days that seem to herald the arrival of spring. Snow is
Read moreRachael Mahmood tells new graduates to know their ‘why’ stories for teaching
For December graduates of the college’s educator licensure programs about to embark on their classroom careers, the question was direct. What type of teachers will they become? It was something Rachael Mahmood, the 2024 Illinois Teacher of the Year and a 2016
Read moreCOE colleagues talk belonging priority, ways to address ‘belonging uncertainty’
Creating a culture of belonging starts with self-examination. “When we’re thinking about belonging for students,” says Bess Wilson, chair of the Department of Special and Early Education, “I think that we have a natural tendency to lean toward, and empathize with, students
Read moreIn unearthing NIU student life history, HESA students grasp current meaning
As a member and leader of Prism, Peregrin Capriglione is fully familiar with the campus organization’s work to provide educational and social activities for LGBTQ students and their allies. Now, thanks to their HESA 500: Foundations of Higher Education course, Capriglione is
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