Category: School News

School of Education’s Conroy receives Distinguished Teaching Award

A faculty member from the UW–Madison School of Education has been named among the recipients of the campus-wide 2026 Distinguished Teaching Awards. Colleen Conroy, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Drama, received the Chancellor’s Inclusive Excellence Teaching Award, one of 13 honors recognizing outstanding teaching across the university. Conroy’s teaching focuses on voice, identity, and …

New national project aims to strengthen career-related mentoring conversations

By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research and Scholarship A new collaborative project is bringing together the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) at UW–Madison and the national nonprofit Professional Development Hub (pd|hub) to improve how career‑related mentoring happens in biomedical research environments. The project is funded by a five-year grant from …

New research reveals whether AI can judge teaching as well as people

By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research and Scholarship A new study co-authored by UW–Madison School of Education faculty member Courtney Bell explores whether artificial intelligence (AI) can help assess teaching quality using real classroom data and do it as well or even better than traditional human ratings, which can be time-consuming, expensive, and inconsistent. The …

Art in Focus: Q&A with MFA candidate Matt Bruhn

Throughout the semester, we’re shining a light on the Art Department’s graduating MFA candidates as they present their final thesis exhibitions. These exhibitions are the culmination of years of dedicated study and artistic exploration, showcasing our students’ diverse talents and innovative approaches to art-making. Matt Bruhn creates furniture and sculptural objects that “exist between function and …

Rodgers selected for UW–Madison Exceptional Service Support Program

Aireale Rodgers, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in the School of Education, has been selected for funding through UW–Madison’s Exceptional Service Support Program. The program recognizes assistant and associate professors who perform service activities beyond what is expected of tenure-track and tenured faculty members. The program offers flexible …

UW–Madison’s Farrar Edwards receives national occupational therapy mentor award

UW–Madison’s Dorothy Farrar Edwards, associate dean for research and director of health research in the School of Education, has received the Dr. Carolyn Baum Cognitive Function in Daily Life Mentor Award from the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. Established in 2024, the award recognizes mid- to senior-level occupational therapy researchers who have demonstrated significant contributions to …

A closer look at how and why college advising works — at scale

By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research and Scholarship A recent working paper co-authored by UW–Madison School of Education Assistant Professor Taylor Odle and PhD student Isabel McMullen offers some of the strongest evidence to date on when and why college advising programs for high school students are successful at scale. Their study, “When and Why Does …

‘CCBC Choices 2026’ highlights recommended children’s and teen books of past year

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) has released “CCBC Choices 2026,” an annual best-of-the-year list created by the center’s librarians recommending books for children and teens. CCBC Choices 2026 recommends 231 books published in 2025 for readers from birth through high school age. The digital publication includes full bibliographic citations, annotations, age recommendations, cover images, and links to …

Over the Moon(shine)

This article was originally published by UW–Madison’s Office of Strategic Communication. Live music, dance, and contemporary theater lit up Lathrop Hall’s Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space during Moonshine 2026. Held on Feb. 27, the annual event brought together campus and community artists for a night of shared performance art. Undergraduate and graduate students took to the stage alongside local …

UW–Madison’s Dance Department presents H’Doubler Concert 2026

UW–Madison’s Dance Department, housed in the School of Education, presents its annual H’Doubler Concert March 19–21 in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall (1050 University Ave.). The concert will feature a variety of contemporary dance works from student choreographers Khalid Alazri, Harley Blanchard, Whitney Bleick, Sabrina Bonine, Kylie Buedel, Harper Deeken, Evie Henriksen, …